Click here to learn more about the Orange Tiny Terror

My Experience With the Tiny Terror

I bought my Tiny Terror used on eBay about 2 years ago, admittedly behind the “boom” of low wattage amps, but I haven’t looked back since. This 15 watt amp (switchable to 7 watts) was the exact fit for the sound I have been searching for. I play rock, blues and some pop and the Tiny Terror delivers in every one of these arenas. I mostly play a Stratocaster with Kinman pickups and a ’74 Les Paul Goldtop. The Tiny Terror plays well with both guitars, as well as nearly any pedal I put in front of it. I won’t get into the specs of the amp; you can check the Orange site for that. I will tell you that the gorgeous tone is delivered through (2) 12ax7’s in the pre-gain stage, and (2) el84’s in the post, and the size of the Tiny Terror makes it easily transportable with the added gigbag.

Live Performance

Whether I’m playing a mid-sized club, practicing in my bedroom or leading at church, the Tiny Terror has plenty of voice to be heard but retains a decent volume level without the use of sound curtains. Anything larger than a mid-sized club and you’ll need to mic it, but nearly any sound guy would do that to any amp in a larger venue. I leave the volume and gain controls both at about 12 o’clock. To my ear, this is the perfect amount of volume and adds just enough break-up to the tone to get you excited. With PLENTY of gain on top, you could very easily pump the gain up and simply back off on your guitar’s volume to clean up the tone when necessary, or throw a nice overdrive pedal in front of it. Orange describes the tone as a “clean crunch” and I couldn’t agree more. It’s that perfect tube saturation that countless guitarists search for, but rarely find in an amp priced under $1400 (around $550 from most Orange dealers).

In the Studio

In the studio, the Tiny Terror simply performs. The single flaw I find with the TT is that it is hard to get a squeaky clean tone out of it. If you’re looking for clean tones turned up to 11 you’re barking up the wrong tree. This amp was specifically designed to breakup early so guitarists could get that wonderful tube crunch at lower volumes. I ran the TT in parallel with a Fender Twin on my last recording in order to pull up clean tones when needed. For rock, blues, pop and even some jazz, the Tiny Terror will stick with and even outperform many of the boutique amps on the market today.

Tiny Terror Variations

A few variations of the Tiny Terror have been added to the lineup including the Tiny Terror Handwired edition, the 2 channel 30 watt Dual Terror and the Dark Terror due for release at the end of May. Whatever your flavor, when you’re looking for a great sounding, affordable, low-wattage amplifier check out the Terror lineup.

It’s pretty amazing to me how many guitar apps have made their way to the iTunes App Store. Just by searching “guitar” under apps, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of apps related to guitar. These include tuners, tab software, chord charts, metronomes, chord libraries, and much more.

It makes sense then why Castiv decided to create the Guitar Sidekick. This mount attaches to your guitar and mounts your iPhone or any other mobile or portable device to your guitar.

Castiv was so kind to send me one to try out. Here’s what I think.

First Impressions

I really like the idea of this device. I have an iPhone and I use it a lot for my music stuff. This device would work great with my Griffin GuitarConnect cable. Sometimes I don’t always have the convenience of setting my iPhone somewhere safe, like on a table or stand in front of me, so to be able to securely attach it to my guitar is a cool idea.

Mounting the Guitar Sidekick to my Guitar

The Guitar Sidekick comes in three parts: (1) the “Harpo,” which is a metal and rubber piece that clamps onto your strings, (2) the cap, which is a plastic piece that secures the Harpo shut, and (3) the mount which attaches to the ball on the end of the cap piece.

When I first opened up the packaging and got all the parts on the table, the “Harpo,” which I’ll refer from now on to as the clamp, seemed like it was glued shut. I had the most difficult time getting it to unstick itself. I had to use quite a bit of strength to pry it apart. Needless to say, I eventually got it opened up.

The instructions that come with the product are very detailed so I went ahead and mounted it to my acoustic guitar. It took me awhile to figure out the best way to attach the clamp around the strings. In the following picture, you’ll see where I ended up putting it.

Unfortunately, it was a bit of a clumsy process to trying to attach the Sidekick. You have to get it right underneath the strings on your headstock and then pinch the clamp together tight enough with your fingers to get the cap on the end of the device. After a few minutes of trial, I was able to get the cap on the clamp although I had to pinch the clamp together pretty hard around the strings. Maybe with practice I’ll be able to get it installed a little faster.

Having the clamp around the strings like that did not effect the tuning of the guitar or the sound of the instrument, which was great.

