What Is The Perfect Guitar

When it comes to purchasing a guitar for yourself there are many things that you should consider. Purchasing the perfect guitar will ultimately make you a better player. However, if you choose a guitar that you are not happy with, is too big, or is not in the style that you desire, you will quickly find that you will soon lose interest in the instrument. Therefore, you should consider the following elements when you are choosing a guitar for yourself.

Important Selection Elements To Choosing A Guitar

The first thing you will want to assure is that your guitar has properly been inspected. Additionally, you will want to make sure that the guitar you are selecting is properly adjusted for proper playback. You should always question the business or individual that you are looking to purchase your guitar from. You should require that they provide you with inspection documentation and additionally, ask them what types of adjustments have been made to the guitar for easier playback.

Choosing The Proper Style Of Guitar

Another important element to consider is the style of guitar that you purchase. There are distinct differences between an electric guitar and an acoustic guitar. Therefore, you need to decide which type of guitar you desire to own and play. If you are in a band you will most likely want to purchase an electric guitar, whereas if you are just wanting a guitar to play for fun you will want to consider an acoustic guitar.

Many people have selected to purchase one of each type. However, this can run very expensive. But luckily both styles of guitars are both played the same way. However, electric guitars are much more sensitive. Additionally, with an electric guitar you will have to purchase additional equipment including electric amps.

The Importance Of Guitar Sizing

You must consider your own comfort when purchasing a guitar. You need a guitar that matches your body frame and size. Additionally, you want a guitar that is easy to hold. Therefore, you should always ‘test run’ any guitar that you are choosing to purchase in order to make sure it works well with your frame. If you are purchasing a guitar for a child you will want to make sure that the guitar is small enough for them to hold and play.

If you choose a guitar that is too large or too small for your body size you will quickly discover that your performance will fail. If you are not comfortable when playing the guitar there is no hope of playing comfortably or well. This is why it is very important to purchase a properly sized guitar.

Final Thoughts On Choosing A Guitar

Apart from size and style you will also want to consider the value of the guitar that you are choosing. The old saying you get what you are paying for rings true when it comes to choosing a guitar. You may want to spend a little more money in order to choose a quality-produced guitar that you will enjoy playing for a long time.

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Buying a Guitar Amplifier

With so much attention focused on which guitars give you which sound, which guitars look the nicest, and which play the best, the lowly guitar amplifier is often ignored, especially by novice guitarists. Which is a big mistake for guitarists looking to find a great sound. The fact of the matter is; a sub-par guitar played through a great amp can still sound fairly decent, but even the best guitars, when played through a bad amplifier, sound awful.

If you’re considering buying your first amplifier, price will obviously be one of your primary concerns. Guitar amplifiers range in price from under $100, to multiple thousands of dollars. A common choice for first amplifiers are the very small and basic 15-watt amps such as the Fender Frontman 15G, which provide a low cost solution to amplifying the guitar. When asked by students and parents, I strongly discourage the purchase of amplifiers like these, for several reasons. First of all, the sound of these amps tends to be tolerable at best, and often sound much, much, worse. Newer guitarists will often become frustrated, complaining that “nothing I ever play sounds good”, not fully realizing that it is the equipment, and not what they are playing, that is causing the music to sound inferior. These small amps also don’t provide a great deal of volume, which can present a problem. In the beginning, the musical growth of guitar players is quite staggering, and it won’t be long before many newer guitarists are ready to start playing with other musicians. Many of these small amplifiers have a hard time being heard above the volume of a drummer, which renders them useless in those situations.

This isn’t meant to imply that you need to spend $1000 on your first guitar amplifier. But, by setting your sites above the cheapest, smallest amplifier in the store, you’ll certainly end up with an amp that will serve your needs for a much longer period of time. The Fender Pro Junior is a great, low-cost tube amplifier that you’ll sometimes even see being used by professional guitarists. What the Pro Junior lacks in control (no EQ, no reverb), it more than makes up for in tone and sound quality (read the full review of the Pro Junior).

There are a few things I’ll generally look for in modestly priced amplifiers; at least a 3-band EQ ( low, mid, and high), a clean channel and an “overdrive” channel, reverb, and possibly some sort of “presence” control. Another thing to be aware of is the existence of two types of amplifiers; tube and transistor. The BuddyHawke.com site has provided a relatively simple explanation of the difference between the two. I personally almost universally prefer tube amps, but this is something you’ll have to listen to, and decide for yourself. Tube amps are almost always more problematic, and tend to be more expensive.

