TYPES OF GUITARS

We can divide the guitars according to:

the method of creation and formation the tone (basic division)
the material from which they are made
the musical style in which they have the greatest use
the number of strings
the size

Division of guitars according to the method of creation and formation the tone

ACOUSTIC

After the string vibrates, a tone is created, which is guided by the bridge and the resonant hole into the instrument body. There, the front plate, the arrangement of the ribs and the shape of the tool body are used to strengthen and obtain the necessary qualities, such as color (timbre). The quality of these guitars therefore entirely depends on the correct construction and material from which they are made.

They excel especially in their irreplaceable color and purity of tone and independence from the apparatus.

The disadvantage may be the low volume, especially when playing in a noisy environment.

It would rise greatly in price if some individuals learned to shut up h ... and listen :-)

Includes:

Spanish guitar

It differs from other guitars mainly by the larger neck width (50 mm, +/- 2 mm), more colorful tone, always round resonant hole and nylon strings, which, unlike other guitars, are attached to the bridge using knots created by lining the string. See Guitar Strings for more info.

The right hand plays almost exclusively using fingers, the pick is rather an exception (some jazz styles).

Typical is nail play, which gives us a sharp and distinctive tone.

It is mainly used in classical music, flamenco, Brazilian music and jazz.

Jumbo guitar

It differs from Spanish guitar by narrower fingerboard and metal strings. Typical is the more robust instrument, which usually allows for brighter bass tones. The neck is adapted to a greater string tension, often with a reinforced wire that can accommodate any unwanted bend. The strings are fixed to the bridge using pegs. The right hand plays with fingers or pick.

Jumbo is used in many musical styles, the most common are country, folk, jazz, blues, rock.

Western guitar

So far I have not found the fundamental difference between jumbo and western guitar. Perhaps just the jumbo has a more robust body and therefore more penetrating bass.

Jazz Guitar

It has an arched top plate with two sound holes, so-called efes, which are similar to the sound holes of a violin. It is equipped with a cut-out in the body for the left hand (so-called cutaway) for better movement and easier to reach the heights. Another specific feature is the pickguard, which is the impact area for the picker, and a hand that prevents damage to the surface of the front panel. As the name itself suggests - it is typical especially of jazz music.

Hawaiian guitar

It is a body structure similar to the Spanish guitar, tuned to a major chord, it differs mainly in the way it is played: We run the strings through a metal fret held in the hand, thus shortening the length of the vibration of the tone.

Dobro

Resophonic guitar (the body is equipped with a large aluminum resonator) with a wooden body. For Dobro with a rounded guitar neck, we can play either the classic guitar style or the so-called slide style (using a playing iron as with a Hawaiian guitar), in which you can have the instrument placed horizontally on your knees. It excels in strong and ringing sound and is used mainly in country and bluegrass.

Acoustic bass guitar

is a stringed, bass instrument that has a hollow body similar to a western guitar but slightly larger than an electric bass guitar. Most acoustic bass guitars are equipped with frets, but there are also fretless frets. The instrument usually has four strings, the tuning is similar to the double bass or electric bass guitar - E-A-D-G (an octave lower than the deeper strings of a normal guitar). Exceptionally, multi-string instruments also appear.Because it can be difficult to hear an acoustic bass guitar without an amplifier, the instruments are usually equipped with, for example, a piezoelectric sensor.

The first modern acoustic bass guitar was developed by Ernie Ball in the early 1970s. At the end of the 80's and during the 1990's, the acoustic bass guitar was used during MTV Unplugged concerts.

ELECTROACOUSTIC (SEMI-ACOUSTIC)

They are similar to an acoustic guitar, differing only in the built-in electronics for sound recording (pickup in the bridge, built-in microphone, input for Jack 1/4 connector, etc.).Their popularity is growing, thanks to the possibility of sounding the instrument. It often helps to solve the problem with the volume of the guitar in a band where there are louder instruments (drums, electric bass guitar, wind instruments).

ELECTRICAL (ELECTRONIC)

An electric guitar (more accurately electrophonic) is a type of guitar in which electromagnetic sensors convert the vibration of strings with a steel core into an electric current that is guided by the guitar into an amplifier. An electric guitar often uses various effects to adjust the sound. The resulting sound is also greatly influenced by the amplifier and speaker used. Guitars are of a variety of shapes.

See article on Wikipedia.

DISTRIBUTION OF GUITAR BY SIZE

Please keep in mind that choosing the right size of instrument does not only depend on age, but above all on the overall body height, length and thickness of the fingers! The following age ranges are therefore for guidance only.

Guitars are sold in several basic sizes, which are derived from the full size (4/4):

1/4 guitar

A real "piddie". The frets are very close to each other, and the sound of the little body is also not very pronounced. This size only has the meaning of a true little genius who has such prerequisites and a taste that he can not sleep because of it. It can also serve as a motivation for a small child (he finds out that there is something like that, that he can bruise it, ...).

1/2 guitar

For children aged 6 to 8 years.

3/4 guitar

For children aged from 8 to 10 years old.

7/8 guitar

For children aged from 10 to 12 years old.

Full size (whole guitar)

For both children and adults, it depends on many circumstances (body growth, length and thickness of fingers, ...)

Custom guitar according to required dimensions

If we decide to make it to order, we can let the manufacturer measure the size of the guitar that suits our requirements.

Division of guitars according to musical style in which they are most used

This group includes instruments that have been specifically adapted for a given musical style.

Jazz guitar

It usually has two sound holes on the front panel, similar to a violin. It is characterized by high touch and a sharp penetrating tone. These are mostly electrophonic or electroacoustic guitars. A typical representative is a Gibson guitar.

Flamenco guitar

The flamenco guitar is required to have a clear and rapid onset of tone after the stroke (ie the string must not take too long to resound the wooden body of the guitar) as well as a rapid fading, otherwise all rhythmic techniques such as rasgueo, rasgueado or alzapúa would lose its strikingness and especially the raguea would merge into a confusing mix of sounds.

Among the other differences compared to the classic guitar include low-lying strings and golpeador.

The low strings have two functions: proximity to the fingerboard facilitates legato play, very often in the flamenco guitar used, proximity to the soundboard makes it easy to punch the fingers into the sound recorder (golpe). Since golpe is usually played alongside strings, the distance of the soundtrack from the strings plays a significant role.

A thin sounding board must be protected against fingerprints - otherwise it would soon be a hole (as seen from Manitas de Plata guitar). To do this, a thin protector (golpeador) is stuck around the eyepiece. The Golpeador is either white or more transparent (many flamenco guitars are sold today without a golpeador, which is available in particular as a plastic sticker that can be replaced from time to time).

Wikipedia
www.bgcz.net
www.flamenco.cz

Division of guitars by material that are made

If we talk about the wood from which the body (corpus) of the instrument is made, we use the terms massive, semi-solid and plywood.

Solid (all-massive)

If we say that the guitar is a solid, it means that the whole body was made of one piece of wood.

Semi-solid (half-massive)

At least some part of the body (front plate, back plate, ...) was made of one piece of wood.

Plywood

Mostly several layers of wood (or laminate boards) are glued together.

DIVISION OF GUITARS ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF STRINGS

Six-stringed

The vast majority of guitars have six strings.

Twelve-stringed

Modified jumbo or western guitar. The intention is primarily a more pronounced, more intense sound. Tuning is the same as the six-string guitar, except that each string is "double" (2x E, 2x H, ...). The most common usage of twelve string guitars is in country and bluegrass style.

Others

Sometimes we also encounter other strings. Of course, experiments are not bound to the limits. E.g. seven or eight-beat guitars have added bass strings for a larger range of tones.