3 Types of Guitars

Steel String & Nylon String Guitars, 
Bass Guitars, & Electric Guitars    

There are only three main types of guitar with an infinite number of variables in the colour, quality, design and sound. When you buy your first guitar you may already know what type of guitar you want to play or you may want to ask for advise from an experienced guitar player. Either way, start out with a cheaper guitar and work your way up because until you start to learn, you cannot know whether you will continue to want to play or have the time that you need to devote to it.

Most beginner guitarists will start to play on an acoustic guitar with nylon strings. These are initially a little easier on your soft fingertips, they are more forgiveing for mistakes ( sound wise) and they are generally speaking, the cheapest guitar on the market.

If you know you want to amplify your guitar music then an acoustic steel string or an electric guitar will be more suitable for you, and as you learn more, you'll discover it's easier to play on the guitar which is particularly suited to the style of music you are playing. If you want to solo a melody or have guitar effects, then an amplified guitar is necessary. If you need to learn in an environment which is not happy to have loud noises introduced into it, then an unamplified steel or nylon string guitar will be more suitable, until you can find somewhere else to practice.

Nylon String Guitars

Acoustic nylon string guitars are mostly used for Classical and Spanish music, for strumming or picking out a melody, for ballads, soft blues and simple songs from a singer and guitarist soloist, with minimal or no backing. They are the most popular guitar to begin learning on as the strings cut less into the fingertips and have a softer melodious sound. They are also a complete instrument that can be played anywhere at any time with no plugs or batteries or anything else needed other than a pick and spare strings.

Steel String Guitars

Steel string acoustic guitars are not so different to nylon, in that they are complete in themselves. They are for folk, blues, country, acoustic rock and slide guitar players and have a sharper ringing tone that seems louder when strummed. Steel string guitars usually have a truss rod adjustment. This bends the neck concave or convex in oder to bring the steel strings closer or further away from the fret board. Closer means you don't have to press so hard to keep the note true.

Steel strings are a little harder on the fingertips at first and fret squeaks and squeals are common until you bring the fingering under control. With practice your fingertips form callouses and you will no longer be constantly aware of soreness. Steel string acoustic guitars can have a pickup added to ampliphy their sound if playing with a backing band.

Electric Guitars

Electric guitars are generally played with a band where they can take a lead roll or a backing role for rock, blues, grunge, heavy metal, country and most other popular styles of music. They are more versatile than accoustic guitars because you can select different sounds with your effects pedals from your amplifier, for example fuzz for rock and distortion for heavy metal.

The guitar itself may cost no more than an acoustic steel string of the same quality depending on the finish and quality you choose. The electric guitar has the pickup built in but you will also need to buy a guitar amplifier to hear what you are playing. Playing without an amplifier will sound tinny, as electric guitars have no soundbox to resonate the sound as acoustic guitars do.

A bass guitar is an electric guitar with a lower range. The human ear hears higher notes as being louder. For this reason it's estimated that the power of your ampliphier should be double that required for a normal electric guitar. Speakers will also find vibration to be a problem, look for well constructed speaker cabs using properly designed bass speakers designed to getthe best tonal range from your bass. Test them out before you buy if possible.

New Guitars

Once you have weighed the pros and cons of each type of guitar, don't stint but spend as much as you can afford. You will play more easily and learn faster on a better quality guitar. Don't buy the bottom of the range at your local retailer. New cheap guitars often have problems with uneven frets and poor quality machine heads. Spend a bit more to buy a model with a good brand name and try them out before you buy to make sure that you feel comfortable about their size, type of strings and their sound.

You can see a full range of new guitars on Amazon by clicking here Guitars Basses & Amps Effects

Secondhand Guitars

Secondhand guitars range widely in quality and price and advice or research should be undertaken before paying for one. You can save a great deal of money buying a second hand guitar and will get a better quality guitar this way.

See Vintage Guitars On eBay