Buying a Guitar
The purchase of a first instrument often presents a problem to the beginner who has no experience to guide him and whose untrained ear is of little assistance. Unfortunately, some of the most enthusiastic salesmen know even less, and a considerable sum is often, spent on something totally unsuitable, If possible ,it is always best to obtain the assistance of a good player or teacher. If not, the following information below should be read carefully as a guide to what to look for and what to avoid.
The preceding picture shows the guitar in detail, and the names of the parts should be carefully noted so that the text may be fully understood.
Guitar Woods
The best guitars are almost universally made of the following woods ; the back and sides of rose-wood either Brazillian or West indian: The top of Alpine spruce of close, even grain; the finger-board of ebony: the bridge of ebony or rosewood; and the neck of cedar or mahogany. Fine guitars sometimes have maple sides and back, but this is rare nowadays. In less expensive guitars, mahogany and similar hardwoods may be substituted for rosewood, and the fingerboard may be rosewood instead of ebony.
The top part is plays a major part in the final sound of the instrument, and where possible it is advisable to buy a spruce-topped guitar. The lines of the grain should be close together, if possible ,or at least evenly spaced. Its is important that the rosewood or ebony fingerboard should not be warped ;this should be checked by placing a straight edge along it. This can also be checked by holding a string from the 1st fret to the 19th .,in which position the string should just touch all the frets in between.
The Vanish
The final finish given to a guitar has a marked effect on its tone, and good makers invariably finish their instruments by hand with great care. Unfortunately this is not always the case with less expensive guitars, and those which have a heavy lacquer or plastic finish usually sound much duller and deader for this reason alone. Inexpensive Spanish guitars are usually better in this respect, since lower labour costs permit finishing by hand. However, this type of finish, usually shellac-based , is more delicate and liable to watermark. In other countries only the most expensive guitars are hand-finished by this method.
Cracking
Many people are under the mistaken impression that the better a guitar the less likely it is to crack. This is true to a large extent, but the truth is that the better guitar is liable to be more delicate:
Firstly, because the wood is often thinner and the construction more delicate for tonal reasons;
Secondly, because the finish applied by a good maker is chosen more for its acoustic qualities than for resisting climatic changes or rough handling.
The maker rightly expects the owner of a fine instrument to take proper care of it. The commercial producer, on the other hand, is concerned with guaranteeing his product and having as few returns as possible ,and so often uses thicker wood heavily sprayed with lacquer at considerable sacrifice to the tone.
So it largely depends on your handling, so do not be influenced, by the stories of the fragility of certain types of guitar; they may have a better sound.
Fingerboard
It is of utmost important when buying a guitar to ensure that the fingerboard is both flat and of sufficient width.
The standard width for the fingerboard is from 2 to 21/8 inches at the nut, widening slightly and evenly throughout is length to a width of about 21/2 inches at the sound hole. A narrowed finger-board makes playing more difficult and should be avoided. As in playing the piano, the fingers should be trained to the correct distances; it is an error to try to adapt the instrument to the fingers.
Strings
A carefully cut out string is very important to the tone of the guitar, nowadays the Spanish guitar are made of nylon.
The 1st, 2nd and 3rd strings are usually a single filament, although some are available with a thin plastic winding around the 2nd and 3rd. The 4th, 5th and 6th consist of a core of thin nylon filaments around which is wound copper wire plated with a silver, gold or bronze alloy. The silver-plated strings are the most widely used and easily obtained, although good strings are also made of the other alloys and even of solid silver windings.
Care for the Guitar
Guitars are more delicate and accident-prone because of the large surface area of thin wood, so get a strong case or bag for your instrument and keep it in the case when not in use.
Perhaps the greatest danger to the guitar arises from sharp changes in climate and particularly changes in humidity. In normal humidity the wood of a guitar, however well-seasoned, will absorb some moisture; if it is exposed suddenly to extreme dryness through heat, air conditioning or climate change it will contract and in severe cases crack or split. This can be avoided by ensuring that the guitar is not dried out excessively, preferable by keeping a guitar humidifier inside the case and not exposing the guitar to air conditioning which removes moisture from the air. Nor should the guitar be left in the sun, even though in its case. Simple as these rules are, many fine instruments have been damaged through neglect or ignorance of them.
The varnish of a good guitar needs only a rub with a soft cloth to maintain its luster and should not be waxed.