While the product is advertised to work with acoustic, electric or classical guitars, it’s not guaranteed that this will work on all guitars. I tried used the Guitar Sidekick on my Gretsch Electromatic electric guitar, and the clamp would not fit in the gap between the strings and the headstock. If you have a telecaster or stratocaster electric guitar, it might work okay. Pappy posted a review of the Guitar Sidekick on his blog the Fifth Fret and it looked like he was able to get it attached to his telecaster with no problem.

Using the Guitar Sidekick

Once I was able to get it attached to my guitar, it ended up being a pretty neat device. I was able to pivot and adjust the position of my iPhone with no problem.

The Guitar Sidekick includes a free lite version of the program MP4TABS. I’m not really sure what this program does because there isn’t a very good description on the website about it, and the program download is for Windows only users. I’m a Mac OSX user, so I can’t install it. Bummer. It’s kind of weird to me that the product would be marketed towards Apple iPhone users and not have Mac OSX compatibility. Not a good move there.

Conclusion

Overall, it’s a cool idea, but not as well executed as I would have hoped. I think if the clamp were a bit thinner it might be able to work with nearly every guitar. I wish it was easier to install and didn’t require so much strength to get the cap over the clamp to get it to stay shut. I also wish they had Mac OSX compatibility for their tabs program.

If you have an extra $29.99, it might be a fun toy for you to play around with. Once and if you get it attached, it works as you would expect. If you have a lot of guitar apps on your iPhone, this might be a nice tool for you to have.

I got my iPhone 4 a couple months ago, and now that I’ve had it, I can’t imagine life without it. With the app store, I’m almost convinced my iPhone can do anything. However, I was a bit surprised when I found it could also act as a portable guitar effects unit as well.

A couple months ago Griffin Technology released their GuitarConnect cable for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. This cable plugs your guitar right into your iPhone, iPod touch, or iPad. The headphone output allows you to connect auxiliary speakers or headphones.

I was able to get ahold of the GuitarConnect cable to try out in person, and here’s what I think.

First Impressions

Griffin ships the GuitarConnect cable in a small plastic bag. The cable feels very durable in my hands. It’s not flimsy, but it’s still very flexible. The cable is 6′ long so it’s plenty long enough to reach from my iPhone to my electric guitar.

Griffin offers their guitar effects iShred LIVE for free, so I downloaded that, plugged my guitar in, and then plugged my headphones in and I was ready to go.

Exploring iShred LIVE

Upon opening up iShred LIVE on my iPhone, I see a channel strip at the top of app with settings to switch between a clean and overdrive channel with gain settings. Below that, there is collection of eight pedals. The ones that are transparent are ones that are available for purchase for as much as $1.99. These include a compressor, treble booster, tremolo, chorus, and distortion/fuzz pedal. The pedals that come with the app are a noise gate, delay, and phaser/modulation pedal.

If I click to the “Presets” tab, I have a collection of presets I can select from. I can also save presets that I create into the user bank presets.

iShred LIVE Tonal Quality

For a free app that runs an effects unit right from your iPhone, I wasn’t expecting it to match the quality of a real-life pedal board. This was a fair expectation. You’ll quickly notice that while each of the effects pedals does exactly what it’s suppose to, the sound of the guitar tends to sound very digital and thin. This is to be expected though from an iPhone app.

One problem I was having was that even on a clean setting my guitar signal was distorting. Thankfully, the iShred LIVE app includes a sound meter towards the bottom of the app. I simply turned the volume knob on my guitar to fix the clipping issue. This did make me have to compensate for the loss of volume by increasing the volume on my iPhone though.

A Very Handy Practice Tool

You’re not going to be getting any really sick guitar tones from this device, but I can see how handy this app can be for practice. The app also includes a tuner, metronome, and an audio player that allows you to play your guitar along to audio files in your iTunes library.

The metronome worked as exactly as I expected. It’s nice that you can even specify how many beats per measure you want the metronome to register. The tuner was very simple but accurate enough to get a good tuning.

I was a bit disappointed with the built in audio player. It ended up not being very practical because the volume of the audio file was significantly louder than the output of the guitar. Unfortunately, the volume control controls the volume of the audio player AND the guitar signal. It would be nice if there were two separate volume controls for the audio file and the guitar. However, one really cool part of the built in audio player was that you can select a certain part of the song to loop. This comes in handy if you’re trying to transcribe or hear a guitar part.

Final Thoughts

You’re not getting a word class sounding guitar tone from this application, however, it does make a very good practice tool considering it’s so portable and easy to use. If you could take advantage of this portability, at $29.99 this would be a good buy. Plus, it’s just cool to be able to play your guitar through your iPhone.

Learn more about the Griffin GuitarConnect cable at Griffin’s website here.

