The very word guitar means different for everyone. For someone, it could be the roar of a Les Paul electric guitar and to the others; it could be a Marshall Guitar amp or a delicate seasoned classic guitar.
The world of guitar is varied but certainly rich and comprises varieties of instruments that span largely across timbres and genres.
Each type sounds different and sounds different.
Therefore, those who are planning to step into this versatile journey must learn about the varieties of guitars available. The various types of guitars have evolved over the years and it is imperative to select the right one to learn to play guitar.
Before talking about the top 9 types of guitars, let’s answer a basic question.
Why it is essential to choose the right type of guitar?
The right kind of guitar depends on the type of music, one wants to learn. It is crucial to consider the type of music. For example, if someone aims to break some heavy riffs, then buying a classic acoustic guitar could be the worst mistake.
Hence, learn the details about the types of guitars. And, also the when and why of each type!
- ACOUSTIC GUITARS
It is perhaps, the most common and popular type of guitar, out of all. It is the biggest selling guitar of all time. Initially, the guitar developed by Martin Guitars in 1916 and it became a full-fledged entry in the Martin catalog in 1931.
In general, Acoustic guitars have concave bodies which help to intensify the sound effect of the strings acoustically. These kinds of guitars are usually prepared of wood and consist of six strings. There are two main varieties of acoustic guitars:
- The steel-string acoustic guitar
- The Classical Acoustic guitar
The Steel-string type of guitars produces a metallic kind of sound that is quite a distinctive and significant component of a vast range of genres. These kinds of guitars are sometimes referred to as flat tops. The term top signifies the front of the face of the guitar.
The Classical Acoustic guitars come with a wider neck than the steel-string ones and are strung with the help of nylon strings. These kinds of guitars are primarily integrated with the playing of the solo classical guitar selection. The classical guitars are also referred to as the Spanish guitars, about their origin.
Some Acoustic guitars are cut-away while some are symmetrical. The Dreadnoughts and the Jumbos are the ones with a larger body that produce a big booming sound effect. On the other hand, the Auditorium and the Parlour guitars produce a more articulate and quieter sound effect.
According to each type, the size of the guitar ranges from three-quarters to half, and full size, that depends on the body of the guitarist.
Who should buy an Acoustic Guitar?
The Acoustic guitars are best suited for beginners and singer-songwriters. It is ideal for those who want something to simply strum or fingerpick their music on.
It is not a good choice for those who want to play out something screaming or big.
- ELECTRO-ACOUSTIC GUITARS
The name might sound fancy but it is a regular acoustic guitar that someone can plug into an amplifier. There was once a time when guitarists had to buy a cheap magnetic pickup and inject them into the big hole of the acoustic guitar. Well, things have just become a bit chicer now.
Electro-Acoustic Guitars are also known as Semi-Acoustic guitars. These kinds of guitars consist of pickups that are particularly designed to produce the subtle sound effect of the acoustic guitar. With minimal alteration, these guitars are designed to sound neutral to the acoustic tone.
The Ovation range of the Electro-acoustic guitars consists of under-the-saddle piezo pickups and comes with the design of a synthetic bowl-back. This kind of design ensures a solid construction ensures to stand up to the precision of the roads while offering less effect at high volumes.
The Electro-Acoustic guitars come with a pickup (microphone) built into them that could be plugged into an amplifier system. This way of connection simply amplifies the sound.
Who should you an Electro-Acoustic Guitar?
These kinds of guitars are best for guitarists who want to perform in live shows. With this type, a guitarist doesn’t need to hold the mic in front of the guitar to amplify the sound effect.
- SEMI-ACOUSTIC GUITARS
Also known as the Hollow Bodied Electric Guitars, this type of guitar occupies the space between acoustic guitars and electric guitars. The semi-acoustic or the Hollowbody guitars might sound amazing but they lack solid bodies.
The hollowness in their design leaves them prone to electronic feedback. They look thin and compact like the electric guitars but the bodies are hollow like the acoustic guitars.
