Types of Guitars

 You need a guitar that matches what you want to play. This is a BIG thing! It may not seem that important, but it is. For example, a big acoustic body gets in the way of proper classical playing position, so it is not a good substitute for a classical guitar, even though they both have six strings and produce sound acoustically.

 The three major guitar types are acoustic, classical and electric. After you get past that, there are many types in each category.

 Classical: Renaissance, Baroque, Romantic, Flamenco, and Classical.
Steel-stringed Guitars: Steel stringed (also known as western, folk or country), Twelve-string, Archtop, Battente, Lap, Lyre, Dreadnought, and Resonator. A dobro is a kind of resonator guitar.

Acoustic Bass Guitar
Russian Guitar
Novelty guitars: Harp, Banjo and Guitar Lute.

 The three types of guitars and their uses:

Acoustic guitars probably have the widest use, and they certainly have the most variety. Acoustic ought to mean a guitar that has only “natural” means of projecting sound, but in the current world they come in two kinds, with or without an electrical connector. You can always add a pickup or a microphone later if you need electronic amplification.

 Electric guitars use a pickup to convert the vibrations of the steel-cored strings into an electrical current. This sound is made louder with an amplifier and speaker to produce the sound you know... The sounds can be electronically altered by guitar effects like reverb and distortion.

 The electric guitar started out as a hollow-bodied instrument used by jazz guitarists. In 1931 Les Paul invented the solid-body electric guitar that is commonly used today. Electric guitars are used in every kind of music from rock and roll to classical.

 The Classical guitar is also called “Spanish guitar” and “nylon-stringed guitar.” It is a plucked instrument, usually having six strings. If you want to be a classical guitarist, you need good finger nails. No joke – that is your tone producer.

 In the old days the strings were made of gut, like violin strings. Nylon is very tough and makes excellent top strings. Better string sets will have two nylon strings, three metal-wrapped strings and a wrapped G string. (Sometimes this is a metal wrapping, sometimes it is a combination. Either way gives you a more centered sound on the G string.) The flamenco guitar is a close relative to the classical, but has a different construction and brighter sound.