There are various types of guitars available today. Playing different guitars in a music store is an ideal way of familiarizing yourself with the various unique guitar models. The list below provides the most common types of guitars;

Acoustic Guitars

Acoustic guitars are available in two kinds; steel-string and classical. The difference between the two is that classical guitars have a wide neck and utilize nylon strings while the steel-strings produce a metallic sound that is a unique component of various trendy music styles. They are similar in that you can use a plectrum or finger-style to play them. The steel-string acoustic can also be referred as the flat top at times. Acoustic guitars have a hollow body and produce a deep tone and they are perfect for chordal rhythmic strumming.

Electric Guitars

This guitar is used to play rock, blues, jazz or pop music. They are plugged into an amplifier so as to produce a loud voice. When amplified it produces a metallic sound with a long decay. Electric guitars have thinner strings compared to acoustic guitars.

Twelve-String Guitars

This guitar is a simple variation of the usual six string guitar model. It has usual six strings and another set of thinner strings. Every string of the second set matches the note of its standard string counterpart. The strings create pairs and are played in a similar way as the usual six-string guitar. It produces a brighter more jangly tone compared to six-string. It is essential for chord progressions that need thickening.

Archtop Guitars

This is a semi-hollow steel-string acoustic or electric guitar. It is jazz guitarists favorite. Acoustic and electric archtops have a similar design but differ due to addition of electro-magnetic pickups and pots. Archtop guitars are available in full bodied and thinline.

Steel Guitars

This guitar originated from Hawaii. It is placed horizontally crossways on the player’s knees hence very different from other guitars. There exist two kinds of steel guitar. The pedal steel has a similar mechanical tactic with the harp. You use pedals and knee-levers to change the pitch of each string while playing hence providing the player with the entire chromatic scale. To play the other kind of steel guitar known as lap steel guitar you use a solid bar of steel and lay the neck horizontally.

Resonator Guitars

Resonator guitar is unique since it does not have the usual sound hole. The guitar has a big, normally circular-plate which hides the resonator cone. The cone is similar to an audio loudspeaker and is crafted from spun aluminium. Resonator guitar produces a loud, bright sound and can be heard in big rooms or open air performance easily. They are liked by blues bands and country players.

Bass Guitars

These guitars have a wide scale-length and thick strings. These factors produce a variety of notes that matches the lowest four strings of the guitar although pitched an octave lower. There exist acoustic bass and electric bass guitars. The normal bass guitar has four strings although five and six strings are accessible.

Double-Neck Guitars

These are two diverse types of guitars but hare the same body. They usually have a standard six string neck and twelve-string neck although there are other kinds of combinations. It is popular among rock guitarist. It is perfect for live performance where the guitar player has to restore a multi-tracked guitar recording.

Classical or Spanish Guitar

It originated from Spain and was conventionally used for playing classical music. It is constructed using wood with a big, hollow sound-box as well as female torso shape. Earlier the guitar was strung using gut strings. Currently, nylon strings are used which produce a sweet, calm and slightly muted sound. It is ideal for classical music. You should never place metal strings on a Spanish guitar.

Flamenco Guitar

The key difference between flamenco and Spanish guitar is that the flamenco fretboard is wider.

Semi-Acoustic Guitar

A semi-acoustic guitar can be described as a perfect electric guitar fitted with huge hollow sound-box to produce adequate sound. This makes it unnecessary to connect to an amplifier when playing in a small room such as the living room. Since the sound box is normally metal, it does not produce the depth and quality of an acoustic guitar.

Having knowledge about various types of guitars is essential before you begin playing guitars. This knowledge will assist you in purchasing a guitar too.