Sanyo just recently dropped a pretty interesting product called the Pedal Juice. I’ve never seen anything like it before. The Pedal Juice is a rechargeable 9V power supply for effects pedals, multi-effects units, and even portable recording devices. I just recently received a Pedal Juice to review, and here’s what I think.

First Impressions

Upon opening up the box, everything is crammed in there leaving no room for space. The actual Pedal Juice power supply only takes up about a third of the box, with the rest of the box containing cables, power adapter, and a carrying case.

For a 9V rechargeable power supply, you might expect it to be pretty sizable and hefty. Surprisingly, it’s no bigger than my Boss TU-2 sizing in at 4.7″ x 2.56″ x 1.65″, and in my hand, it feels like it weighs less than all my other pedals. It’s nice to know that this won’t weigh down your pedal board anymore than it already is.

Charging the Pedal Juice Up

The Pedal Juice has a front-lit LED that indicates the power level of the battery. A red light means battery power is less than 30%, an orange light means battery power is between 30% – 60%, and a green light means battery power is above 60%. When I turned it on right out of the box, the battery was below 30%.

Sanyo claims the Pedal Juice only takes 3.5 hours of charging time. Based on how much the pedal was charged out of the box, I was able to charge it the rest of the way in less than 2 hours. As it charged, the LED light would blink once every two seconds and cycle through red and orange indicators. When it was all charged, the LED light went completely out.

Plugging the Pedal Juice In

The Pedal Juice only has two DC 9V outputs with a maximum output of 2,000mA and a negative polarity. You can hook up more than two pedals, but you will need to daisy chain them with some extra cables like these not included with the Pedal Juice. The user guide stresses very clearly how important it is to make sure you are not plugging in pedals with an opposite polarity to the Pedal Juice device. If you do have a pedal or device with an opposite polarity, the Pedal Juice does come with one small polarization conversion cable.

I quickly noticed how short the cables are for the Pedal Juice. I didn’t have any severe problems with the length, but you will want to make sure the device is centrally located between your pedals, or at least very close by. Once, everything was plugged in, I fired up the Pedal Juice and all my pedals (Boss DD-20, Full Drive 2, Boss TU-2) turned on with no problem.

Testing It Out

The awesome thing about the Pedal Juice is that since it’s not connected to a power source in the wall, you don’t have to worry about nasty noises or hums. When I played through it, my pedals were powered exactly as I expected and my tone was nice and clear. I wouldn’t say my tone was clearer necessarily. The Pedal Juice isn’t suppose to enhance your tone, but by default, it eliminates the power issues that come from powering from the wall.

How much power is consumed will depend on the device you have connected to the Pedal Juice. Here is a list of Sanyo’s estimated usage times:

• Analog effects unit (Distortion / Overdrive, etc.: Current used about 10mA): 50 hours
• Digital effects unit (Digital Delay / Digital Reverb, etc.: Current used about 50mA): 27 hours
• Digital multi effects unit, mini amp, or graphic equalizer (Currend used about 100mA): 17 hours
• Multi-track recorder or synthesizer (Current used about 300mA): 7 hours
• Electronic drums or percussion (Current used about 1,000mA): 2 hours
• Example: 3 effects units (Overdrive + Chorus + Digital Delay: Current used about 80mA): 20 hours

Like I mentioned above, in order to connect more than two pedals, I had to daisy chain the additional pedals with an extra daisy-chained DC cable I had (pictured below). The Pedal Juice can handle the additional pedals, but obviously, you’ll just consume more power.

When I was done, I simply held the power button on the Pedal Juice to turn it off and the pedals connected to it. When it is turned off, the battery is not used even if there are other pedals plugged in.

My Opinion

At first, I felt a bit deceived when I found out that the Pedal Juice only had two DC outs. When I saw the promotional picture from Sanyo of the Pedal Juice sitting on a board with a few pedals, I made the assumption it was equipped to connect to more than two pedals. However, like I mentioned above, you can buy some extra 9V DC cables for about $30 to expand the amount of pedals powered. For those who have larger setups and higher demands, you might find the Pedal Juice a bit limited.

However, I could see this working really well for my acoustic setups where I simply need to power my tuner and my delay pedal. It’s not uncommon for me to find myself in situations where I don’t have a power strip or an outlet within 10 feet.

The Pedal Juice not only powers effects pedals but other multi-effects processors and other portable recording devices. You could probably plug anything into this that took a DC in and had the right voltage and polarity. You can get creative with it.

Overall, this is a very innovative, but reliable product. If you’re in situations where you could use the extreme portability of the pedal juice to power a few pedals or other units, this would be great for you. The fact you can power more than two pedals is a good plus despite having to buy the extra cables. At $150, it might be a little bit pricey, but if you think about it, other power supplies like the Voodoo Lab Pedal Power 2 Plus cost as much as $170.

