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Guitar/Different Types of Guitars

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Playing different guitars in a music shop is a great way of familiarising yourself with each model's

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unique qualities but don't forget to take off any objects that could scratch the guitar. A music

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salesman will let you try as many guitars as you like but may not be too happy about the little

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scratch your coat button left. Your choice of guitar will usually be based on the type of music you

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wish to play and the aesthetic appeal of the colour and design.

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Contents [hide]
1 Acoustic guitars
2 Electric lead guitars
3 Electro-acoustic guitars
4 Twelve-string guitars

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5 Archtop guitars

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6 Steel guitars

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7 Resonator guitars

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8 Bass guitars

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9 Double-neck guitars

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Acoustic guitars

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What links here

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There are two main types of acoustic guitar namely steel-string

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acoustic guitars and classical guitars. Steel-string acoustic guitars

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produce a metallic sound that is a distinctive component of a wide

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range of popular genres. Steel-string acoustic guitars are sometimes

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referred to as flat tops. The word top refers to the face or front of
the guitar which is called the table. Classical guitars have a wide
neck and use nylon strings. They are primarily associated with the
playing of the solo classical guitar repertoire. Classical guitars are
sometimes referred to as spanish guitars in recognition of their
country of origin.

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The acoustic guitar lends itself to a variety of tasks and roles. Its

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portability and ease of use make it the ideal songwriter's tool. Its

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gentle harp-like arpeggios and rhythmic chordal strumming has

always found favor in an ensemble. The acoustic guitar has a

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personal and intimate quality that is suited to small halls, churches

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and private spaces. For larger venues some form of amplification is

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classical guitar

required. An acoustic guitar can be amplified by placing a

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microphone in front of the sound hole or by installing a pickup.

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There are many entry-level acoustic guitar models that are manufactured to a high standard and

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these are entirely suitable as a first guitar for beginners.

Electric lead guitars

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Electric guitars are solid-bodied guitars that are designed to be plugged into an amplifier. The
electric guitar when amplified produces a sound that is metallic with a lengthy decay. The shape of
the electric guitar is not determined by the need for a deep resonating body and this had led to the
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development of contoured and thin bodied electric guitars. The two most popular designs are the
Fender Stratocaster and the Gibson Les Paul.
Electric guitar strings are thinner than acoustic guitar strings and closer to the neck and therefore
less force is needed to press them down. The ease with which you can bend strings, clear access
to the twelfth position, the use of a whammy bar and the manipulation of pots and switches whilst
playing has led to the development of a lead guitar style that is unique to the instrument. Frettapping is a guitar technique for creating chords and melody lines that are not possible using the
standard technique of left-hand fretting and right-hand strumming. The sustain, sensitive pick-ups,
low action and thin strings of the electric guitar make it an ideal instrument for fret-tapping.

Electro-acoustic guitars

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Electro-acoustic guitars have pickups that are specifically designed to reproduce the subtle
nuances of the acoustic guitar timbre. Electro-acoustic pickups are designed to sound neutral with
little alteration to the acoustic tone. The Ovation range of electro-acoustic guitars have under-thesaddle piezo pickups and a synthetic bowl-back design. The synthetic bowl-back ensures a tough
construction that stands up to the rigours of the road while offering less feedback at high volumes.
Ovation were the first company to provide on-board equalization and this is now a standard
feature. The Taylor electro-acoustic range uses the traditional all-wood construction and the necks
of these guitars have a reputation for superb action and playability. Yamaha, Maton and many
other companies manufacture electro-acoustic guitars and the buyer is advised to test as many
models and makes as they can while taking note of the unplugged and amplified sound.

