When you mention the word guitar, the image of a long haired guitarist shredding out some sick solos and riffs flashes in almost everyone’s mind. From Jimi Hendrix to Eddie Van Halen to Allan Holdsworth to George Lynch to Steve Vai to Dave Mustaine to Yngwie Malmsteen to Slash to Christian Muenzner to Tosin Abasi to Guthrie Govan, guitar players have wowed music fans all over the world for decades. While the modern guitar heroes have generally excelled on the electric guitar, other types of guitars have been used in classical, blues, and folk music for years before the advent of the electric guitar. With the advancements in technologies like laser cutting, manufacturing guitars has become even cheaper and easier. This has made guitars more accessible to people. In this post, we will talk about the different types of guitars and their features so that you can have a clearer idea of what kind of guitar is best for you. Let’s get started.

Types Of Guitars: All You Need To Know

What are the different types of guitars?

Classical guitar

The classical guitar usually has six strings. The bottom three wires of the fishing line and the rest wires are steel. Classical guitars come in the 12 string version as well. Classical guitars, especially if handmade, can be very expensive. However, there are budget models available for students as well. There is no difference between a 7 string guitar and a classical guitar. The only difference of this type of guitar is that it has more than 1 string than the classical guitar. This extra 1 string can be added to the guitar as the thickest or thinnest sound.

As a brand, Yamaha guitar models are the most popular, and there are guitars suitable for every budget. Bolero or Straus student guitars are budget guitars.

Cutaway classical guitar

Cut-out classical guitars, on the other hand, are thin cased. So the soundboard is thinner. These guitars are often called electric classical. The reason why it is called electro classical is that the case is thin, it only gives you results in the sound system. As a brand, Godin is indisputably the best in the cut case classical guitar market. Of course, we keep custom guitars separate as their prices can be astronomically high.

Acoustic guitar

Although acoustic guitars look the same as classical guitars, there are many differences. First of all, the case is slightly larger than the classical guitar. Its strings are completely steel. As you can remember from our article above, the bottom three strings of classical guitar strings are fishing line, and nylon wire and the remaining three strings are steel.

The classical guitar is played with the fingers. However, the acoustic guitar is generally played with a plastic apparatus called a pick. Some acoustic guitars are available in a “semi-acoustic” version as well where they can be connected to an amplifier during performances.

Fretless Guitar

The fretless guitar was introduced to the music world by the famous Turkish musician Erkan Ogur. The fretless guitar was previously used as a fretless guitar by removing and sanding the classical guitar frets. A sound close to the oud sound, rather close to Turkish music, would be obtained.

Currently, fretless guitars are produced and sold from scratch. After Erkan Ogur, Cenk Erdogan is one of the most important representatives of the fretless guitar. The fretless guitar is played with the fingers. A pick is not used for playing it.

Electric guitar

The electric guitar, on the other hand, has a completely different technique and physical appearance. The case and wood of the electric guitar are not important. The things that matter are the electromagnetic pickups (which pick the vibrations from the strings and send the signal to an amplifier), strings, and touch. That’s why we see a wide variety of electric guitar types. It is not the shape of the guitar that determines the characteristics of the electric guitar.

In the electric guitar logic, electromagnetic coils (pick up) are under the strings. When you pluck the strings, the pickups transmit the sound to the amplifier (the speaker that makes the sound from the guitar), and along with the vibration, you can get sound from here.

The electric guitar cannot be played on its own, so you should buy an amplifier along with the electric guitar. The important thing when buying an amplifier is to know how many watts of audio output it has. The electric guitar is usually played with a plectrum/pick. Although some artists like Mark Knopfler have made an entire career of playing the electric guitar without a pick. 

Famous electric guitar makers

Gibson

Gibson electric guitar models are high in price. However, be advised that a lot of the expensive price tag on most Gibson guitars is because of the image and nostalgia associated with them. They aren’t the most balanced and comfortable guitars when it comes to playability and ease of use. Yes, the appeal of a gold top Gibson Les Paul is to die for, but you can get the same design with better playability and lower price from Epiphone and ESP.

Ibanez

Ibanez guitars rose to prominence in the 80s with the rise of guitar shredders. They are some of the most well made guitars which use excellent craftsmanship. Ibanez has a large selection of models which allows players at different levels to choose from. Beginners can choose from the inexpensive Gio series of Ibanez guitars while experienced guitarists can select from the Prestige and signature models.  

Fender

The Fender Stratocaster is one of the first and still one of the best electric guitars available on the market. The classic, Made in USA versions of the Stratocaster are quite expensive, but Fender has some cheaper models as well. You can’t really go wrong with a Strat.

Jackson

Another guitar brand that really rose to prominence in the 80s with the rise of shredders and metal in the mainstream. They are very well designed and are perfect for all kinds of players. The pointy looks really help with metal musicians.

B.C. Rich

As far as looks are concerned, B.C. Rich definitely makes the most “metal” looking guitars. These guitars are pointy, brutal, and just excellent overall. The death metal movement of the late 80s and early 90s made this brand really popular for obvious reasons. 

Bass Guitar

They are the unsung heroes of music. Generally, those who do not have a musical education are a little confused about where the music is when the bass guitar is played. In fact, it is the backbone of any piece of music. Bassists usually play using their fingers. However, a lot of bassists use a pick as well.

Bass guitar amps are separate. Electric guitar amps are not used for bass guitar. A bass guitar usually has four strings. However, bass guitarists these days play bass guitars with even more strings.

Lap Steel Guitar

It is a type of guitar unique to Hawaii. This type of guitar has 6-7-9 string types. Although the right hand is more functional in other guitar types, the left hand is used more actively in this guitar type. The reason for this is that it is performed with a metal apparatus attached to the left hand.

