Best Acoustic Guitars for Any Musician

Every acoustic guitar has its own personality, so finding the right one can be an arduous task – but there are certain questions you can ask yourself in order to help narrow your search. Are you just starting out, or a seasoned pro? What style of music do you intend to play with it? Is this guitar meant to be played in a pristine and immaculate recording or home environment? Or are you going to be carrying your axe around on your back wherever your path may take you?

But perhaps the most important question to ask yourself when considering whether or not the guitar you’re holding is the one that you want to buy is a very personal inquiry: do I like the way this acoustic guitar feels? It’s a very personal choice that can’t be determined by anyone but the guitarist, so be sure to test your options out for yourself before making a decision. Before you get to that point, here are a few things to know about buying acoustic guitars.

Larger content sections with multiple talking points have been broken down into subsections. This formatting makes navigating the information much easier, allowing the reader to get right to particular pieces of information. Please use this as a guide when moving forward with editing your other guides.

Body Style

Classic

Classic body style acoustic guitars offer a generally balanced tone and a medium amount of sound projection. This type of guitar is a safe go-to for a variety of styles, and for this reason it is used both by players who favor intricate fingerpicking as well as those who tend to play with broader strumming techniques.

Dreadnought

Dreadnought guitars tend to produce a deeper and more bass-heavy tone. They also tend to sound louder than the classic style body acoustic guitar. Because they have a heavy, driving aesthetic, they are popular amongst guitarists who utilize heavy strumming techniques.

Jumbo

Jumbo guitars are something of a hybrid of the previous two styles – wherein the body is similar to that of a classic guitar while the sound hole is more akin to that of a dreadnought acoustic guitar. These guitars are ideal for players who play standing up, as they can sometimes be uncomfortable to sit in one’s lap.

Acoustic Guitar Parts

Neck

The neck is one of the more easily identifiable pieces of the acoustic guitar. This area is where the instrument is held, it houses the frets that enable players to play notes, and it obviously also displays the strings.

Intonation

Intonation is the system by which an acoustic guitar’s notes play in tune as the player moves up the fretboard of the neck. Without proper intonation, a guitar won’t stay in tune and is useless for both live performance and recording.

Rosette

An acoustic guitar’s rosette is a stylized inlay located near the soundhole of the instrument. While the rosette has little to no impact of the sound of an acoustic guitar, it does change the visual appearance and character of the instrument.

Bridge

The bridge is the small wooden piece located directly below the soundhole of an acoustic guitar. This piece anchors the strings and transfers their vibration to the soundboard of the instrument.

Fret

An acoustic guitar’s frets are the small metal strips that divide the neck and fretboard into smaller sections. These frets are carefully measured into half-step increments and consequently enable guitarists to play different notes on their instrument.

Fingerboard

The fingerboard is also referred to as the fretboard; it is the piece that is glued to the face of the neck and houses the frets that are divided by half-step increments.

Tuning Keys

The tuning keys are the small knob-like pieces located at the top of the acoustic guitar on the instrument’s headstock. By tightening and loosening the tuning keys, guitarists raise or drop the pitch of the strings, effectively tuning the guitar.

Headstock

The headstock is located at the top of the guitar. Its primary function is to hold the tuning keys.

Machine Head

A machine head is an alternate term for the tuning key. These are also sometimes referred to as tuning pegs or tuners.

Binding

An acoustic guitar’s binding is utilized to compliment the look of the instrument’s body, neck, and/or headstock. Typically comprised of wood or plastic, this component doesn’t do much to affect the sound of the guitar, but gives it stylized character.

Pickguard

As its name implies, the pickguard is designed to help protect the body of the acoustic guitar from any wear-and-tear that would occur from strumming and picking at strings. It is located below the soundhole.

Finish

An acoustic guitar’s finish is another name for the final coating that is applied to the surface of the instrument.

Tops

Tops are generally made in one of two different types of builds: solid wood or laminate. The former is built from two single-ply pieces of wood that meet down the middle of the guitar top. This configuration is great for vibrating and resonating the sounds that are produced by the guitar.

Laminate tops are made from several layers of wood that are stacked on top of each other. While laminates don’t produce as great of a tone as solid wood tops, they are less expensive and therefore ideal for guitarists who are just starting out and are trying to make their purchase under a limited budget.

Tonewoods

Cedar

Cedar tends to produce a brighter and more trebly tone. Because of its quick response, many players who favor fingerstyle picking prefer to play cedar tonewood instruments.

Spruce

Spruce is generally regarded as the standard for acoustic guitar tops. It provides excellent resonance and is responsive to a high velocity of sound.

Mahogany/Kao

Mahogany and kao emphasize more of the mid-range/low-end side of the spectrum when it comes to acoustic guitar sounds. Its “punchy” tone has made it an ideal choice for country and blues players.

Maple

Maple has a low response rate and internal damping, so it is generally only used for the side and back of acoustic guitars, as opposed to the top. Its dry and high-end favoring tone makes it an excellent axe for musicians playing live with other instruments, as it tends to cut through the mix with greater ease than other types of acoustic guitars.

Rosewood

Rosewood provides strong mid and high tones and is one of the more popular woods used on acoustic guitars. With a strong attack and sharp resonance, it is also used frequently for bridges and fretboards.

String Types

Steel Strings

Steel strings are generally used in genres such as rock, country, and folk. Bronze, phosphor bronze, and brass all fall under the broader umbrella of steel strings.

Nylon Strings

Classical acoustic guitars utilize nylon strings, which are better suited for the classical and flamenco style that these instruments are most commonly used for.

It’s important to not interchangeably swap guitar strings with instruments that they are not designed for. For instance, putting steel strings on a classical guitar that is designed for nylon strings can do serous damage to the body, as the neck of classical guitars are unable to handle the tension brought about by using the steel strings.