|
|
 |
 |
 |
On buying a guitar…
- It depends how much can you spend…Spend as much as you
can afford to: please keep in mind that you're going to spend a lot
of time practicing, and if you enjoy your instrument, you'll look
forward to practice. It's your time being spent on practicing that
is really important (to enjoy the instrument, not to add the extra
burden of a lousy guitar.)
- The advantage of a second hand instrument: Is that you can
often get a really great guitar for considerably less than a new one.
Fortunately, guitars have little, if any, moving parts, so what you
see is what you get. It is a good idea to take a knowledgeable friend
to inspect the guitar and to check fret wear, test the controls and
give the guitar a good test by playing it. Also: should you decide
to stop playing guitar, you would be able to sell the 2nd hand guitar
for the same amount or even at a small profit.
- If you're just wanting to play around the campfire and for
casual fun at home, perhaps a steel string acoustic would be best.
If you're wanting to study music with guitar as your instrument through
school or a college, I'd suggest a nylon string.
- If you're wanting to become a professional rock musician:
Your first purchase would be an electric guitar. The good news is
that once you can play one type of guitar, you can play any type of
guitar - nothing changes with regards to chords and scales.
- For parents that want to buy a guitar for their child: Consider
purchasing a half size, or 3/4 size guitar - which are often a lot
cheaper too. Younger children also often find electric guitars easier
to play due to the small neck and the very light thin strings, so
if your budget allows and your child really enjoys music that uses
electric guitar, consider this option seriously - if you're hesitant,
perhaps a 2nd hand electric - if they decide not to play you can often
resell the guitar for the same price or a little more.
What kinds of guitar are there?
|
| Guitar Type |
Neck |
Strings |
Weight |
Size |
Price |
Versatility |
Acoustic,
nylon
string |
Wide, unpleasant
for young players and those with small hands |
Medium,
not too easy to bend, but still easy to play |
Normally light |
Large |
Cheapest |
Best for classical, jazz, flamenco.
Not very versatile |
Acoustic,
steel string |
Narrow, similar to electric
guitar, much easier for players with small hands |
Medium to heavy, young players
often find it difficult to push strings down - can put on very
light strings whilst learning |
Slightly heavier than the classical
guitar |
Medium to large |
2nd cheapest,
although close to electric guitar prices |
Quite versatile, good for most
styles of rock, blues, folk, jazz |
| Semi-acoustic |
Narrow, similar to electric
guitar |
Medium to heavy, although you
can use a light set of strings. Jazz guitarists prefer heavier,
thicker strings |
Light to intermediate |
Medium to large width of guitar
can vary too |
Normally more expensive |
Normally associated with jazz
and blues, but more of a dedicated guitar, not ideal overall
style instrument |
| Electric |
Narrow |
Light to medium, but can use
heavy, thicker strings if you prefer to |
Often heavy, as the body is
generally solid wood |
Small to medium, normally a
lot narrower than the above types. |
3rd cheapest, but normally quite
affordable. Hidden cost is the amplifier and effect pedals |
Very versatile, will play almost
any style of music |
|
Is your electric guitar a little too soft ?
This could be due to either of these-easy-to remedy problems, assuming
that your guitar's pick-ups are not faulty.
The first thing is to check the height of the strings from the
neck and then the pick-ups. Before you adjust the pick-ups make
sure your string's height from the neck is okay - this is what we
refer to as "action". The distance from the strings to the
neck at the 12th fret could be up to 1.75mm, I've actually seen guitars
with this distance at over 4mm !! - Crazy. This adjustment might be
correctable if your neck is set up okay - it should be straight, or
a very, very slight bow inwards, never outwards. If not, rather get
someone knowledgeable to set it up or help you.
If your action is okay, then check the height from the strings
to the pick-up, this generally varies on the pick-up, whether you
have active (with batteries) or passive. Passive pick-up often have
stronger magnets and therefore attract the strings easier which will
cause your string to ring with a (un)natural vibrato sound - not pleasant.
The trick is to adjust your pick-up so that they're as close as possible
with out influencing the ringing of the string, test this on all your
frets. Watch out for the pick-ups combined magnetic pull, active pick-ups
might have less strength, but the effect is still there.
You can adjust the height of the pick-ups by adjusting the screws
on either side of the pick-up, please make sure that you're turning
the right screws! To see if you are simply give the screw half to
whole turn and see if the pick-up moves up or down, if so, you're
on target.
|
|
 Purchase
the Play Guitar CD now for only $34.50!  |
|
|
|
