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Shopping for your first acoustic guitar
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Most classical guitars are shaped like the first models designed in Spain in the late 1800s. About the size of a 00 steel-string guitar, the typical classical features a neck that joins the body at the 12th fret and has a slotted headstock, with open-geared tuners that jut out toward the back rather than to the sides. Although there are nylon-strings with similar neck dimensions as steel-strings, most have wider necks (up to two inches at the nut), which give your fingers more room for challenging techniques. For this reason, a nylon-string guitar is a good choice for those with big hands or thick fingers.
Does a Solid Top Matter?
Once you’ve determined what size and type of guitar you’d like, there are several construction and design elements you should examine regardless of whether you’re shopping for steel or nylon. Nothing has as much impact on the sound of a guitar as its top (also called the soundboard). Most experienced players insist on a guitar with a solid top, as opposed to one with a laminated, or plywood, top. Tops built of solid wood are generally able to vibrate more freely and produce a richer sound. The sound of a solid-top guitar also tends to improve with age, while a laminate-top guitar’s sound is unlikely to change much over the years. If you’re unsure whether a guitar has a solid top or not, take a look at the edge of the soundhole. With most laminated tops, you can see the individual layers of wood, while a solid top will display the grain running all the way through. Don’t confuse a seam in the center of the top as a sign of laminated wood. The tops of all quality guitars (whether solid or laminated) are made of book-matched wood, which means that the wood is split into two halves that are then glued together so that the two sides mirror each other. Most steel-string guitars feature spruce tops, but you might encounter cedar tops and, less frequently, mahogany or koa. Tops on nylon-string guitars are either spruce or cedar.
Choose the Right Body
The back and sides of a guitar also contribute to the sound of the instrument, but to a lesser degree than the top. If you’re shopping in the lower price regions, you’re most likely to encounter guitars with laminated backs and sides. Mahogany and rosewood are popular choices for both steel- and nylon-strings, but you might also see maple as well as more unusual species such as nato (Asian mahogany), sapele (African mahogany), or ovangkol. If you’d like to step up to a guitar built of all solid woods, you’ll probably have to spend a minimum of $500–$600. Larrivée’s 03 series and Martin’s 15 series are excellent choices in this price range. Ovation guitars are famous for their plastic, bowl-shaped backs. Although some of the company’s models are quite expensive, the entry-level Celebrity line is an affordable choice for many beginners. On the nylon-string side, many of the Spanish-made instruments feature solid woods even in the lower price regions.
How to Judge the Neck
Most guitar necks are made out of mahogany, although maple is an increasingly popular alternative, and many nylon-string guitars have cedar necks. Traditionally, a steel-string’s neck is carved from one piece of wood, but manufacturers are starting to build necks with multiple pieces laminated together. The attachment of the neck to the body is a more controversial issue. Although some people insist that a traditional dovetail joint—where the neck is glued into a precisely fitted pocket on the body—leads to a better-sounding instrument, bolt-on necks have become increasingly popular on guitars in all price ranges. The bolt-on neck’s primary advantage is that it makes any future neck adjustments or resets much easier (and less expensive) than the glued-in designs. Nylon-string guitars traditionally feature a Spanish heel (where the sides are fitted into slots in the neck-block and the body is built around the neck), but many of today’s guitars feature bolt-on or dovetail designs.
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