With all this being said, I’m quite impressed! I would not hesitate to recommend the Sanyo Pedal Juice.

Reader Response

What do you think about the Pedal Juice? Would you buy it? Those who own it, what do you think?

While I do gain a small commission to mention these products here (and ultimately support the development of Guitar Friendly), I can ensure you that I only mention these services because I genuinely believe in them and believe they are an excellent source for learning how to play the guitar. I was not paid or solicited to write this review. This review was written based on my first-hand experience with JamPlay.

With all that said, I want to take a bit more of an in-depth look at the service and see what it’s all about.

First Look

Upon activating your membership and logging into your account, you’ll land on the member’s homepage. You’ll notice that the design is very simple and clean, which makes everything very easy to find. The sidebar is neatly organized into different sections, and the main content area is also neatly organized to highlight different sections of JamPlay.

As you move down the page, you can see the latest lesson you watched, so you can continue where you left off. You also have updates of the latest forum activity, the current live webcam lesson in progress, webcam schedules, and newly added lessons or site updates.

Inside Look: JamPlay Video Guitar Lessons

JamPlay features over 432+ hours of video guitar lessons not including their live webcam lessons. Their video lessons are the bread and butter of their site and probably the main reason you would sign up. The lessons are divided into three different phases: (1) beginner guitar lessons, (2) advanced and genre specific guitar lessons, and (3) song lessons.

Phase #1: Beginner Guitar Lessons

This phase is divided up between acoustic guitar lessons and electric guitar lessons. This phase explores not only the basics of playing guitar like tuning, posture, and finger technique, but also looks at strumming, fingerpicking, major chords, minor chords, seventh chords, theory, scales, hammer-ons and pull-offs, changing guitar strings, rhythm, timing, tempo, and much more. They even have a kids guitar lesson section.

One thing I was really impressed with was how well the lessons are organized. Each lesson builds on the other to provide you a step-by-step plan towards mastering particular techniques and exercises on the guitar. You can then track your progress through the built-in progress report. This sort of organized plan is absolutely crucial to making advancements in your guitar playing, otherwise you are shooting the dark.

If you click on the picture above, you can see the screen for a video guitar lesson. As you can see, the video lessons utilize multiple camera angles so you can see exactly what’s going on in the lesson. A very cool new feature that JamPlay just added is the ability to loop a section of the video. This comes in handy when the guitar instructor is playing an exercise or song, and you want to play along with them.

Below the video, there are five tabs: (1) info about this lesson is a written summary of the lesson and what the lesson will be covering; (2) supplemental content is a collection of printable documents, charts, tabs, or diagrams that you can print out and follow along with; (3) more from lesson set is a complete list of other lessons in the current series; (4) my thoughts and notes gives you the ability to write notes about the lesson; and (5) comment and discuss allows you to make any comments or ask any questions about the lesson.

Phase #2: Advanced and Genre Specific Guitar Lessons

JamPlay recommends you complete phase one guitar lessons before moving onto phase two. Phase two teaches you specific techniques and skills related to specific genres of music including: classic rock, blues, fingerstyle, metal, Hawaiian slack key, bluegrass, rock, celtic, classical, country, and jazz.

The other part of phase 2 is the skilling building lessons which include: lead guitar, speed, hammer-ons, pull-offs, harmonics, reading music & rhythms, singing along with guitar, songwriting, theory and improvisation, and 12-string.

Phase #3: Song Lessons

These video lessons look specifically at how to play over 150 songs in a variety of different styles. Popular songs include: “Sweet Child, O’ Mine” by Guns & Roses, “Canon in D” by Johann Pachelbel, “Iris” by Goo Goo Dolls, and much more. Each lesson looks exactly how to play the song on video with the tabs and chords included in the supplemental material.

Inside Look: JamPlay Live Webcam Sessions (JamChat)

Another really key area of JamPlay is their live webcam sessions that happen for 12+ hours everyday called “JamChat.” Different instructors are available around the clock to help you with any questions you might have about playing guitar. Some instructors focus more on classic rock, while others might focus more on jazz & blues, and then other might focus more on classical guitar. You’ll want to check the schedule to tune in for your favorite instructors.

My experience with JamChat was variable. I sat in on some sessions that were a bit slow-paced where not many people were asking questions. Sometimes the JamPlay members in the chat can be a bit annoying with off-topic banter. However, I have sat in on a few sessions where there were a lot of questions being asked and the instructor was offering very informed and helpful answers to people’s questions. It was clear that the instructors don’t come in to the sessions prepared with material to teach you (at least from what I observed). The JamChat session is your time to ask the questions you have about playing guitar.