Due to their compact and thin outlook, this guitar fails to produce a louder sound effect when unplugged, similar to an acoustic guitar. Hence, the name is such.
When you play one of these guitars, it produces an acoustic tone.
Some significant models of Semi-Acoustic guitars are:
- Gibson ES-335
- Fender Telecaster Thinline
Popular sounds that could be played include early rock n roll, jazz, rockabilly, and similar timbres.
Who should buy a semi-acoustic guitar?
The semi-acoustic or the Hollowbody guitars are best for players who want versatility in their music. It is something with which they can get an acoustic-type tone but also build an amplifying tone if they wish.
- ELECTRIC GUITARS
Much varied from the previously mentioned guitars, the Electric guitars come with solid bodies and produce minimal sound when unless they are plugged into an amplifier.
So, anyone who wants to play an electric guitar needs an amplifier.
The Electric-guitars are solid body guitars that are specifically designed to produce a sound that is metallic and with a lengthy decay. The particular shape of an Electric guitar is not determined by the need for creating a deep-shaped body, and this feature has led to the development of thin and contoured-shaped electric guitars.
There are two most popular types:
- Gibson Les Paul
- Fender Stratocaster
The strings of the electric guitars are thinner when compared to the Acoustic guitars and are closer to the neck. This is the reason why lesser force is required to press them. The amount of ease with which the guitarist can bend the strings and get access to the 12th position, use the whammy bar, and manipulate the switches and the pots while playing has led to the advancement of the Electric guitar style, which is unique to this instrument.
The sensitive, low-struck and thin strings of the electric guitars make them an ideal instrument for fret-tapping.
Much similar to the Acoustic guitars, the Electric guitars are made of made and comprised of six strings and there are 12 versions available of this type of guitars.
Who should buy an Electric Guitar?
The Electric guitar is suitable for those guitarists who are seeking to play a sustainable and powerful sound, or those who want a variety of sounds in their playing.
With an electric guitar in hand, a player is open to the vast world of effect pedals and the varieties of sounds they can create are almost infinite.
Electric guitars are best meant to produce sounds like Folk.
- BASS GUITARS
If you’re someone who dreams to stand alone at the corner of a stage while the lead guitarist and the singer take all the attention, and then grab a bass guitar today!
But these kinds of guitars are far more portable than their predecessors. Unlike the other regular guitars, the bass guitar comes with thick, big strings that produce a thick sound. These types of guitars are primarily electric and solid-bodied. But there are also semi-acoustic and acoustic type basses available.
The strings of this type of guitar range from 4, 5, 6, 8, and to whatever a player could handle. It comes with a thick neck and the open strings of the guitar communicate with the four lowest strings and are pitched on octave lower.
Who should buy a Bass Guitar?
The bass guitar is ideal for those types of people who like the idea of playing with the drummer to build the rhythm section and to hold down the powerful low-end groove in a band setup.
Since bass is a low-end kind of accomplishment, it is not so ideal for those who intend to play big and screaming sounds or those people who love to portray themselves as solo artists.
- RESONATOR GUITARS
Resonator Guitars are perhaps the coolest kind of guitars ever made. Also known as a resophonic guitar, the resonator guitar is an acoustic guitar type that produces sound by stimulating string vibrations through the bridge to one or more resonators, instead of the guitar’s top sounding board.
These kinds of guitars were originally designed to create louder sound than the regular acoustic guitars which were inundated by percussion and horns. The Resonator guitar became a prized instrument for its significant, distinctive sound.
These are of two specific types:
- Round necked guitars that are being played in the steel-guitar or the conventional guitar style
- The square-necked guitar that is being played in the lap guitar style
The Round necked ones are most commonly played by the roots and the blues guitarists. Some of the Resonator guitar types come with a metal body and the guitars produce a bright and loud sound. They are simple acoustic guitars with a metal cone placed in the position of the sound-hole.
