Hi, how you doing? Justin here. In this lesson today we are going to be checking out the
different types of guitar that exist in the world, well, just the three main types,
and talking about the pros and cons of each one. If you are a beginner guitar player looking
to buy your first guitar, what sort of things you should be looking for.
So there are three main types of guitar. The one that I am holding in my arms now is a
steel string acoustic guitar which is what most guitar players think of when they think of
an acoustic guitar. The other two types of guitar are an electric guitar and a classical guitar.
Classical guitar is also a type of an acoustic guitar as well so we end up in this
funny area where these things are not falling into one of the three categories. But those are the most important three.
Now when you are choosing which one of them you are going to play there are a few
things that set it off straight away. If you want to play rock guitar get an electric guitar.
Full stop. Easy. Done. Sold. If you have got not very much money to spend and you are
looking at as cheap a guitar as possible get an electric guitar. I know that sounds kind of funny,
like oh it's an electric guitar. It has got more fancy stuff in it but actually the
problem with acoustic guitars, especially steel string acoustic guitars, when they are
really cheap they are really difficult to play. They have got what is called a High Action,
that means the strings are quite far away from the fingerboard, usually.
So they are really really difficult to play barre chords on. They tend to not sound very nice as well,
cheap acoustic guitars, because they are made of laminated wood and my general opinion is
that if you have got not very much money an electric guitar is a far better way to go.
If you want to play classical guitar you should definitely buy a classical guitar.
Hey, a little bit obvious there Justin, thanks. But it is true. You don't really want to be trying to play
classical music on a steel string guitar or an electric guitar. That said I am not
really a classical guitar teacher. I don't cover classical guitar as part of my course. I
don't really think it is the best, most fun thing to learn guitar on a classical guitar
because it is all about learning to read notes and playing one note at a time and stuff. It
is a bit easier to just get going if you are playing chords and stuff.
Anyway, this is a steel string acoustic guitar. The things to look for when you are
checking out an acoustic guitar is 1) does it sound nice? The best thing you can do when
you go shopping for a guitar is take somebody who knows what they are doing.
Take somebody who has played guitar for a bit, who can strum a few chords, who can have a
listen to it and see if they like the sound of it. If you are a complete beginner and know
nothing you kind of have to rely on the sales people and a lot of the time they are full of
it and don't really tell you the truth because they are trying to sell you something.
On the website there is a link from BC-102 which will give you some links to some
products and stuff and some stores that I recommend. But the big thing that you are looking for here on a steel
string guitar is that the action is not too high. That is the distance here between the string and the fret.
When you press the string down you probably don't want it to be more than like 3 or 4mm at the twelfth fret.
Definitely not 5mm or more because you will get them that high on a cheap guitar.
So I wouldn't be looking at really cheap steel string acoustic guitars, but you can do if you want.
You can get a thing called electro acoustics as well which is an acoustic guitar with a
pick up system, which this is. I have got a volume control and stuff here. This guitar has
got a microphone built into it. You don't really need that when you are beginner.
If later on if you are going to do gigs and stuff you can retrofit it later. You can get the electric
system put in afterwards. Or you can buy yourself another guitar, a better guitar
maybe. So if you learn on one guitar you can get a fairly cheap one to learn on.
you can decide that you are a professional now and you want to go and do a gig then buy another guitar.
I would be more inclined to do that than spending a whole lot of money,
especially on a budget guitar you don't want to waste money on an electric system
because it is a budget guitar. The electric system is not going to be very good either and
it is going to take more money away from just having a nice guitar in the first place.
So that is a steel string guitar.
OK, this is a classical guitar. These are quite easy to play. I learned on a classical guitar.
Also called a nylon string acoustic because the strings are not metal any more, we are
talking about nylon. They used to be made of cat gut believe it or not. Definitely glad
my cat wasn't around in the days when they did cat gut guitar strings.
Anyway, the strings are made of nylon now so you don't have to worry if you are an animal liber (animal rights person).
These can be quite cheap. I started off on a Yamaha GC-100 I think, or a 110.