12 String Guitar

It is mostly used in blues and rock music. Some of the most popular songs with a 12 string guitar are Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven and Bon Jovi’s Wanted Dead Or Alive. It is usually an accompaniment guitar, not a very suitable guitar type for solo use. If you are just going to start playing the guitar, it would be more beneficial to start with a different type of guitar. Tuning 12 strings instead of six is a major hassle with these guitars.

Weissenborn Guitar

It is known that only 5,000 of this type of guitar were produced. In fact, it is a kind of lap slide guitar. It is not yet known how many of the Weissenborn guitars are original copies and how many have survived undamaged and unmodified.

Things to know before buying a guitar

Today, there are countless guitar brands and guitars for every budget. They can create many domestic brands, especially by getting their hands on Chinese market instruments as well as quality brands. Let’s make one thing clear, when you are starting to learn how to play the guitar, you shouldn’t buy the top/most expensive model of any brand. Not only will it be a waste of money, but you will also lack the ability to extract all the features out of such a guitar. All good brands offer excellent guitars in their budget range and you should pick up one of those when you are starting out.

There are two things to consider when buying a student guitar, the first is the intonation problem and the other is the tuning problem. What we have said may seem complicated to you, so let’s give an example to explain it more simply:

On the guitar, the high E string is empty, so when you hit that string without pressing anything, you will get an “E” sound. When you press the 12th fret on the low E string and compare it with the sound of the open high E string, the sounds should be the same. If they sound different, your guitar has something called an intonation problem.

Out-of-tune guitars can lose some enthusiasm when it comes to taking guitar course training. Because the song or melodies you play will not sound right. It’s critical for you to tune your guitar properly before you can play any song correctly. No matter how accurate your fretting and picking are, if your guitar is out of tune, it won’t sound right. A lot of people tune their guitars by ear but for beginners, the use of a guitar tuner or just a guitar tuner app is highly recommended. 

5 important rules for buying a good guitar

We will try to tell you 5 important rules in order to buy a guitar that will last you a long time without any problems.

Set your budget

Guitar prices can get crazy. For this reason, determining your maximum budget when purchasing a guitar allows you to walk on a clearer path. The guitar we will buy for a budget of $200 will not be the same as the guitar we will buy for $2000.

Think twice before buying a guitar online

A lot of people see very cheap prices for guitars online and fall for them. However, a lot of times, it turns out to be the wrong decision as the guitar which arrives in their house, ends up being very different from the guitar they ordered online.

It should not be forgotten that even the same models of the same brands can sound different from each other. For this reason, even if you are just starting to play the guitar, going to the music store and having the salesperson play it will give you the chance to make an easier choice when buying a guitar.

If you still want to buy a guitar online, please make sure that you buy from a place that has a return policy in case of defects. You wouldn’t want to get stuck with an expensive defective guitar for the rest of your life. That’s why, it is much more advisable to go to the music store and buy it without experiencing this stress since it is at the discretion of the owner of the company to return it.

Be sure to read user reviews by choosing well-known brands.

Benefiting from experience while purchasing a guitar will give you the most accurate result. Therefore, when buying guitars, buying cheaper models of well-known brands and brands that have proven themselves in this regard will save you from guitar expenses for a long time.

Even typing the guitar model or brand you will buy into the search engine and reading the comments on the sales sites will open a new window for you. If you do not know the brand and model of the guitar you will buy, it is a bit of luck that a guitar that no one has experienced is good. Do not leave your work and money to chance.

Don’t buy a guitar unless you’re sure which style of guitar to play.

You only have to play the guitar in your mind and if you don’t know what to play, there are things we have to decide first. Classical – acoustic – electric – Bass guitar. Before you play the guitar, you should ask yourself which type of guitar appeals to you.

A lot of people say that you must start learning the guitar by playing a classical or acoustic guitar, regardless of the genre of music that you want to play. However, that’s not the case. You should start learning guitar on the kind of guitar that your idols play. 

If you want to learn to play some sick metal solos and riffs, there is no reason for you to start on anything but an electric guitar. However, if you want to play Flamenco tunes like Paco de Lucia, don’t start learning to play on an electric guitar. 

You don’t have to start with the classical guitar. If you listen to rock music and want to improve yourself, you don’t have to play classical guitar. Since all guitar types have technical and stylistic differences, you may not need to start on the classical guitar to start from scratch. You can play an acoustic guitar. You can play an electric guitar.

Is finger structure important for playing the guitar?

Finger structure is not a red line for us to play the guitar. So it is not completely related to finger structure. Even if your hands are small and your fingers are short, you can easily overcome this situation by doing certain exercises. Yes, having giant fingers like Steve Vai, Jeff Loomis, and Paul Gilbert help, but you can play guitar irrespective of your finger structure.

Are short fingers a problem for guitar playing?

We have heard about it at the time, but we have only heard it. In other words, there is absolutely no question of not being able to play the guitar because of short or chubby fingers. If you check on YouTube, you will find videos of 8 year old Japanese kids shredding Racer X’s Technical Difficulties. So it’s pretty obvious that small hands and short fingers won’t stop you from playing guitar. 

If you want to play the guitar at a young age, there are guitar sizes according to your own hand structure, you can choose from them. Now, the thinness and thickness of the guitar necks have become options. The thin Wizard Neck of Ibanez guitars is excellent for all kinds of guitarists.

For you, playing the guitar should be all about working. So don’t get hung up on your finger structure. It won’t have any kind of significant impact on your guitar playing ability. It all depends on your dedication and training.