Mega Music Site - The Essential Things Every Wannabe Electric Guitarist Should Know

Mega Music Site

Home Page

Links

Videos

Articles

Artists

About Us

Privacy

Print | buying an electric guitar

Bookmark

18th July 2008 - by Roberto Sedycias

The Essential Things Every Wannabe Electric Guitarist Should Know

Playing a musical instrument can be one of the most exciting things for anyone It is not only satisfying but also lucrative as a career

Playing a musical instrument can be one of the most exciting things for anyone. It is not only satisfying but also lucrative as a career. Although each instrument has its own charm and significance, guitar seems to be one of the most popular choices of all time. For any guitar lover, it must be a treat to watch a person playing guitar and its tune and rhythm is simply overwhelming.

However, it takes a long time for a guitarist to master the art of playing guitar so well. If you ask any guitarist about their preference on the sound of guitars, their unequivocal answer would be electric guitar. Over the years, the popularity of electric guitars has gone up and so has their sale. Even though you have been playing acoustic guitar for some time now, you will need proper guidance while buying an electric guitar.

Take a look at the following points before you hit an electric guitar store:

Budget:

The prices of electric guitars would start from $300 and upward. If you have a shoe-string budget, chances are that you won`t find high-end guitars such as Guild Benedetto Signature Model or Paul Reed Smith Santana II. However, the good news is, due to the computer aided woodworking equipments, even low-end electric guitars sound almost as well as their high-end counterparts.

Types of Electric Guitar:

Electric Guitars can be found in different depending on their body. Most electric guitars are made up of solid wood such as Alder, Ash, Mahogany and Basswood. Semi-hollow instruments such as Gibson`s ES-335 are popular because of their thinness and lightweight. On the other hands, there are electric guitars such as Gretsch Black Falcon which a true hollow-body and f-holes allowing the user to tune the guitar to resonate sounds as well as the acoustic guitars do.

Types of Music:

Whether you would want to buy a Gibson ES-5 or Fender Telecaster depends purely on what music you play most of the time. For instance, if you belong to a country band, you should choose an electric guitar that produces cleaner and brighter twang. Hence, you can pick a Stratocaster or Fender Telecaster to do justice to your county band. On the other hand, go for the Paul Reed Smith McCarty Hollowbody II if you are playing music in a jazz setting.

Number of Pick-ups:

Usually, modern electric guitars can be found in two different pick-ups such as single coils and humbuckers. While single coils will sound brighter with a pronounced attack, humbuckers will produce a warmer and darker tone. Some electric guitars can also have mix pick-ups. Guitars having more pick-ups will produce more tonal variations.

Electronics:

All standard electric guitars have a basic set of pick-up selector switch, volume and tone controls. Instruments such as the Eric Clapton Signature Stratocaster have an added feature which allows the player to adjust the warmer and flatter sound of the humbucker. There are also hybrid electric guitars such as synth guitar which are fitted with additional hardware for connecting them to a synth via a 13-pin RMC system. Electric guitar manufacturers are now putting more emphasis on guitars playability than their aesthetics.

Appearance:

The looks of electric guitars would vary greatly and it actually depends on you preference. Guitarists who are into death metal would hardly like a Fender Telecaster with a shell pink finish. Hence, now-a-days, electric guitar manufacturing companies produce guitars that are genre-specific.

Frets:

Many buyers do not care much about the frets; however, they are curial to the playability of electric guitars. For instance, electric guitars with smooth and playable neck will allow you to do hammer-on and pull-offs, bend notes, and deliver clean articulations at any positions of the neck. If the frets are tailored perfectly, the electric guitars will offer a superlative performance.