Sometimes the performance of the live video was variable. It seemed that quality of the video was very dependent upon the internet connection of the instructor. The first session I sat in on, the live video for the session froze. However, in the other sessions I’ve sat in on, there has been no problems.

All to say, while the performance of JamChat can vary, it’s an excellent place to receive instant and personal answers to your questions from a live instructor. The online member forums also provided an excellent resource to talk with other instructors and guitar players to receive help or learn more.

Final Consensus

You’re getting a lot with JamPlay. Every video lesson I watched was extremely easy-to-follow with in-depth information. The multiple camera angles made it feel like I was in the same room as my instructor, and the video in combination with the supplemental material made it almost impossible to not understand what was going on. But if there was any confusion, I could easily post a question to the forum and get help from an instructor, or join a live webcam and ask my question there. I was pretty impressed.

There is nothing like receiving guitar lessons live and in person. That’ll always be the challenge of comparing online guitar lessons to private guitar lessons. However, JamPlay does an excellent job of overcoming this barrier through the intense use of media and supplemental content. Every piece of content is easily accessed and logically organized in a way that allows you to either begin or advance your studies as a guitarist.

As for the price, it’s only $19.95. When you consider that most private lessons are $19.95+ per lesson, the price of JamPlay is very impressive. And the best part is, you can try JamPlay with a no-risk 100% money back guarantee. It’s at least worth the try.

Check out JamPlay now and let me know what you think.

Questions & Comments

Do you have any questions about JamPlay? What do you think of JamPlay?

When you make a serious financial investment, such as buying a guitar, it’s important to make an educated buying decision.

The purpose of this guide is to give you a comprehensive overview of the things you should consider when buying an acoustic guitar or determining the quality of one. Here’s what we’ll be looking at.

Contents

• Identifying Your Budget & Goals
• The Parts of the Guitar
• The Main Things You Want to Look for When Buying an Acoustic Guitar
• Acoustic Guitar Body Styles
• Tonewoods & Other Woods that Effect the Sound of an Acoustic Guitar
• Acoustic Guitar Pickups & Electronics
• Specific Buying Tips for Beginners vs. Seasoned Players
• Where to Buy an Acoustic Guitar & the Actual Buying Process

Identifying Your Budget & Goals

When you’re looking to buy an acoustic guitar, it’s really easy to get lost in all the options. As we move forward, you want to consider these few questions:

• How much do I have available to spend?
• How much would I be willing to save?
• What will I be using my acoustic guitar for? (e.g. just for fun, live performances, recording, etc.)
• What’s my style of playing? (e.g. heavy strummer, light strummer, fingerpicker, bluesy, folksy, etc.)

Start running these questions through your head. As you begin to answer these questions, you’ll be able to narrow down your options. We’ll look more in depth into these things as we move along.

The Parts of the Guitar

The Main Things You Want to Look for

Before we jump into the nitty-gritty details of acoustic guitars, when looking at buying a guitar, there are a few general considerations you must make.

1.) Cracks, Dents, & Bridge Separation. This might seem fairly obvious, but you want to make sure there aren’t any parts of the guitar that are cracking or have serious wear on the finish. Usually, this is uncommon for new guitars, but since most guitars in stores are available to be played by any customer, sometimes these guitars can fall off their stands and get bumped and scratched up. However, if you find a guitar that you like with a few scratches on it, you can also use this to your advantage. If you don’t mind having a guitar with a little “character” to it, stores and sellers will often knock down the price if you bring these scratches to their attention.

While scratches or scuff marks won’t affect the overall sound of the guitar, cracks are no good. Sometimes cracks aren’t very noticeable, so be sure you look over the entire instrument. You also want to make sure that the bridge is sitting fully flush with the top of the guitar and is not lifting up or cracking.

2.) Straight neck. With one eye open, give a good look down the neck from the bottom of the guitar to make sure that the neck isn’t bent, crooked, or warped in any way.

3.) Fretboard. As you move your hand up and down the guitar neck, do any of the frets stick out and rub your hand in an uncomfortable way? Sometimes the frets will hang over the edge of the fretboard and poke your hand. If you end up getting a guitar where this is a major problem, a luthier (someone who works on or builds guitars) should be able to sand these down for a fair price.

4.) Action. “Action” most simply refers to the space between the strings and the fretboard. If the action is too high, sometimes it is hard to press the strings down to the fretboard. If the action is too low, sometimes the strings will “catch” on other frets and create a buzzing sound when you are playing.