When shopping for amps, be sure to try many out before you buy one. Play the same guitar through each amp when experimenting in the store. Make sure you spend a good deal of time with each amp; playing them at loud and quiet volumes, with and without overdrive, experimenting with the versatility of sound each amp provides. Do not be afraid to bring your guitar into the store and try it out with the amps you are considering. Try researching specific amps you are interested in on the net, using the Harmony Central Amp Database,. One last thing to be aware of; despite what they may lead you to believe, you can, and should negotiate with music store employees in regards to the price of their merchandise. I have found that with a bit of prompting, I can get at least a 10% discount on guitars and amps not on sale, and often even more.

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How To Select And Buy A Cheap Electric Guitar

If you are thinking about learning guitar, you have to make some hard choices right off the bat. The first one is how much you want to spend. A lot of people think that if you are starting off you should buy a cheap electric guitar, but this isn’t always the case. The problem is that if you buy a lower quality instrument, it will be harder to play and will not sound as good. Many cheap electric guitars are not very well designed. That doesn’t mean that you can’t find one that is. If you know what to look for, you can find a low-cost electric guitar that will still help you shred like a guitar god.

With cheap electric guitars, you have quite a few options. A lot of people assume that the only way to go is to buy an all-in-one beginning guitar kit, but this is not the case. The electric guitar is probably the most popular instrument in America. As such, people buy and sell them all the time. You can find a used musical instrument that is still in pretty good shape. It helps to take someone along who knows what they are doing. You need to understand whether the frets are lined up properly, whether the neck is warped, and a lot of other things that you might not know how to evaluate as a beginner. Pawn shops can be risky business, and used musical instrument stores are not always reputable.

Of course, you can buy cheap electric Guitars without buying them used. A lot of the main manufacturers produce beginner lines that are still pretty good. My personal favorite is the Epiphone LP Special II Les Paul Collection Electric Guitar.

Epiphone guitars are made by the same people who produce Gibsons, but they are a whole lot cheaper. The quality is still good – they just aren’t as fancy. I know some professional players who still use beginner Epiphones, so they are well regarded.

There are a few other strategies to consider when you are buying cheap electric guitars. I have a friend who swears by factory seconds. Factory seconds are new guitars that were somehow slightly damaged in the factory. Usually the damage is simply cosmetic – they have a ding on the body somewhere that looks a little bit ugly. If you don’t mind a bit of cosmetic imperfection, this is the way to go. You still get a new electric guitar, but with substantial savings.

Buying An Acoustic Guitar And The Importance Of The Neck Angle.

When looking for a guitar to easy learn on it doesn’t really matter the price range that you have in mind. Years back a low cost guitar would be a nightmare to play, and for a beginner it was worse, I had one for my first guitar. These days with advanced machining and mass production techniques there are a large number of guitar manufacturers turning out quite good guitars at low cost.

Regardless of the price if you take any two guitars of the same make and model, even with consecutive production numbers it’s quite likely that one will be easier to play than the other.

How well a guitar plays is determined by the action. The action on a guitar is the distance between the underside of the strings and the frets. The frets are the thin metal strips that lie across the neck. The maximum distance is found in the area where the neck and body join. If the distance is greater than say 3mm then it will be harder to play the guitar up the neck than it should be and for a beginner it can totally discouraging. Keep in mind that that a small difference can mean a lot. A 4mm gap is a big step up from 3mm.

There are four things that influence the action.

1. The Saddle Height

2. The Nut Height

3. The Truss Rod Adjustment

4. The Neck Angle

The first three can be adjusted. If the neck angle is bad then adjusting the other three will bring about little change to the action. Picture a guitar lying level on its back and you place a straight edge along neck and extending down to touch the bridge. The bridge is the piece of timber attached to the body of the guitar that has the strings attached to it, and the saddle is the (usually) white plastic strip that sits in the bridge and has the strings running across it. When the neck angle is good then the neck and the top of the bridge will be on the same line. When the angle is bad then the straight edge will point to a spot closer to where the bridge joins the body and is a really bad case it would touch the body of the guitar first.

Now we cannot carry out this test in a music store, however what we can do is sight down the neck and it’s fairly easy to see where the line of the neck points to, it should be in line with the top of the bridge.

This is all probably a lot to absorb in one go, the important thing is to be aware of the action and any good guitar salesperson should know all this and be able to point them out to you so you can make the best choice so you have a guitar that is easy to play.

Lastly do not buy a guitar because you like the color of it, buy the guitar that sounds good and plays well.

Good Luck

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How to Buy A Second Hand Guitar

Often cheaper than a new guitar and just as ready to rock out, a second hand guitar could be the perfect addition to your collection or the perfect thing to learn on, but how do you know that your potential purchase isn’t a potential dud?