And it was a fantastic guitar. It didn't cost very much. Yamaha make really good nylon string acoustics.
I highly recommend them. I don't play them any more but for a beginners
guitar they are really wicked. Don't worry about getting one with an electric system, you
don't need it. They are slightly wider in the neck here. The width of the neck can be
considerably wider. 10mm wider I suppose, so quite a lot. So a nylon string guitar can
be great for people with really big hands as well. That is a really helpful thing there if
you have got big hands. The strings as well are a little bit further apart so it can make it
a little easier to fret your chords out when you are starting for a big handed dude.
You will have a little trouble getting further up the fingerboard here because you don't have any
access to the higher frets which could cause you problems, but probably not.
A lot of children learn on these because of the nylon strings. They are a little softer on the
fingers. I don't really recommend it. The one thing they are really good for is people
with really big hands, a classical guitar is great for that. Or really young children if they
are worried about playing on the metal strings and the skin on their fingers is too soft.
Generally nice. They don't have the same sound.
Classical guitars have a very different sound
. . .
To a steel string acoustic guitar. A lot more suited for
. . .
That kind of thing. Or you know
. . .
For doing that kind of guitar, more so than for strumming along.
They don't tend to sound so good when they are strummed. So that is a classical guitar.
OK, the last type of guitar we are ging to have a look at is an electircal guitar.
Now this is a Fender Stratocaster which are a really good, standard electric guitar. They sound
good, they are quite versatile. They are thousands of different types of electric guitar
and the one you choose is really up to what you like and what sort of sound you want to
get. What guitar players you think look cool or whatever. There is not really a big deal about electric guitar.
But there is some big deals on electric guitar when you are considering buying one when
you are a beginner. In fact I really recommend getting an electric guitar as a beginner
guitar player for a few reasons. First of all they are easier to play. Generally the strings
are closer to the neck so it is easier to press down the chords. The neck is a little
thinner which for most people is an advantage when they are trying to stretch out for
chords it is a little bit easier to start off with. They are a little bit quieter. You can still hear an electric guitar
without an amplifier. Don't be under the impression that you have to buy an amplifier if you get an electric guitar.
You don't. You can play acoustically. You are not going to be very loud, which is
maybe a good thing for you neighbours when you are learning guitar. But you will hear, like,
. . .
Perfectly audible for you to hear while you are playing, no question. So
getting an electric guitar is good for that as well. There are some really good quality budget electric guitars
around. The Yamaha Pacifica is the one that springs to mind. Ibanez do some really good budget electric guitars.
Fender Squires are OK, there have been a few quality control issues in the ones of seen
lately of their really cheap ones. I definitely like the Pacifica's. I don't have a deal with
Yamaha. I think they are really good, cheap electric guitars. Pretty decent sound, play well.
So my personal recommendation is that if you are going to learn guitar and you are just
starting out, you don't know what sort of guitar to get, get an electric guitar. Simple.
Don't worry about an amplifier and stuff yet. Save that for a little bit later when you
know what you are doing, what sort of sound you want to make and stuff. Don't worry
about anything fancy, just standard Yamaha Pacifica or a Squire Stratocaster or I don't
know what the Ibanez one is called. Whatever. Any of those. Again, there will be some
links on the website for some specific guitars which I would recommend and why.
I just wanted to discuss with you the pros and cons between an electric, a classical and a steel string guitar.
Another thing that you might see is a semi acoustic guitar or a hollow body electric guitar.
Which are like regular electric guitars but they are mainly
used in jazz. Their bodies are a little bit thicker and they are actually hollow inside. So
they are somewhere in between an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar, but in my
opinion more in the electric guitar family. Not a bad thing. If that is what tickles your fancy then that
would be a good thing. Otherwise just get yourself a nice, simple electric guitar and off you go. Instead of
spending too much time thinking of what guitar to get think a lot about doing loads of
practice and getting good real quick. Much better idea. OK. Hope that has helped you in
your dilemma a little and I shall see you for another lesson very soon. Bye, bye.