If the bass strings begin t sound dull, they can be revived by wiping with a damp cloth, or even better by removing them form the guitar and scrubbing them with soap and water to remove dirt, corrosion or perspiration. Even relaxing the strings for a few minutes will achieve some improvement. Hands should be washed before playing.
Also, the strings exert considerable tension on the bridge and should not all be removed together, as the change in tension and stress on the top of the guitar can cause damage in time. The best plan is to change the strings when necessary, one at a time, so as to maintain a more even tension with other five.
Care of the Fingernails
Before starting to play, it is necessary to trim the fingernails of each hand to the correct length. The left-hand nails are cut as short as possible, since otherwise the tip of the finger cannot reach the fingerboard. The right-hand nails should be filed approximately level with the tips of the fingers, so that when viewed from the face of the hand a very narrow thin edge shows following the contour of the finger.
It is also important not to have a rough edge on the nail which produces bad tonal effects; this may be avoided by finishing off the filing with crocus cloth or finest grade of garnet paper.
Tuning the guitar...
Cracking
Many people are under the mistaken impression that the better a guitar the less likely it is to crack. This is true to a large extent, but the truth is that the better guitar is liable to be more delicate:
Firstly, because the wood is often thinner and the construction more delicate for tonal reasons;
Secondly, because the finish applied by a good maker is chosen more for its acoustic qualities than for resisting climatic changes or rough handling.
The maker rightly expects the owner of a fine instrument to take proper care of it. The commercial producer, on the other hand, is concerned with guaranteeing his product and having as few returns as possible ,and so often uses thicker wood heavily sprayed with lacquer at considerable sacrifice to the tone.
So it largely depends on your handling, so do not be influenced, by the stories of the fragility of certain types of guitar; they may have a better sound.
Fingerboard
It is of utmost important when buying a guitar to ensure that the fingerboard is both flat and of sufficient width.
The standard width for the fingerboard is from 2 to 21/8 inches at the nut, widening slightly and evenly throughout is length to a width of about 21/2 inches at the sound hole. A narrowed finger-board makes playing more difficult and should be avoided. As in playing the piano, the fingers should be trained to the correct distances; it is an error to try to adapt the instrument to the fingers.
Strings
A carefully cut out string is very important to the tone of the guitar, nowadays the Spanish guitar are made of nylon.
The 1st, 2nd and 3rd strings are usually a single filament, although some are available with a thin plastic winding around the 2nd and 3rd. The 4th, 5th and 6th consist of a core of thin nylon filaments around which is wound copper wire plated with a silver, gold or bronze alloy. The silver-plated strings are the most widely used and easily obtained, although good strings are also made of the other alloys and even of solid silver windings.
Care for the Guitar
Guitars are more delicate and accident-prone because of the large surface area of thin wood, so get a strong case or bag for your instrument and keep it in the case when not in use.
Perhaps the greatest danger to the guitar arises from sharp changes in climate and particularly changes in humidity. In normal humidity the wood of a guitar, however well-seasoned, will absorb some moisture; if it is exposed suddenly to extreme dryness through heat, air conditioning or climate change it will contract and in severe cases crack or split. This can be avoided by ensuring that the guitar is not dried out excessively, preferable by keeping a guitar humidifier inside the case and not exposing the guitar to air conditioning which removes moisture from the air. Nor should the guitar be left in the sun, even though in its case. Simple as these rules are, many fine instruments have been damaged through neglect or ignorance of them.
The varnish of a good guitar needs only a rub with a soft cloth to maintain its luster and should not be waxed.
If the bass strings begin t sound dull, they can be revived by wiping with a damp cloth, or even better by removing them form the guitar and scrubbing them with soap and water to remove dirt, corrosion or perspiration. Even relaxing the strings for a few minutes will achieve some improvement. Hands should be washed before playing.
Also, the strings exert considerable tension on the bridge and should not all be removed together, as the change in tension and stress on the top of the guitar can cause damage in time. The best plan is to change the strings when necessary, one at a time, so as to maintain a more even tension with other five.
Care of the Fingernails
Before starting to play, it is necessary to trim the fingernails of each hand to the correct length. The left-hand nails are cut as short as possible, since otherwise the tip of the finger cannot reach the fingerboard. The right-hand nails should be filed approximately level with the tips of the fingers, so that when viewed from the face of the hand a very narrow thin edge shows following the contour of the finger.
It is also important not to have a rough edge on the nail which produces bad tonal effects; this may be avoided by finishing off the filing with crocus cloth or finest grade of garnet paper.
Tuning the guitar...
