You can nail buying the best electric guitar at any price point by considering a number of things. Do you want a reliable guitar that you can trust as you learn and improve your skills or as you rehearse with a new band? You are probably looking for the most elaborate, high-end model out there.
A Quick Guide to Buying Electric Guitar
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So, regardless of what you want, buy an electric guitar that sounds great, is well-built, and gives you pleasure when playing.
To help make your selection much easier, here are some things to consider:
Body Styles of the Electric Guitar
The electric guitar has three main types of body with different looks and characteristics.
- Solid-body: This body style can be a tricked-out, multi-pickup guitar with lots of electronic options, or it can be a durable, uncomplicated, single-pickup model. But, in general, the body is made of solid wood.
- Hollow body: This electric guitar features a hollow body that generates more resonance. Its deep bass response and rich tones make it a popular choice for many jazz guitarists.
- Semi-hollow body: It has a solid centre wood block design that helps add stability. The semi-hollow body also reduces feedback, and it is ideal for different genres of music such as punk rock, jazz, and blues.
Electronics and Pickups
Electronics and pickups have a big role to play in how an electric guitar sounds. A single-coil pickup is an original and basic style, comprising a single magnet and a fine wire covering it. This produces a magnetic field that converts the vibrations of the strings into an electronic signal.
A single-coil pickup typically has a crisp and bright sound, and its tone can cut through dense band sounds, although it can generate hum and is prone to magnetic interference.
So, to deal with this hum, here comes the humbucker pickup that is designed to get rid of hum. A humbucker often produces a more powerful, louder, and thicker tone as compared to a single-coil. With its versatility, the humbucker is ideal for heavy metal, jazz, and rock genres.
Neck Construction
When you buy an electric guitar, know that the neck width and profile are contributing factors to your comfort while playing as well as the playability of the model. So, if you have smaller hands, it is better to choose a guitar with a shallower neck. And if you have bigger hands, using a beefier neck construction will be more comfortable for you.
The common types of neck constructions are:
- Set neck: The neck is attached and glued into the body of the electric guitar, and the result is a stable neck joint, providing greater resonance and sustain to the guitar.
- Bolt-on: Being bolted on the body of the electric guitar makes it easier to repair, replace, or customis
- Neck-through: This kind of neck runs through the entire guitar length, usually with fins or wings onto the sides. And playing with the neck-through allows for more sustain, resonance, and stability.
Wood Types
Mahogany is one of the popular wood types for an electric guitar because it gives warmer sound, mellower, and amazingly low and mid frequencies. Alder is another excellent choice as it offers a steady frequency response. On the other hand, ash generates a slightly brighter sound. Moreover, basswood is evenly balanced, light, and transparent.
In general, the denser the wood of the guitar, the more it can sustain. Besides, the resonance a wood can produce determines the motion and vibration of the strings. Wood can also impact the way the pickup moves, and all this makes wood a critical element when it comes to the overall sound of your electric guitar.
Author Bio:
Alison Lurie is a farmer of words in the field of creativity. She is an experienced independent content writer with a demonstrated history of working in the writing and editing industry. She is a multi-niche content chef who loves cooking new things.
