How to choose and buy an acoustic guitar?

Transferred from the teacher, I hope you can be patient to see the end of it ~ 1. neck. This is a very critical part, directly related to the life of the guitar, feel, stability. Neck materials are mainly: sapele, mahogany, basswood, maple, tulipwood, a few of the most commonly used. Of course, there is also a rare luxury: rosewood. Sablé is one of the higher quality ones, with a strong texture and a very nice grain; mahogany is more used in the current market for mid-range guitars, and it is a very good material, and the cost is not high. These two kinds of wood, strictly speaking, there is no very fine price distinction, some people say that mahogany is more expensive than sapele, and some people say the opposite. In fact, neither statement is entirely accurate, and since we don't want to waste our readers' time, we won't discuss this today. Nowadays, when you buy a guitar neck, the neck wood should at least meet the standard of such material in order to be considered a quality ballad. If the neck is made of basswood, it is usually made very thick, because the hardness of the wood is not enough, if it is made thin, it is easy to change shape and have problems, but if it is made very thick, it affects the feel, and it takes a lot of effort to press it. In addition, maple is generally used for electric guitars.

The above succinctly elaborated: the guitar neck first request material, you can use the naked eye to judge, sapele and mahogany material seems to be very three-dimensional, dense texture, vertical and horizontal interlacing, high grade there is a kind of metal texture. The grain of rowan wood is thin and long, and basswood has no grain at all. Then the neck is required to be as thin as possible to feel comfortable when pressed. In addition, maple necks for electric guitars require a soft, clear grain. These maples are usually imported from Canada.

2. Fretboard. In addition to part of the guitar selection of maple, the guitar is most commonly used is rosewood, good stability, corrosion resistance, now rosewood are mainly imported from Indonesia. Rosewood is also a grade, how to distinguish the specific grade we do not go into detail to discuss. General requirements are no bug eyes, no burrs, feel smooth and oily is good rosewood.

3. Panel. There are solid wood veneer and plywood distinction, strictly speaking, the real good acoustic guitar should be veneer by reason, so that is the real sound of life, of course, there are also part of the plywood guitar is also doing very well. But veneer is relatively expensive, especially for some of the good quality, are expensive. There have been beginners once in our Sendi luthier bought a few hundred dollars electric guitar, back to say very dissatisfied, that is not a veneer, not the famous big brand. This is a complaint is very difficult and is very irrational, because I started salesman certainly will not tell the guests that this is a veneer solid wood, so first of all, you have to have a scientific understanding of the value of judgment, they will measure. But there will be part of a thousand dollars or less or close to a thousand dollars of electric box guitar, such a guitar is generally selected from the domestic spruce of the Northeast, a lot of tone is not fully present the essence of the veneer. High-quality spruce is generally used in Northern Europe, Canada spruce. The texture is clear, the color is uniform, and the high-grade ones have obvious horizontal stripes, which looks vaguely like tiger stripes. But the real tiger maple because of the hardness of the wood, generally are used to do the back side of the board. But beginners if the economic conditions of the limitations, you can consider buying a plywood guitar, if the quality is too high you can also choose a good quality guitar, the price is generally less than a thousand dollars. But plywood piano material is difficult to have a specific measurement standard, can only look at the appearance and their own scene to listen to, the following content will be introduced.

4. Back and side panels. In addition to some special and rare wood, the current market is the most high-grade use of rosewood and tiger maple, because the tiger maple bending difficulty is relatively large, the risk of scrapping is high, a lot of them are made into a JOMBO-type, that is, the shape of the larger gourd. Normal D-type guitar, that is, the traditional Martin style guitar, high-end is the choice of rosewood. If the wood are selected imported A level or more, then these guitars are basically thousands or even tens of thousands. So the guitar is a very noble, noble musical instruments and art, and not the general thinking of the definition of the guitar is a few hundred dollars of things. Then there are some general popularity grade is made of plywood with these woods, or make some quality face single guitar (top veneer, back side is plywood.).

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5. String buttons. Generally the high-end is to use the big brand of professional stringbuttons, these will be a wide range of types. I teach you a simple selection method today, is relatively simple to apply. Is to twist the knob back and forth, feel the smooth degree of string buttons, if you feel very lumpy quality is not so high. Then observe the plating, workmanship, and appearance of the string buttons.

6. Pillow and bridge. High-end guitars are usually made of animal bones, such as: cow bone. Normal is also thousands of dollars of the guitar only have optional animal bone pillows, bridges.

The above is just a judgment of the hardware quality of the guitar. However, the guitar is not just a display of wood, more importantly, it is a performance instrument, so the next content is the most important.

