Guides
8 Types of Guitars: The Definitive Guide
Jan
The various types of guitars that exist in our world are so numerous that choosing the best one suited for your needs might seem impossible at first. Let us explore the most common guitars, all the way up to some models that might seem alien at first, and show you what they’re all about!
Acoustic guitars
The acoustic guitar is the most common variant of guitars, and there are two main types of acoustic guitars. One is the steel-string guitar, and the other is the classical, nylon-string guitar. There are some differences between the two.
One main difference between the two guitar types is the material from which the strings are made: Stainless steel and a nylon/steel composite. Many other subtypes exist, such as the electro-acoustic guitar. The acoustic guitar is excellent for folk, neo-folk, country, classical music, and plenty more!
Nylon-string classical guitar
The nylon-string classical guitar, or just classical guitar, is the precursor of the modern acoustic and electric guitars.
You can play any music on it, from classical pieces such as Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez, Vivaldi’s Guitar cogivesto in D to Django Reinhardt’s Minor Swing, and other songs.
The strings used on this are made either out of a nylon/steel composite or made of gut (usually sheep gut), which gives it a warmer, punchier, but dampened sound.
There are many classical guitars, but the most common shape is either the modern classical guitar or the “historic” classical guitar, which is similar to the early romantic guitars from France and Italy.
Music types: classical, jazz, swing.
Learning difficulty: For intermediates
What it offers: Warm, dampened sound, 12th fret bound to the body.
Archtop guitar
This is a hollow-body or semi-hollow body with a distinctive arch top and back, f-holes like the classical instruments such as the violin and cello, a vibrato bridge, and it is joined at the neck at the 14th fret.
This is usually the favored instrument of jazzmen, bluesmen, and rockabilly players, but it can also be used in hard rock, such as the guitars that Ted Nugent uses when playing.
These guitars usually come with a Bigsby vibrato bridge, which, as the name describes, lets the player do vibrato without bending the string.
It makes a percussive, heavy mid-range sound, perfect for playing acoustically in a big band, and amplified it sounds very mellow, giving that signature jazzy sound.
Music types: Jazz, Blues, Rockabilly
Learning difficulty: For intermediate
What it offers: heavy mid-range percussive sound, excellent big band instrument, but it tends to feedback.
Electro-acoustic guitar
This is a typical acoustic guitar. A pickup, usually a piezo or magnetic pickup, and an input jack and a preamplifier incorporated into the body have been added.
This guitar’s preamp usually comes together with an incorporated tuner and an EQ, with up to 6 slots for the different frequencies that the guitar produces.
This guitar came into existence in the early 1920s when the guitar was being outplayed by the horn and percussion sections of big bands. It would, in time, combine the guitar styles of both electric and acoustic.
Interestingly, the first “amplifier” was actually a telephone transmitter used inside violins and banjos to amplify. After that, the carbon button microphones were created, and these used the vibrations of the bridge, but unfortunately, the signal was relatively weak.
The sound is similar to the standard acoustic guitar, with a few enhancements provided by the preamp’s EQ.
Music types: rock, pop, country, blues;
Learning difficulty: For beginners
What it offers: Smooth transitions from low to high notes, prolonged sustain, enhanced specific frequencies.
Resonator guitar
When it comes to resonator guitars, two acoustic guitar types are prominent. A tabletop guitar version with a square fretboard meant to be played on a table or in your lap with a slide (you can use anything as a slide), as a sort of lap steel guitar, and one with a round fretboard which can be played with the typical guitar posture.
This guitar can be tuned with any tuning (E standard, D standard, Open D, Open G, etc.).
This guitar’s body is usually made from wood, but it can also be made out of metal and other materials.
The most common resonator is the one with a single cone and two soundholes, but some resonators have three or more cones and only one soundhole.
Music types: Hawaiian music, jazz, blues, swing
Learning difficulty: For advanced
What it offers: dampened sound, different tunings, and playstyles (in the lap)
Flamenco guitar
The flamenco guitar is a cousin of the regular classical guitar. It has a thinner top wood and less bracing, strung with nylon strings, grittier sound, and more percussive than the classical guitar.
These guitars usually have a very characteristic body color due to the sycamore or cypress wood composition.
The posture for playing flamenco guitar is a bit different from the classical guitar, players alternating between the soundhole and the bridge, which produces a harsher, raspier sound quality.
For example, flamenco guitarists cross their legs and support the guitar on whichever leg is on top, accommodating the player to play with different techniques such as tremolo, golpe, and rasgueo, which can be played correctly if the elbow supports the upper right arm. Strings are “struck” instead of plucked, this being the percussive sound we hear when playing.
Music types: Flamenco, Baroque, Renaissance music.
Learning difficulty: For advanced
What it offers: percussive tone, gritty sound due to thinner top, and less bracing
Solid-body electric guitar
Solid-body electric guitar types have no vibrating soundboard to amplify the strings. Instead, they depend on electric pickups and an amp. The solid-body provides a “gating” aspect, which ensures that no “wolf” tones are present and that only the string vibration is reproduced.
The first-ever solid-body electric guitar was invented by Les Paul (the one whose name now serves as the flagship of the Gibson Guitar Company). Before it got its iconic shape, the first electric guitar, named “The Log,” had a Spanish guitar’s body style.
The first mass-produced solid-body was the Fender Esquire and the Fender Broadcaster (soon to be renamed as the Telecaster), and soon after, the iconic Gibson Les Paul issued a challenge.
Music types: Rock, Blues
Learning difficulty: for beginners
What it offers: Smooth tones
Bass guitars
Let’s talk about some different guitars, namely bass guitars. They are the lowest-pitched in our guitar list. With an electric or acoustic guitar’s appearance, the bass has a longer neck and scale length.
The string number varies from the original 4 to 5, 6, 7, and more strings. Starting from 1955, the bass guitar has practically replaced the double bass in popular music, such as jazz, swing and has become pivotal in creating new genres.
