Purchasing Advice - Guitars
Acoustic, classical, and electric are the three main types of guitars. The type you choose should depend on the style of music you want to play. Many students have a difficult time deciding. It's easier to ask yourself who your favorite bands are. What do you listen to the most? Then you should try to find out what type of guitar(s) they are playing on your favorite recordings. That should be the instrument you choose.
Acoustic and Classical guitars look pretty similar, but they feel and sound different. Acoustic guitar strings are made of steel, and produce a big, bright, brash tone. Classical strings are nylon, and sound mellow, perhaps even muted. If you want to play acoustic rock-Bob Dylan, Neil Young, or Jack Johnson-you probably want an acoustic guitar. If all the songs in your iPod's play list have Italian names, or you're Sergeant of Arms in the Andres Segovia Fan Club, you'll want a classical guitar. You'll also want a different guitar teacher. It's important to note that classical guitar necks are wider. The wider neck makes it more difficult to play at first while the steel string acoustic guitar's long, narrow neck makes it easier to play.
Electric guitars come in two main flavors, depending on the kind of pickups they have. Pickups are like microphones that "pick up" string vibrations. They're the lipstick-or matchbox-shaped things under the strings in the area where you strum the guitar.
Single-coil pickups are the narrow, lipstick-shaped pickups. They tend to have a brighter tone, and are generally considered to be the best sounding pickups for clean (un-distorted) guitar playing. Fender Stratocasters and Telecasters (and their cheaper cousins, made by Squier) usually have single-coil pickups. Most beginning electric guitar students buy $150 Squier Stratocasters. If you can afford $300, the Fender Stratocasters sound a lot better and they don't fall apart in two years.
Hum buckers are the matchbox-shaped pickups. They got their trademarked name because they were able to "buck the hum" that single-coil pickups were susceptible to. Hum buckers sound great with distortion. They're the pickup of choice for the hard rockers. You will find hum bucker pickups in many affordable Gibson and cheaper Epiphone guitars.
Our guitar instructors have been able to locate electric guitar packages for as low a $100 on musiciansfriend.com for their students. That is $100 less expensive than your local music store would charge! Give them a call before buying your guitar. Ask to speak with a specialist. Make sure you tell them your budget and what kind of music you want to play. They will point you in the right direction.