Twelve-string guitars

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The twelve-string guitar is a simple variation of the normal six string design. Twelve-string guitars
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have six regular strings and a second set of thinner strings. Each string of the second set
corresponds to the note of its regular string counterpart. The strings form pairs and therefore you
play a twelve-string guitar in the same manner as you would a standard six-string.
Twelve-string guitars produce a brighter and more jangly tone than six-string guitars. They are
used by guitarists for chord progressions that require thickening. The twelve-string is mainly used
as a rhythm instrument due to the extra effort involved in playing lead guitar using paired strings.
Twelve-string guitars have twelve tuning pegs and double truss rods and are slightly more
expensive then their corresponding six-string version.

Archtop guitars

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The archtop is a semi-hollow steel-string acoustic or electric guitar.

The arched table combined with violin-style f-holes and internal
sound-block creates a timbre that is acoustic and mellow. These two
factors have made archtops a firm favourite with jazz guitarists.
Acoustic and electric archtops are identical in design with the only
difference being the addition of electro-magnetic pickups and pots.
Archtops can either be full-bodied or thinline. The full-bodied
archtop retains good volume and acoustic resonance when played
unplugged though feedback may be an issue when amplified. The
thinline body minimizes feedback by sacrificing acoustic volume and
resonance.
The archtop is one of the most aesthetically pleasing guitar designs
and makers usually adhere to very high standards of construction
and playability. These factors ensure its continuing popularity with
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guitarists.

Steel guitars

Epiphone Emperor
archtop guitar

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The steel guitar is unusual in that it is played horizontally across the

player's lap. The steel guitar originates from Hawaii where local musicians, newly introduced to the
European guitar, developed a style of playing involving alternative tunings and the use of a slide.
The Hawaiian guitarists found that by laying the guitar flat across the lap they could better control
the slide. In response to this new playing style some Hawaiian steel guitars were constructed with a
small rectangular body which made them more suitable for laying across the lap.
There are two types of steel guitar played with a steel, the solid metal bar from which the guitar
takes its name, namely the lap steel guitar and the pedal steel guitar with its extra necks. The
pedal steel guitar comes on its own stand with a mechanical approach similar to the harp. Pedals
and knee-levers are used to alter the pitch of the strings whilst playing thereby extending the
fluency of the glissandi technique.

Resonator guitars

[edit]

Resonator guitars are distinctive for not having a regular sound hole instead they have a large
circular perforated cover plate which conceals a resonator cone. The cone is made from spun
aluminum and resembles a loudspeaker. The bridge is connected to either the center or edge of
the cone by an aluminum spring called the spider. The vibrations from the spider are projected by
the cone through the perforated cover plate. The most common resonator guitars have a single
cone although the original model patented in April 1927 by John Dopyera had three and was
called a tricone resophonic guitar. Resonator guitars are loud and bright. They are popular with
blues and country guitarists and can be played conventionally or with a slide.
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Some resonator guitars possess metal bodies and these are called steel guitars. This can lead to
some confusion with the Hawaiian guitar of the same name. They are two distinct instruments. The
Hawaiian steel guitar takes its name from the steel bar used to create the glissandi and the
Resonator steel guitar refers to the material used for the construction of the body.

Bass guitars

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The bass guitar has a long neck (scale-length) and thick strings. The open strings of the bass
guitar corresponds to the four lowest strings of the guitar and are pitched an octave lower. The
standard bass has four strings though five and six string basses are available which extends the
range of the instrument. Though the bass guitar is the bass instrument of the guitar family and the
double-bass is the bass instrument of the orchestral string family their similar roles have drawn
bass players to both instruments.

Double-neck guitars

[edit]

The double-neck guitar is designed so that two guitar necks can share one body. This design
allows the guitarist to switch between either neck with ease. The double-neck guitar will normally
have a standard six-string neck and a twelve-string neck though other combinations, such as a sixstring neck and bass neck and a six-string neck and fretless neck, are available. The double-neck
guitar may be used in live situations when a guitarist needs a twelve-string guitar for the rhythm
part and a six-string guitar for the solo break.
Guitar
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This page w as last modified on 31 March 2015, at 13:12.

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