The action can be changed by either shaving down the nut, if the action is too high, or by filling in the nut with an epoxy if the strings are too low. Any guitar repair person can do this for you at a minimal cost, so don’t let this deter you from buying a guitar you really like.

5.) Neck size. The width of the neck is measured at the nut of the guitar. The width of necks will vary between manufacturers. For acoustic guitars, a standard neck width is somewhere in the neighborhood of 1-11/16 inch, 1-3/4 inch, and 1-7/8 inch. Typically, fingerstyle and classical guitar players will want a wider guitar neck from 1-3/4 inch to 2 inches. If you have really stubby fingers, you might want to consider a wider neck.

6.) Does the guitar stay in tune? There is nothing more frustrating than a guitar that doesn’t stay in tune. When you are looking at a guitar, play it for awhile and take notice to how well it does or doesn’t stay in tune. If you buy a guitar with cheap tuners, you might choose to replace these at a later time.

Another thing to keep in mind is that guitars in stores will often have really old, and played out, strings on them, which will never stay in tune and usually move flat. If you are serious about buying a particular guitar, spend a few bucks and ask to have the strings changed so you can hear the tuning, and intonation, with fresh strings. This is the only real way to gauge both of these issues properly with a new guitar.

7.) Intonation. Intonation also refers to how well the guitar is in tune but in a different way. Sometimes a guitar will sound in tune when you play the notes between the 1st – 5th frets, but as you go up an octave and play around the 12th fret, the pitch for the same note is a little bit sharp or flat. You can test for the intonation by playing the harmonic on the sixth string, twelfth fret, then play the fretted note on the sixth string, twelfth fret. If these two notes are not the same, one is sharper or flatter than the other, then the intonation is out. Repeat this process on all six strings to determine if any of the strings are properly intonated or not.

Acoustic Guitar Body Styles

There are a few different types of body styles for acoustic guitars: classic, dreadnought, and jumbo.

The name and exact sizes of these body styles will vary between manufacturers. For example, Taylor’s classic body style is usually referred to as a grand auditorium body style, while Martin’s classic body style is usually referred to as their 00 or 000 series.

Generally, a classic body style will give you a medium sound projection and a bit more overall balance between your hi, mid, and low frequencies. This body style is popular with guitarists who fingerpick because the guitar gives them a lot clarity between the highs, mids, and lows. However, the classic body style also makes an excellent strumming guitar too. For a classic body style, you usually want to use light gauge strings, because medium gauge strings create more tension on the neck than the guitar was designed to handle. However, some people will use mediums and have their truss rod (a metal rod that runs through the neck for support) adjusted to compensate for the extra tension.

Unlike the classic body style, a dreadnought body style will give you a much richer bass response. Dreadnought guitars usually have a “bigger” sound over the classic body style, and therefore, sound louder. Some refer to dreadnoughts as more “boomy.” If you’re a really heavy strummer, you might opt for a dreadnought guitar. Dreadnought guitars tend to sound best with medium gauge guitar strings, although you could use light strings if you wanted.

The jumbo body style will also have a big sound like the dreadnought except the shape of the guitar is very similar to that of the classic body style. A jumbo is basically a glorified classic body style in terms of size. People tend to opt for the jumbo when they want the shape of a classic body style but something close to the big sound of a dreadnought.

Jumbo guitars tend to be popular for performing artists where they wear the guitar with a strap. Sometimes the jumbo size can be uncomfortable while you’re sitting down to play since the body is so big in your lap. Like dreadnoughts, most jumbos take medium gauge strings, while you still have the option of using light strings.

All of these body styles might also include a cutaway which allows the guitar player to access higher frets on the fretboard. Most would say that the cutaway doesn’t affect the overall sound of the guitar.

About Tonewoods & Other Woods

While the body style of your guitar can affect the way your guitar sounds, the type of wood your guitar is made out of can even more so effect the sound. Sound is created when you strum the strings and the strings vibrate the bridge and then the top of the guitar. Different woods vibrate in different ways. That’s why some guitars will sound brighter or darker than other guitars.

Tonewoods (Topwoods)
The wood used for the top of a guitar is often referred to as the tonewood. It acts as the instrument’s sound board. Aside from the actual wood, there are two different types of top constructions.

The first is called a laminated veneer top that is constructed with thin sheets of wood glued together. This type of top is not going to produce the best sound, which is why guitars made with these types of tops are quite cheaper.

On the opposite end, there is the solid top which is constructed out of a solid piece of wood. This type of top is going to resonate better and have more clarity and volume than a laminated veneer top. As you might have guessed, for this increase in quality you are going to pay a bit more in price.

