Choosing An Acoustic Guitar

Let us start off by stating that the world of acoustic instruments is a minefield. Unlike electric guitars, the shape, the woods used in construction, the nut and saddle material all make a significant difference to the sound. This is because the instrument itself produces the sound that you hear, rather than with an electric guitar where the speaker in the cabinet or PA speaker makes the biggest difference to the tone. 

You can read more about the different types of acoustic in this blog post written by Ryan.

In this blog post, we will talk about steel string acoustics. I chose this because I have the most experience playing this type of acoustic, and it seems the most popular compared to things like the ukulele, classical guitar and gypsy jazz offerings. 

Your Requirements

This should be pretty obvious, but what you actually need the acoustic for is going to make a big different in the choice you make. If you are just jamming at home, a straight ahead acoustic that is reliable is all you need. If you can nail down your list even further and you are only strumming some basic chords, you might do well with something simple and less adjustable features.

There is a something coming up that I have to work on, so I sold my older acoustic that had no electronics and invested in a newer guitar with a dual-action truss rod, better quality nut, bridge pins and saddle. It also had strap buttons, which is a big deal for me – mostly because I do not trust myself drilling into a guitar to fit some myself. 

If you have plans for recording or playing live with the acoustic you are looking to buy, then you should probably look to the electro-acoustic side of things – let us explore that!

Electronics

Not all guitars are made equally; this is a fact that we know. Not all pickups or preamp systems for acoustic guitars are made equally too. The most expensive systems may feature a mixture of a physical microphone within the guitar itself, a contact microphone stuck to the underside of the soundboard inside the guitar and a piezo system under the bridge. When done correctly, this allows you to mix the sound perfectly for your needs and is probably the best way of amplifying an acoustic guitar. Some acoustics have a passive pickup where there are no controls or functions, just an output designed to be used with an acoustic pedal system or something similar. 

You could also go down the route of buying a sound hole pickup for an acoustic with no electronics, but I would not advise this unless you are willing to spend a good amount of money – the cheaper ones do not sound very good, and in my experience were very noisy.

There are many options between the aforementioned ranges, but the best happy medium if you need to amplify your acoustic would be a preamp system that has at best a basic EQ section, volume control and a tuner. 

Construction

Many cheaper acoustic guitars, and even some expensive ones, use laminated wood as part of the construction process. This is one way to keep the overall cost down, and to even give the guitar a more exotic appearance. One caveat here is that laminated woods may not resonate as well, which could be something to listen out for when trying the guitar acoustically. The best option is for solid wood all around, but it can also be a good idea for the top (or sound board) to be solid, but using laminated back and sides. 

All acoustic guitars use something called bracing, which is how the instrumented is supported from within. Depending on the company, brand or guitar player you speak to, you will get a different answer with what kind of bracing is the best. In my opinion, beyond a certain point it does not really make much difference, although cheaper guitars with poorly designed or constructed bracing may weaken the integrity of the instrument.

My Journey

Before I moved to Japan, I owned a D’Angelico acoustic. It was not a cheap guitar by any stretch of the imagination, but it was far from expensive. It covered all of the requirements I had but unfortunately, I had to sell it. One thing that I like about it was the inclusion of the Fishman Presys system – this was a preamp that had a three band EQ, a volume control, a tuner and a phase switch.

I bought a cheap, but old Yamaha acoustic from a second-hand store here in Japan shortly after I arrived. It was ok, but it did need some work after a while! This was the guitar that I sold recently, and alongside having some money from another guitar sale, I had some money in my pocket – it was guitar shopping time!

I found a nice Guild acoustic at the far end of my budget, approximately 80,000jpy, and although it was light, sounded great acoustically and unplugged as well as feeling nice to play, there was a horrible buzz around the first fret of the G and B strings. The is prime territory for strumming chords, and the guitar should not have been on the shop floor with an issue like that. Needless to say, I left it and went to a different store (notice how I was prepared to leave the guitar, despite it seeming like the perfect purchase). 

In another store I found two guitars that had only been brought it to the store that day. The first was a Taylor 114ce, the low end of what Taylor produces. The guitar was also around 80,000jpy, so right at the far reaches of what I could afford. The sound was good, but the action was quite high and the frets were not in the best of conditions – this would all be expensive to fix. In addition to this, the included Taylor pickup system is quite limited with only three controls.

The other guitar mentioned was a Cort GA5F PF, not the easiest of model names to remember. It uses Cort’s ‘Grand Auditorium’ shape, and has solid Pau Ferro back and sides (Pau Ferro is apparently very similar to rosewood). The top is solid spruce, and it also features abalone inlays and the same Fishman Presys system that I mentioned before. It played well, sounded good and looked nice too; already this guitar was exceeding the other two in terms of features and specification. Then came the price – only 33,000jpy! I snapped it up immediately after getting to grips with it for a short while. 

Final Thoughts

If you have even a modicum of common sense, or you have read some of my other gear blog posts, you will know how to go an buy a guitar or piece of equipment. If you do not have an acoustic to simply strum away on, even if you are predominantly an electric guitarist, I recommend you get one. 

As a working musician, it becomes an asset to you; you will be available for more shows if you can convincingly play the acoustic guitar, which is a different animal, and also produce a good sound at the same time.

Some of the teachers at TAGA are world-renowned guitar players specialising in acoustic instruments, but all of the teachers have performed extensively with them. Make sure to get their opinion too!