The feel of the guitar: the comfort level of the feel is directly related to the guitarist's learning progress and serious effect. The feel of the guitar is mainly determined by the thickness of the neck, the curvature of the fingerboard, and the distance of the strings from the pins. There is no way to measure the above two points on the spot, you can only feel it yourself. Then the string distance is a certain judgment standard, because the high feel is not good, low will hit the product, the best height (the height of the strings away from the wire) is: 1 the height of the first 1 is 0.5 millimeters, the height of the 12 product position is 2.5 millimeters; 6 strings of the height of the first 1 is 0.55 millimeters, the height of 12 product is 3 millimeters; this is the standard for the measurement of the guitar in general, unless there is a special playing requirements, except for the exceptions.

Tone: This is the most abstract topic. This first of all is to require their own tone to have a certain judgment and appreciation ability, another point, the good guitar volume will be relatively large **** sound better, tone rounded with a sense of granularity, this is a very good standard of measurement, can be judged by comparison. But there are some low-end guitars and even practice instruments are also very loud, but the tone is pale and hollow. This is also something to be aware of. Those who have studied vocal music know that the American voice must first have at least a certain volume, and how can it be considered a qualified singer if you can't even make a sound? But shouting loudly is not necessarily will sing, tone is also one of the most critical factors, and then is singing skills and expression, but these into the guitar, then it is the player's thing, the guitar is not autonomous expression. There is also the sound of the electric guitar, electric guitar tone has a lot of types, styles, preferences vary from person to person, the general standard of judgment is: full tone, sustained and smooth.

The last thing is to tell you how to maintain the guitar, the guitar should try to avoid humidity and exposure to the sun. The full veneer guitar should also avoid sudden and strong changes in temperature, so as not to cause deformation and cracking, if the weather is too dry, it is recommended to place a humidifier in the sound hole. Guitar try not to be placed against the wall, this is very dangerous, in case of falling to the ground, it is easy to break the headstock, every year there are several people because of this reason to break the guitar headstock and bring it to the maintenance.

There are guitar strings, which are very crucial to the sound and feel of the guitar, but good strings are generally easier to oxidize, so it's best to wipe them carefully every time you finish playing. When you change the strings, it's best to buy high-quality brand-name strings, which play a very important role in the sound of the guitar.

Neck. This is a very critical part, directly related to the guitar life, feel, stability. Neck materials are mainly: sapele, mahogany, basswood, maple, tulipwood, this several is the most commonly used. Of course, there is also a rare luxury: rosewood. Sablé is one of the higher quality ones, with a strong texture and a very nice grain; mahogany is more used in the current market for mid-range guitars, and it is a very good material, and the cost is not high. These two kinds of wood, strictly speaking, there is no very fine price distinction, some people say that mahogany is more expensive than sapele, and some people say the opposite. In fact, neither statement is entirely accurate, and since we don't want to waste our readers' time, we won't discuss this today. Nowadays, when you buy a guitar neck, the neck wood should at least meet the standard of such material in order to be considered as a high-quality ballad. If the neck is made of basswood, it is usually made very thick, because the hardness of the wood is not enough, if it is made thin, it is easy to change shape and have problems, but if it is made very thick, it affects the feel, and it takes a lot of effort to press it. In addition, maple is generally used for electric guitars.

The above succinctly elaborated: guitar neck first request material, you can use the naked eye to judge, sapele and mahogany material looks very three-dimensional, dense texture, vertical and horizontal interlacing, high grade and a kind of metal texture. The grain of rowan wood is thin and long, and basswood has no grain at all. Then the neck is required to be as thin as possible to feel comfortable when pressed. In addition, maple necks for electric guitars require a soft, clear grain. These maples are usually imported from Canada.

2. Fretboard. In addition to part of the guitar selection of maple, the guitar is most commonly used is rosewood, good stability, corrosion resistance, now rosewood are mainly imported from Indonesia. Rosewood is also a grade, how to distinguish the specific grade we do not go into detail to discuss. General requirements are no bug eyes, no burrs, feel smooth and oily is good rosewood.

