Types of Guitars

In the world today, many types and brands of guitars exist. Ranging from electric to classical, these guitars have shaped music as we know it today. This article briefly discusses what type of guitar to use for which sound, who plays each type of guitar, and perhaps a concise history lesson.

Acoustic

The acoustic guitar has 6 steel strings that must be stretched taut across a reinforced neck (the neck is reinforced to resist warping over time). So, a metal rod is placed inside the neck to stiffen the body. The steel strings produce a bright and loud sound; also note that some acoustics have 12 strings in six pairs (courses) that allow for an even brighter sound. The hollow body of the acoustic guitar allows it to produce sound by resonation (meaning the sound bounces around inside the body and comes back out), and requires no electricity. This guitar is widely used in every genre, but its permanent home resides in country or folk-music.

Bass

Known as the heartbeat of a song, the bass guitar has 4 steel strings that are incredibly thick when compared to any other guitar. This guitar uses steel bass strings to produce the bass (or low notes) for the song. The neck and frets are considerably longer than those of any other guitar, since lower notes have longer spaces between them. This guitar is played in many fashions, the most popular being slap and pop (Slap That Bass). Some popular bassists are Dream Theater’s John Myung, Victor Wooten, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Flea, and Les Claypool of Primus.

Classical

Similar to an acoustic guitar, but much lighter, the classical guitar uses nylon strings versus steel strings. Sometimes the classical guitar uses a combination of steel and nylon strings to produce a unique sound. Traditionally, classical guitars were used in orchestras to produce, you guessed it, classical music (most likely where the name came from). This guitar was popularized later on by folk and country singers such as Johnny Cash and Jimmy Dean (yes, the breakfast sausage man).

Electro-Acoustic

The electro-acoustic is essentially an acoustic guitar with either a pickup or microphone that allows the player to amplify the output signal with an electrical signal. The more widely used amplification method is the pickup, a piezoelectric pickup to be exact. This pickup uses a tiny crystal to produces small amounts of energy when the shape changes, and the shape changes due to vibrations from the strings.

Electric

The father of rock and roll, the electric guitar accounts for numerous musical genres today. The electric guitar usually has 6 strings with quick action (the strings are easy to push down because they rest close to the fretboard) and no hole for the sound to resonate in. This guitar requires an amplifier to create a larger-than-life sound. Since it uses amplifiers to produce sound from electricity, there are literally thousands of ways to manipulate or change the sound produced from the guitar. Pedals or fuzz-boxes allow for quick changes from clean to distorted (those sounds that make your grandmother cringe). Some popular electric guitarists include John Petrucci, Eric Clapton, Eddie Van Halen, Michael Angelo Batio, Jimi Hendrix, Buddy Holly, along with many others.

To see a list of the positives and negatives of the different guitar types, see the following article (Guitar for Beginners). In general, the kind of guitar you decide to use depends on the sound that you want to produce and how you want to go about learning.