Acoustic guitars aren’t just wood, strings, and some fancy paints. When an expert luthier with passion makes a guitar, he pours the soul of music into them with the right ingredients in a proper ratio. And there are different types of acoustic guitar bodies that depend upon the usage and artist style to create the best acoustic guitar experience.
What are the different types of acoustic guitars?
Many Luthiers custom name their guitars based on factors such as the color of the guitar, configuration, body shape, wood type, etc. In this article, we are trying to emphasize some of the popular acoustic guitar types that are famous in the market.
Let’s have a closer look at each of them.
(a) Classical Guitars
Classical Guitars are known for their soft nylon strings. Artists who follow soft music such as traditional European style and who prefer fingerpicking can choose classical guitars. The typical Flamenco style of these guitars is due to their Spanish origin.
Classical Guitars are the first choice of many people who starts a career in guitar music. Marcin Dylla, Manuel Barrueco, Pepe Romero, Christopher Parkening, Willie Nelson, etc are some of the all-time famous guitarists who preferred classical guitar for their mesmerizing performance.
(b) Jumbo Guitars
The major advantage of Jumbo guitars are, they have a rounded shape from shoulder to bottom, allowing it to have the largest sound cavity when compared to other guitar models. And hence, this guitar is famous for its loudness!
The Jumbo guitars were founded in 1937 by Gibson with the introduction of the J-200 model. This guitar is well suited to artists who are aiming to cover a good crowd without the help of extra amplifiers or speakers that are available in the market.
A Jumbo guitar is the best option for a singer who likes his music to be loud. The tonal properties are balanced with a slight emphasis on bass. Bob Dylon, Noel Gallagher, etc are some of the famous personalities who used Jumbo for their master performances.
Grand Auditorium Guitars
While the large Dreadnought is more used by strummers and flatpickers, the Grand Auditorium has followers from the group of finger stylists. They are just below the size of a typical Dreadnought with a 16-inch width and 20-inch body length.
Since they are mid-sized, GA has more balance volume and excellent projection, making it suitable for all kinds of projections. The GA guitars are best for artists to perform in a studio as well as on a stage. Taylor Swift has been seen using this guitar type for many stage performances since it suited her smaller stature.
(a) Dreadnought Guitars
One of the most common shapes that are found in acoustic guitar is the famous Dreadnoughts. It was first made in 1916 by C.F. Martin and was named after the battleship HMS Dreadnought which was known for its larger size.
The huge internal cavity of Dreadnoughts is good enough to produce bass sounds as well as strong mid ranges. The powerful tonal range of Dreadnoughts makes it perfect for using in a band where there are other high tones rendering instruments such as violins and mandolins.
Songwriters, singers, etc are fond of Dreadnought guitars due to its ability to flawlessly align bass tones with their voice. Many celebrity musicians like Tony Rice, Tim Reynolds used Dreadnought guitars.
(b) Parlour Guitars
Parlour or Parlor is best suited for people who like smaller guitar bodies. They are not as small as customized modern guitars, but small enough to carry and travel around without much huss and fuss. This 19th-century musical instrument was invented by C.F Martin.
Ian Anderson was one of the many famous artists who used parlour guitars. History says he made the guitar speak with his magical fingers. Parlour Guitars are good for fingerpicking, strumming, etc. Artists with soft music can make a signature performance with this guitar body type.
(c) Travel Guitars
These guitars are a modern-day evolved type. Travel guitars are small in size, and as their name indicates, are easy to carry while traveling. It got the audience when seen together with the famous Ed-Sheeran.
The best quality travel guitars can be used easily inside a small group of friends as well as in a stage to cover a large group of people. Just like most of the other guitars, Martin and Taylor invented and marketed the travel guitars.
Conclusion
Choosing the right guitar is always a roadblock for an artist. Since every artist has unique music, presentation methods, and preferences for acoustic guitar strings, each acoustic guitar is different from the rest. Choosing the most suited guitar is always going to be a challenge. But once the right one comes to your hand, you can create history with it.
