Buying A Guitar"When buying a guitar - Take ALL necessary
If you're a beginner to intermediate player there are many excellent online dealers that carry a good range of brands at reasonable prices. I've recently added a page to help you when buying a guitar and this page carries merchandise from Musiciansfriend.com which I'm very happy with. These online stores "live and die" by their reputation and so can't afford to have mediocre instruments or service. As we all know, news travels very fast on the web and they'd soon be out of business if they tried to "pull a swifty" on anyone. You can pretty much trust that their instruments will be good and you can view pictures of them online so don't be afraid of buying a guitar online if you’re looking for that sort of convenience. If your heart is set on going to a "bricks & mortar" store when buying a guitar, actually getting it in your hands to get the feel, then there are a few things you should know before you go. The most important thing is of course the sound of the instrument. Is it a sound that you are happy with and feel comfortable about? The different types of wood that classical guitars are made from will give each instrument its own peculiar sound but in general, guitars with cedar tops produce a more "warm' tone whereas spruce tops are likely to be more "focused" or 'concentrated". I've been asked in the past to accompany parents of some of my students to help when buying a guitar. If the instrument is new then these things aren't so important but I still check them anyway.
If you're not too fussed want to buy a guitar quickly via an auction at ebay.com then just check out the links below...
The third thing I do when buying a guitar is to hold down the strings from the second fret to the twelfth fret and see if the string length touches all the intervening frets. There will be a problem with craftsmanship if you have any significant variation here. I then check the sound of the instrument to see if it has the qualities that I'm after. They are: projection; quality of tone and; comfort i.e. is it the right size for me or whoever we're buying a guitar for. Children, especially younger ones, will obviously need a smaller guitar than adults and it depends on the size of the student. Classical guitars usually come in half, three-quarter, five-eighth and full size. If you've covered all these areas when buying a guitar you'll usually come away with a decent guitar that will last you many years of happy playing. If you're a more advanced player or have the money and inclination to buy something a little better, you know, that DREAM guitar, then you'll have to invest a little more time, money and testing to achieve it. Sharon Isbin, writing in the...
suggests these areas when purchasing that "dream guitar": Beauty of Tone; Dynamic & Timbral Contrasts; Clarity & Speed of Response; Sustain; Balance; Resonance; Intonation; Projection; Condition. She goes on to elaborate on all these points in the book. Phew! Talk about attention to detail! I bet you didn't think buying a guitar took so much effort. But if you're buying a guitar of quality and it's worth the money then it's worth the time and effort to research. I hope this has been of help in buying a guitar.
Still Haven't Found What You're Looking For?Simply enter whatever term you're searching for e.g. if you're searching for all pages that mention the word "segovia" just type in that term and away you go! You can even search the Web. Just enter "classical guitar" followed by your search word(s). I hope you find me again! Ready? 1-2-3... Search!
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