An acoustic guitar is one of the guitar types you can choose for yourself to play heavenly music. An acoustic guitar uses a bridge and saddle to transmit vibration produced by the string to the soundboard. The body of guitar, namely the sound box, gets the resonance amplification from the soundboard, strings, bridge and saddle.

String Types

An acoustic guitar may be chosen to have nylon strings known as the classic design, or have steel strings. These two acoustic guitar features give different sounds and feel to the music they produce.

Steel string guitars

A Steel string acoustic guitar would generate more of metallic touch to the sound, heard mostly in western and country style music. It has a narrow fingerboard of 40mm and is designed for using a pick. Its neck joins with its body at its 14th fret. For pop music it is more appropriate to choose a steel string acoustic guitar.

A steel string acoustic guitar has different designs available to choose from. Some famous designs are the NEX, Dreadnought, jumbo, Artist and folk.

Nylon string classic guitars

Nylon strings create a mellow rounded sound which can be heard in Latin, classical or folk style music and songs. A nylon string acoustic guitar has a 75 to 90 pound string tension whereas a guitar with steel strings has a 150 to 200 pounds string tension. Its fingerboard is 50mm and is meant for complex finger picking. A classical or nylon string acoustic guitar has a much easier fretting. Its neck meets the body at its 12th fret.

Resonator guitar

An acoustic guitar that has aluminum plates is called a resonator guitar. This feature gives the guitar amplification and boosts the sound needs without using a separate amplifier during concerts.

The bass response is enhanced as the string length increases. The nylon string guitar has a longer string length of 650mm. Steel string acoustic guitar has a string length of 644mm.

If you have a shorter height than you will find the classic, artist or NEX body much more comfortable to hold.

The classic design acoustic guitar comes in a standard size and one type shape.

Guitar material

The wood used in acoustic guitar making plays a major role in its quality. An acoustic guitar made of plywood body is cheap and low quality. That made from cedar or spruce is a good quality guitar that produces a quality sound.

The backsides and soundboard made from maple, rosewood or mahogany generally make high quality guitars. It is important that the acoustic guitar has well bound sides and edges. For ideal tuning you need to ensure high precision gears are used for the tuners.

For the most suitable acoustic guitar you need to buy one which is comfortable for you to hold, looks good and sounds good.

A good investment in an acoustic guitar would be in renowned brands such as Gibson, Martin, Guild and Taylor.

It is always advised that a cheap acoustic guitar should never be bought otherwise learning how to play a guitar becomes a challenging task. Always invest in a moderately priced guitar for quality playing.