Should I play acoustic or electric guitar?

Number of posts : 132 Registration date : 2008-11-01

One of my most fequently asked questions from beginner players is whether to choose electric or acoustic. This is MY VIEW - others may disgaree and they are welcome to their opinion. Mine is subject to change without notice!

The basic types are Acoustic (steel strings), Electric and Classical (nylon strings). You can have semi-acoustic guitars too and also electro-acoustic guitars (acoustic guitars with a fitted pick-up system)
So lets look at the pro's and cons or each.

Playability
Electric guitar is easier to play. The strings are usually closer to the neck, thinner and therefor easier to press down. Barre chords on acoustic guitar can be very demanding and requires a lot of finger strength. Cheaper acoustic guitars can be very hard to play up the neck.
The distance from the strings to the neck is called the "action". when it is very low it is easy to press the strings down, when it it too low the strings will buzz. If it's too high it's too hard to play, though many pro players (like myself) prefer a higher action so you can dig into the strings. Getting your guitar action set up by a good lutherer can make a huge difference to your guitar's playability.

Sound and Style
It is what you want to do...If you want to play rock, get an electric. If you want to play folk or fingerstyle I think acoustic is a good choice. If you want to play classical then you need a nylon string classic guitar. It all depends on what style you want to play. If you want to play all styles, then electric might be the way to go and get an acoustic later.

Costs
Very cheap acoustics are usually not such a great idea, often sound quality is poor and they are hard to play, I often see students selling them after a six month struggle - so you'll find a lot on e-bay! But that is all you need.
Electric guitars need an amplifier to be heard although they make enough sound just for practice without one. There are also a number of units (like Line 6 Pod) that can be plugged into your hi-fi, not much use if you wanna play in a band though!

Verdict
Well I think for the general beginner an elecric guitar is probably a better starter instrument, mainly because they are a little easier to play and so you will see results faster and it will inspire you to play more! Smile

But it really doesn't matter.

Brands - Acoustic
Maton (my favouries by far) Yamaha and Fender all make good budget acoustic guitars. At the higher end I rate Maton, Martin, Taylor and Guild. Old ones often sound great and have more character. Watch out for cracks in the wood if you buy second hand guitar, if you don't know what you are doing, ask someone who does!!

Brands - Electric
My favorite adage applies, "Buy cheap, Buy twice". I rate the Yamaha Pacifica guitars, very good build and slighly thinner neck (good for rock), consistently excellent build quality. I don't think there is much of a question about the quality of these guitars and most of the other teachers I respect recommend them too! There are cheaper guitars but for the few pounds you will save you are much better off to go for a Pacifica.
There are some cheaper Ibanez guitars that sound great. The Fender Squire are not bad either, though I've seen some bady set up ones with really cheap fittings so they are on the way down in my book. Buying a good USA strat will always be awesome though Smile

DON'T BUY AN ELECTRIC WITH A FLOATING TREMELO WHEN YOU START OUT.
They are a total pain in the butt, very hard to tune and a real pain to change strings. The cheaper ones go out of tune a lot too. If you spend more, and know why you want one, then fine, but locking tremelos on budget instruments are usually rubbish.

Brands - Classical
I think the Yamaha brand are excellent, and that what I started on! There are others but Yamaha are very consistent top notch product.
I hope that help you make up your mind!!
OK then - time to make sure you know the best way to practice! cheers

Subject: Re: Should I play acoustic or electric guitar? Wed Nov 05, 2008 5:51 am

i have elect. one Very Happy

Number of posts : 132 Registration date : 2008-11-01

which brand,model?

Subject: Re: Should I play acoustic or electric guitar? Mon Nov 10, 2008 2:38 pm

really coooooooooooooooooooool ... but one thing

u said that it is ur opinion .. and i respect it .. but my opinion is that :

the electric guitar is easier to play than the acoustic .. but if u wanna start .. u shall start with the difficult one .. so that the easy one will be like a piece of cake ... and lemme tell something ... all the practices should be on the acoustic first .. and after that try it on elctric ,, u will find a great diiference and find it so easy .... and this is what alll the legends say .. like STEVE VAI, JOE SATRIANI, MALMSTEEN, JOHN PITRUCCI, ZAKK WILDE, and mooooooooooore .... and i m sorry for that ... but as i told u .... this is my opinion and what all the legends say .. and thats what i do .. if i wanna play some on the electric .. i warm up on the acoustic ... and then start shredding on the electric ... and that's the reason behind having both .... any guitarist (electric players) should have the electric and acoustic ... and if u have the chance at the beginning to buy only one .... buy the acoustic.

i hope this will be helpful ..... and thx for reading ....

best wishes

Number of posts : 132 Registration date : 2008-11-01

sure man, but wut i ment is like for a biggener who wanna just play guitar or like copy his/her favorite adol is to play with the elec. faster n easier t do the song, and yeah the acoustic gear is sure the best if u really wanna ply guitar for a long time, but even tho lik if u start with something easy then u will go to the harder step by step.. and thats wut i tink n wut i tried, for me the first guitar i owned and trained with was elec. then after the chords was easy for me i strt to work on the acoustic, it was a lil bit harder but it was like an easy step to something hard, because the acoustic is kinda hard to play with especially if u were a beginner.. n as i told u that my opinion and wut happined with me and for sure its up to the person..

i guess like the guitar u feel comfort with then u have to play with and learn on it thats the best to say elect. or acoustic " if u accept with me " .. and thnx for ur opinion dude i really love such disscutions

Subject: Re: Should I play acoustic or electric guitar? Mon Nov 10, 2008 5:37 pm

loooooooooooooooooooool dude
me too brother

each one has his own experience ... u said urs and i said mine .. and now it is up to the person as u just mentioned .

anyway dude .... keep it up

cheers

hmmm well i feel electric guitar is easy to start with because you wont feel it so ard so it wont give you a an impression telling you that " guitar is hard to learn ", so i guess its better to start with electric " if u like it " and then start to play acoustic, but as dave said, its all about the prson what does he feel comfort with.

btw how many guys/gurls here can play guitar??
and how good?

Number of posts : 103 Age : 40 Location : USA Registration date : 2008-10-29

than x man
i am started with acoustic
coz If you mastered the acoustic , then it will be easy to you to learn fast the electric
in the beginning you should mastered the toughest and then turned to easier
That is my opinion
and that thing I am prisoner it

i wanna see u playin now !!!! Mad

» Guitar pro 5. for you who wanna learn playing guitar
» guitar lessons
» Death - spirit crusher(guitar cover by mahmod)