When it comes to the actual wood used for the top, some luthiers would say that selecting the right wood for the top is one of the most important variables in determining the overall tone of the guitar. Let’s take a look at some of the most popular tonewoods for guitars.

Backs and Sides
The topwoods aren’t the only factors that contribute to the sound of a guitar. The backs and sides also greatly affect the overall sound and tone of the guitar.

Necks
Some of the woods mentioned above are used for necks as well. For example, a maple neck will generally add a bright, “poppy” tone to the overall sound. Mahogany is used also for necks. This can also help push the overall sound of the guitar into a more “woody” and warmer tone. Rosewood is also a popular choice for necks, which can help fatten the midrange.

Acoustic Guitar Pickups & Electronics

If you’ll be plugging your guitar into a sound system or PA, you’ll want to think about the electronics that allow you guitar to be amplified. Sometimes it’s most cost effective to buy a guitar with electronics already installed. However, some people want to select a specific type of pickup for their guitar than the one the guitar manufacturer installs, so they will buy the guitar without any electronics installed, buy the pickup, and then install it themselves or have a guitar shop do it for them. There are a few different types of pickups.

Electromagnetic Soundhole Pickups

This is the most basic type of guitar pickup, and as the name implies, this pickup fits into the soundhole of your guitar. People like to use these types of pickups because they can usually be had for pretty cheap, they are easy to install, and they don’t require any permanent installation or modification to your guitar.

The pickup senses the movement of the strings through a magnetic field, which is then transmitted into sound that can be amplified out of your guitar. Out of all the pickups, these can be the most resistant to feedback, which makes them great if you are going to be playing in loud, live settings.

Some people complain that these pickups don’t do a good job of picking up the nuances of your sound. Some also complain that the pickup looks ugly because it mounts in the soundhole of the guitar and usually requires you to run a wire out from the soundhole across the top of your guitar unless you install the wire and drill a hole into the body of the guitar.

Some popular choices for soundhole pickups are the Seymour Duncan Woody XL ($59.99), Fishman Neo-D02 ($79.95), Fishman Rare Earth Pro-Rep-102 ($139.95), and the LR Baggs M1A ($169.00).

Microphone Pickup

Microphones tend to give you the most accurate representation of the actual sound of your guitar over any other pickup. They directly capture the sound of the instrument and convert it into an electrical signal which can then be amplified. The downside is feedback can be a huge issue if you are onstage or in a setting that has a lot of stage noise.

One solution to combat feedback is to place the microphone inside the guitar closer to the sound source (the strings). However, in doing this, you end up isolating the microphone to pickup a smaller region of the sound source.

Contact (Soundboard and Under-saddle) Pickups

Contact pickups are placed directly on the guitar, which then detect and convert vibrations of the instrument into electrical signals, which can be amplified as sound. Some might refer to contact pickups as piezo pickups. Generally, there are two different locations contact pickups can be placed on the guitar: on the soundboard or under the saddle.

The soundboard of the guitar simply refers to the top of the guitar. The top of the guitar vibrates and produces sound when you strum, which makes it a good place to put a contact pickup. Soundboard pickups look like little discs no bigger than a quarter, and usually, you will put two or three on the soundboard to capture the sound of the instrument. For a less permanent installation, you can actually place the contact pickups on the outside of the top of your guitar. For a more permanent installation, you can place these pickups on inside of your guitar underneath the top.

Some popular choices for soundboard pickups are the K&K Sound Twin Spot Internal ($78.00) and the Fishman SBT-E ($79.95).

Under-saddle pickups look like a little bar of wire, which are made out of a piezo material, and as the name implies, they are placed underneath the saddle of your guitar. The saddle is the piece of plastic (or bone) that the strings lay over top of connecting to the bridge of your guitar. Under-saddle pickups might be the most popular transducers used by performing artists. They are almost immune to feedback like soundhole pickups, but offer a much more clearer and accurate sound of the actual instrument next to that of a microphone. Compared to other pickups, under-saddle pickups are probably the most difficult to install since you might have to drill a hole for the wire and widen or deepen the saddle slot.

Some popular choices for under-saddle pickups are the LR Baggs Element ($119.00), LR Baggs iBeam Active ($139.30), and the Fishman Matrix Infinity ($139.95).

Dual Source (Blender) Pickup

Some electronics systems will blend an internal microphone with an under-saddle pickup. A “blender” system like this allows you to control how much of the microphone is being outputted and how much the under-saddle pickup is being outputted. Guitar players using this system will often set the internal microphone to be only high enough to portray the nuances of the guitar in the overall sound that a microphone captures while using the other pickup to account for most of the sound. This allows you to combat feedback while still being able to use an internal microphone.