3. Panel. There are solid wood veneer and plywood distinction, strictly speaking, the real good acoustic guitar should be veneer by reason, so that is the real sound of life, of course, there are also part of the plywood guitar is also doing very well. But veneer is relatively expensive, especially for some of the good quality, are expensive. There have been beginners once in our Sendi luthier bought a few hundred dollars electric box guitar, back to say very dissatisfied, that is not veneer, not the famous big brand. This is a complaint is very difficult and is very irrational, because I started salesman certainly will not tell the guests that this is a veneer solid wood, so first of all, you have to have a scientific understanding of the value of judgment, they will measure. But there will be part of a thousand dollars or less or close to a thousand dollars of electric box guitar, such a guitar is generally selected from the domestic spruce in the Northeast, a lot of tone is not fully present the essence of the veneer. High-quality spruce is generally used in Northern Europe, Canada spruce. The texture is clear, the color is uniform, and the high-grade ones have obvious horizontal stripes, which looks vaguely like tiger stripes. But the real tiger maple because of the hardness of the wood, generally are used to do the back side of the board. But beginners if the economic conditions of the limitations, you can consider buying a plywood guitar, if the quality is too high you can also choose a good quality guitar, the price is generally less than a thousand dollars. But plywood piano material is difficult to have a specific measurement standard, can only look at the appearance and their own scene to listen to, the following content will be introduced.

4. Back and side panels. In addition to some special and rare wood, the current market is the most high-grade use of rosewood and tiger maple, because the tiger maple bending difficulty is relatively large, the risk of scrapping is high, a lot of them are made into a JOMBO-type, that is, the shape of the larger gourd. Normal D-type guitar, that is, the traditional Martin style guitar, high-end is the choice of rosewood. If the wood are selected imported A level or more, then these guitars are basically thousands or even tens of thousands. So the guitar is a very noble, noble musical instruments and art, and not the general thinking of the definition of the guitar is a few hundred dollars of things. Then there are some general popularity grade is made of plywood with these woods, or make some quality face single guitar (top veneer, back side is plywood.).

5

5. String buttons. Generally the high-end is to use the big brand of professional stringbuttons, these will be a wide range of types. I teach you a simple selection method today, is relatively simple to apply. Is to twist the knob back and forth, feel the smooth degree of string buttons, if you feel very lumpy quality is not so high. Then observe the plating, workmanship, and appearance of the string buttons.

6. Pillow and bridge. High-end guitars are usually made of animal bones, such as: cow bone. Normal is also thousands of dollars of guitar only have optional animal bone pillows, bridges.

The above is just a judgment of the hardware quality of the guitar. However, the guitar is not just a display of wood, more importantly, it is a performance instrument, so the next content is the most important.

The feel of the guitar: the comfort level of the feel is directly related to the guitarist's learning progress and serious effect. The feel of the guitar is mainly determined by the thickness of the neck, the curvature of the fingerboard, and the distance of the strings from the pins. There is no way to measure the above two points on the spot, you can only feel it yourself. Then the string distance is a certain judgment standard, because the high feel is not good, low will hit the product, the best height (the height of the strings away from the wire) is: 1 the height of the first 1 is 0.5 millimeters, the height of the 12 product position is 2.5 millimeters; 6 strings of the height of the first 1 is 0.55 millimeters, the height of 12 product is 3 millimeters; this is the standard for the measurement of the guitar in general, unless there is a special playing requirements, except for the exceptions.

Tone: This is the most abstract topic. This first of all is to require their own tone to have a certain judgment and appreciation ability, another point, the good guitar volume will be relatively large **** sound better, the tone of the rounded sense of grain, this is a very good standard of measurement, can be judged by comparison. But there are some low-end guitars and even practice instruments are also very loud, but the tone is pale and hollow. This is also something to be aware of. Those who have studied vocal music know that the American voice must first have at least a certain volume, and how can it be considered a qualified singer if you can't even make a sound? But shouting loudly is not necessarily will sing, tone is also one of the most critical factors, and then is singing skills and expression, but these into the guitar, then it is the player's thing, the guitar is not autonomous expression. There is also the sound of the electric guitar, electric guitar tone has a lot of types, styles, preferences vary from person to person, the general standard of judgment is: full tone, sustained and smooth.

The last thing is to tell you how to maintain the guitar, the guitar should try to avoid humidity and exposure to the sun. The full veneer guitar should also avoid sudden and strong changes in temperature, so as not to cause deformation and cracking, if the weather is too dry, it is recommended to place a humidifier in the sound hole. Guitar try not to be placed against the wall, this is very dangerous, in case of falling to the ground, it is easy to break the headstock, every year there are several people because of this reason to break the guitar headstock and bring it to the maintenance.

There are guitar strings, which are very crucial to the sound and feel of the guitar, but good strings are generally easier to oxidize, so it's best to wipe them carefully every time you finish playing. And when you change the strings, it's best to buy high-quality brand strings, which play a very important role for the guitar tone.