The truth is that some fantastic guitars, while expensive when new, are relatively cheap second hand. Sometimes you can find a custom or a limited edition guitar that someone is selling quickly for the cash and you can often get a real bargain if you know what you are looking for. It really pays to do the research before thinking about buying a second hand guitar as some sellers will push their price up to cash in, especially if they know they are selling to a beginner who is just starting to learn guitar and may not know much about them.

So what should you look for when inspecting a second hand guitar?

Let’s just say that you have found a second hand guitar in the musical instrument section of the weekly classifieds and you are quite keen to go and take a look at it. Below is a list of hints that will help you when inspecting the guitar and talking to the seller:

When talking to the seller, ask them the following:

• The make and model of the guitar – It is best if you can do some research on the guitar model to find out the asking price elsewhere, both new and used, and whether or not other people are experiencing problems with it. You can find reviews for almost any guitar submitted at Amazon, or you can go and ask at your local music store.
• About the condition of the guitar – If they are honest, the seller may tell you about any damage that is undetectable upon rough inspection.
• How long they have had the guitar – If they have had it for a long time, they should have a good knowledge of its history of use, repairs and maintenance etc. If they are not forthcoming with that sort of information, they may be trying to pull one over you.

When inspecting the guitar, check the following:

• The overall condition – Look the guitar over and make note of any obvious damage – guitars often take a bit of wear and tear and if its just small scrapes and scratches then the guitar will probably be fine. Look for rust also , not on the strings, but on the hardware that is holding the strings and the pickups. If there is any rust in these places… run! It’s not worth it. What good is a guitar that may fall apart on you in the near future? Trust me – leave it alone.
• The neck of the guitar – the neck is really important. Here are some areas to look at:
• Make sure that the neck is not warped or out of shape in any way.
• Check the area where the neck joins to the body of the guitar – look for cracks where it may have been broken in the past.
• In the same fashion, check the area where the neck joins the head of the guitar.
• Check the action – Action is a word that describes how close the strings are to the fret board starting at the head of the guitar all the way down to the bridge. It is preferable to have the strings very close to the fret board as to make it easier to press them down (not so close that they are touching of course). If the strings are nice and close to the fret board all the way along, you would say that the guitar has a good action. Pictured right is a guitar with poor action. Notice that the strings sit quite far off the fret board. Guitars with poor action are harder to play and don’t sound very good. You can fix the action on your guitar by taking it to a guitar technician, but it will cost you between $20 and $50.
• The Intonation of the strings. Intonation is a word that describes the accuracy of each individual note that the guitar can produce on any string. If the intonation is correct, every note on the guitar will be the correct pitch – If it is out, the guitar will be impossible to tune and it will sound horrible. To roughly check the intonation, play the E shape barre chord on each fret of the guitar. As you move towards the bridge of the guitar, you should hear the chord keeping its pitch – if not, the intonation is out and you will need to get a guitar technician to work on the problem.

• If the guitar you are looking at is an electric, you must plug it in and see how it sounds through an amp. Ask the seller if you can play it through your amp and if you don’t have one, ask someone if you can borrow theirs. Try the following when testing an electric guitar through an amp:
• Turn the amp up to a fair volume level and then play with the volume and tone controls by turning them to full and then back to zero. Test the pickup selector by flicking its switch back and forth. Carefully listen to any sounds that are being made while doing these things. You are looking for scratchy sounds or clicks that might indicate old or worn electrics.
• Strum a single chord and while the chord is ringing start playing with the controls like before, still listening for scratches or clicks or any other nasty sounds. Guitar technicians can fix these problems and most guitars need to be done about once every 5 – 10 years. Just be aware of this fact or you could find yourself spending more money than you first intended to get a good guitar to learn on.
• Check the sound of the guitar – Before you buy, you want to know that the guitar sounds like it should? Once you have tested the guitar sound, go to a music store and ask to play on a new model of that guitar. If at all possible, use a similar amplifier to the one that you tested the second hand guitar on, and see if you notice any BIG differences. There is a simple rule that I like to follow: If you’re not happy with the guitar sound… Don’t buy it!

The most important thing to remember when shopping for a guitar to learn on is… Don’t shop impulsively. A guitar is a major purchase and you want to get the right one. Leave yourself time to go away and think about the purchase. If you have doubts when checking out a guitar, you are probably better to leave it and hold out for something that better suits you.

If you are a guitar beginner and a little worried about testing guitar in public – don’t worry. It is important to remember that you are not there to showcase your playing ability – you are there to discern whether your proposed buy is a good deal or not so just go for it.

If you are still worried, take an experienced guitarist along with you when you are looking at a guitar to learn on. See if you can persuade a teacher or a friend – most musicians love to help beginners who are interested in learning to play the guitar. Not only will they be able to offer helpful advice – they will be good moral support when it’s time to pick up the guitar and test it out in public.

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