The Resonators are primarily used in playing Country, Bluegrass, Hawaiian, Jazz, and Blues music.
Who should get a Resonator Guitar?
Buying a Resonator could be a great option if a guitarist wants to get a louder acoustic sound effect. However, they have to remember that the tone color of a resonator guitar is different from that of an acoustic guitar.
Keeping this in mind, they can easily grab one!
- 12-STRING GUITARS
The twelve-string guitar is a mere simple deviation of the usual six-string guitar design. The twelve-string guitars comprise six standard strings and also a second synchronization of thinner strings. The strings of the second set communicate with the note of its regular string equivalent. The strings are built in pairs and therefore a guitarist can play a twelve-string guitar in the identical way as a six-string guitar.
The twelve-string guitars create a jangly and bright sound than that of the six-string guitars. These kinds of guitars are generally used by guitarists for musical tones progressions that need thickening. The guitar is primarily used as a rhythm tool due to the additional effort that is involved in playing the lead guitar using the paired strings.
The twelve-string guitars come encompassed with double truss rods, twelve tuning pegs, and are expensive than their equivalent six-string guitar version.
The 12-string guitars were popular during the 60s and the 70s, and are used even today.
Who can play the twelve-string guitars?
The twelve-string guitar style requires a lot of pressure on the finger to properly stimulate the notes. The guitarist needs to press it down hard enough for the 2 strings to come in contact with the fret. Therefore, for a beginner, it could be harder to play with a 12-string guitar than a simple 6-string one.
Start with 6-strings; build the finger strength, and then one could grab a twelve-string guitar.
- LAP STEEL GUITARS
The Pedal steel, Lap steel and Hawaiian steel guitars look all similar to a regular guitar but are greatly different in terms of playing. These guitars are played by placing the flat on the lap with a sound slide or bar.
The term Hawaiian style guitar could have been a more appropriate name for this kind of guitar because of the typical type of music that gets played on these guitar types. In this type, the lap steel is played face-up on the upper legs while the player is sitting. It is basically in the form of a board with strings running from one end to the other. The string or the action height remains high and it requires that the instrument is played with a solid metal tone slide or bar.
The Lap steel guitar was most popular in the 40s and the early 50s. It is primarily used to play sounds like Country, Bluegrass, jazz, rock, blues, and various other styles.
The smooth and silky sliding that happens between the notes makes this guitar an incredibly distinctive sounding guitar.
Who can play the Lap Steel guitars?
A guitarist needs to learn new skills and has to employ a new approach to play sound in the lap steel guitars. While a normal guitarist can easily pick up an acoustic or an electric guitar and start playing it, it is not quite the same with the lap steel.
However, beginners can learn to play lap steel but it requires time to play the various riffs and chords.
- ARCHTOP GUITARS
The Archtop guitar is more of a semi-hollow electric or steel-string guitar that has a carved top and is combined with violin-style holes and other internal sound blocks that helps to create an acoustic timbre. These kinds of guitars are most popular with jazz guitarists. T
Archtop guitars are of two types:
- Electric archtop
- Acoustic archtop
Both the guitars are identical in design but the only difference is the addition of pops and electro-magnetic pickups. The Archtop guitars could either be Thinline or full-bodied. The Thinline body lessens the feedback by sacrificing the resonance and the acoustic volume, whereas the full-bodies guitar retains the acoustic resonance and the good volume when played in an unplugged style.
The Archtop is undoubtedly one of the most aesthetically pleasing guitars and the makers tend to adhere to high standards while constructing them.
The original Archtop guitar was designed to enhance the volume and therefore, it was constructed with heavy strings. Even after the thing called electrification became popular, jazz guitarists continued to fit the strings for heavier tones.
Who should play an Archtop guitar?
Beginners should get their hands on a budget Srchtop guitar as they tend to be quite expensive. Generally, those who love playing jazz, end up buying the Archtop guitar.