Four Tips for Finding the Best Guitar
Everyone loves good music. However, what is difficult is learning how to play or produce music that is desirable. Creating a sound that is truly unforgettable, especially as a guitar player, does not happen by accident. Instead, it requires taking deliberate action every step of the way—particularly, as it relates to purchasing a guitar that you can be comfortable with for the long haul. This article is intended as a guide that you can use to help find the right guitar for the occasion, whether it be a Paul Reed Smith Custom 24 Solid body or a different guitar.
Seek Out a Guitar that Suits Your Musical Tastes
When buying a guitar, the first thing you must bear in mind is the type of music you intend to play. Are you a jazz person, a hard rock type of guy, country music, soul, rhythm and blues, pop or etc.? The type of music you play will determine the sound that you want your guitar to produce. Thinner necked guitars produce faster sounds and are therefore most suited for rock. For smoother sound, you must look for a guitar that has a thicker neck, which makes them more suitable for jazz or R&B.
Assessing the Hardware
Another thing you should be aware of, as it relates to guitars is that each of hardware materials used to construct the instrument has an effect on the sound that the guitar produces. It is also worth noting that some hardware is more suitable for one type of music than the other. So the wood, pickups and the bridge all impact the guitar’s sound quality. For example,fixed bridges are much easier to tune but do not possess the same qualities as the tremolo bridge which allows a player to incorporate effects such as dive bombs or vibrato simply by moving the bar. On the other hand, guitars made from cheaper wood that do not sustain sound quite as well so keep this in mind.
Comparison Shopping
You should treat the guitar buying process like buying a car, i.e., you always want to test drive the guitar before finalizing the purchase. If you fail to do so, you could find yourself being very disappointed and could easily end up wasting your time and money. So remember to play the guitar for 15 to 20 minutes until you are sure you are comfortable with everything the shape and sound. Five minutes are just not enough. And if the sound doesn’t meet your satisfaction just keep looking.
Price Range
Like mentioned above, there is a reason some guitars are cheap, while others are not so don’t make your decision to purchase solely based upon price alone. Likewise,keep in mind that not all expensive guitars are better than the cheaper ones. Therefore, set a price range and look at the guitars within this range until you find something satisfactory.
Summary
Buying a guitar is serious business and requires preparation, as well as discipline. So as you go out looking for one be sure to keep these tips in mind. So long as you do that, finding the right one should not be difficult.
Photo Credit Pixbay
Become a Guest Blogger
This article was written by a guest blogger. Do you have something you’d like to share with my readers? Contact me to become a guest blogger.
More Music on This Site
Top Albums of the Year
- Best Albums of 2012
- Best Albums of 2013
- Best Albums of 2014
- Best Albums of 2015
- Best Albums of 2016
- Best Albums of 2017
- Best Albums of 2018
Old Music Tuesdays
Click here for my past Old Music Tuesdays posts. There are too many to list!
Concert Reviews
- Tomahawk (feat. Retox)
- Coheed and Cambria (feat. BTBAM & Russian Circles)
- Palms
- Black Sabbath (feat. Andrew WK)
- Vampire Weekend (feat. Beirut)
- Fit for a King & For Today
- ††† (Crosses) (feat. Omniflux & Spirit in the Room)
- Soundgarden & NIN 2014
- Dr. Octagon (feat. Avalon, Gap Dream & No Parents)
- Faith No More (feat. The Urinals)
- Mastodon & Clutch (feat. Graveyard)
- Coheed and Cambria (feat. Seahaven)
- The Appleseed Cast (feat. Adjy & Coaster)
- The Smashing Pumpkins & Marilyn Manson
- Danzig (feat. Cancer Bats & Saviours)
- Imagine Dragons (feat. Halsey & Metric)
- Between the Buried and Me & Animals As Leaders (feat. The Contortionist)
- Deftones & Incubus (feat. Death from Above 1979)
- 2015 Summer Rankings
- Blindside (feat. Hearts Like Lions)
- Puscifer (feat. Luchafer)
- The Black Queen (feat. Drab Majesty)
- Joe Satriani
- Coheed and Cambria (feat. Glassjaw, I the Mighty, Silver Snakes)
- Killswitch Engage (feat. Memphis May Fire, 36 Crazyfists, and Toothgrinder)
- Andrew Bird (feat. John Grant)
- Lamb of God (feat. Clutch and Corrosion of Conformity)
- At the Drive-In (feat. Le Butcherettes)
- The Dillinger Escape Plan (feat. Author & Punisher)
- Guns N’ Roses (feat. The Cult)
- Animal Collective (feat. Stuart Copeland)
- Alice in Chains (feat. The New Regime)
- Temple of the Dog (feat. Fantastic Negrito)
Giraffe Tongue Orchestra (cancelled)- Metallica
- 2016 Concert Rankings
- August Burns Red (feat. Protest the Hero, In Hearts Wake, ’68)
- Norma Jean (feat. He Is Legend, Capsize, Comrades)
- Red (feat. Wolves at the Gate, Message from Sylvia, Death Therapy) (coming soon)
- Mastodon (feat. Eagles of Death Metal, Russian Circles) (coming soon)
- Pixies (coming soon)
- Tool (feat. Clutch, Fantomas, Primus, Melvins, Crystal Method) (coming soon)
- Rise Against (feat. Deftones, Thrice) (coming soon)
Green Day- Dead Cross (feat. Neil Hamburger, Ho99o9) (coming soon)
- Banks (coming soon)
- Between the Buried and Me (feat. The Contortionist, Poluphia, Toothgrinder) (coming soon)
- The Offspring (feat. Well Hung Heart) (coming soon)
- Russian Circles (feat. MGR) (coming soon)
- Our Lady Peace (feat. Smashing Hearts) (coming soon)
- Animals As Leaders (feat. Periphery and Astronoid) (coming soon)
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
Mike Patton stuff on this website
- Mike Patton’s Guest Spots
- Faith No More concert review
- Old Music Tuesdays: Faith No More
- Faith No More Stripsearch
- Old Music Tuesdays: Mr. Bungle
- Tomahawk concert review
- Tomahawk Red Fox
Chino Moreno stuff on this website
- Chino’s Harder Guest Spots
- Chino’s Softer Guest Spots
- Chino’s Mainstream Work
- Palms concert
- (†††) Crosses concert
- Old Music Tuesday: (†††) Crosses
- Deftones & Incubus (feat. Death from Above 1979)
Please Support this Blog
Thank you for your time and attention, and thanks for reading! If you’d like to help keep this blog going, please support it! You can help in a couple ways:
First, buy something from my shop! I’ve got mugs, tapestries, canvas, tee shirts, phone cases, pillows, blankets, and much more.
Second, hire me directly! I’m a professional caricaturist/illustrator. I’m currently offering pet illustrations, personalized caricatures of you or a loved one, and celebrity caricatures. Click the links for details and pricing, or just send me a message by using the form below. Basic illustrations start at just $15!
Become a Guest Blogger
This article was written by a guest blogger. Do you have something you’d like to share with my readers? Contact me to become a guest blogger.
Great post man. I think I have been through two dozen guitars it seems I have about four or five at a time and every few years they are all rotated out. I am currently using a Schecter Omen 6 which I like a lot but I have a fantasy of having a custom Jackson built someday. Great website too overall. Really great stuff here!