These systems can be pretty pricey, but many people will tell you they are completely worth it if you are serious about getting the best acoustic guitar tone. Some popular choices for blender systems are the Fishman Ellipse Matrix Blend ($219.95) and the Fishman Rare Earth Blend Soundhole Pickup ($299.99). A lot of people though will get a separate onboard or external preamp from the microphone and pickup.

Evaluating Pickups

Now that you know about the types of pickups, it’s important to try a few or several to see how well they work with your guitar. Some pickups may bleed off the high-end, others may have a more pronounced mid-range, still others may really bring out the bass.

As a rule of thumb, a more expensive pickup doesn’t necessarily transfer to “better.” Sometimes they’re just more expensive. So trying out, listening to, and reading reviews on several pickups before you buy a guitar is ultra-important.

In general, what you want to look for in terms of sound is how well the pickups reproduce the natural sound of your guitar; that is, the pickup should have a fairly flat EQ response, or have sliders or knobs that will allow you to dial in a flat EQ response. The best way to determine the EQ response is to plug directly into a PA system and not an acoustic amp that will add its own texturing. Going direct should give you a very close approximation of the natural sound. If you can’t dial in a decent tone, then chances are, you won’t want to get that pickup.

Specific Buying Tips for Beginners vs. Seasoned Players

As you can see, there is not necessarily a “right” choice for wood, body style, pickups, neck size, action, and tuners, but rather, the choice of your guitar will largely depend on what type of sound and playability you are hoping to achieve, and ultimately, what type of guitar you can afford. Truth be told, you can spend as much as $10,000 and way more for a guitar. The sky is the limit.

That’s why it’s so important to set a budget. What can you afford? Or rather, what are you willing to save for?

Factors that effect the price of a guitar include the type of wood, quality of wood, level of craftsmanship, choice of electronics, the amount of detailed work (e.g. pearl inlays), selection of tuning machines, etc. It’s fairly safe to say that with guitars you get what you pay for, although there are exceptions.

If you’re just a beginner…

You don’t need to shell out thousands of dollars for your first guitar. However, as a beginner, you might wonder, “What if I don’t like guitar as much as I anticipated, and I ended up spending all this money?”

First, I would recommend you to try to find a friend’s guitar you can borrow as you’re first learning. Chances are you know somebody that you work with, a neighbor, or a friend that has a guitar sitting around. This way you can try out learning guitar without the risk of the investment.

However, at the same time, it’s good to see buying an acoustic guitar as an investment. If you make a good investment, you are more likely to get a good return on that investment at a later time. In my experience, it’s best to plan to budget at least $250-$600 for a very basic, entry level guitar, and then another $100 for a basic strap, case tuner, picks, and a capo.

The one thing I’ve noticed that people always forget to buy is a good, proper case. Many people just use the box, or cheap plastic case that the guitar came in. But, if you are investing this much money, it’s probably a good idea to protect that investment both inside and outside of the house. If you are planning on using the guitar mostly at home, and occasionally travelling with it in your car, then buying a decent “hardshell” case is probably worth it. This will protect it from being stepped on, the cat or young child jumping on it, or being damaged in transport. For those of us who are planning to walk and/or bike a lot with our guitar then check out a good over the shoulder backpack/guitar case. This allows us to have our hands free, and rested for the gig, if we are dragging our guitar around with us all the time.

Epiphone EL-00 Acoustic Guitar ($299.00) – Perfect for Beginners

I’ve seen it before where people will get a cheap guitar for $100, and then become very discouraged from playing it because there guitar can hardly hold tune, the frets stick out and poke you, the action is super high, and it just sounds bad. Remember, you want something that inspires you when you play it. I recognize that sometimes budgets are very tight, but if that is the case, then wait a month, or a few, to save for an instrument that will serve you well. Plus, the feeling of investing money into a guitar gives you a greater sense of ownership for learning how to play guitar.

If you are a beginner, you might also want to check out some recommendations for good acoustic guitars to buy and some other tips for buying your first guitar.

If you’ve been playing for awhile…

Perhaps, you’ve been playing guitar for awhile, and you are finally at a place where you’ve saved up at least $500 to $1000+ and want to upgrade your guitar. You know you’ll continue to play for years to come, and for all you know, you are a serious player whether that just be for enjoyment or performing.

When you get into these upper price ranges, you start to have some more options with wood, electronics, and tuners. The best thing you can do is to take another friend that plays guitar into your local music store and play every guitar in there and listen. Try to detect the differences and the nuances in the sound of different guitars. After playing a couple guitars, you should start picking up on the differences, and start to be able to articulate those differences.

Martin D-28 w/ Sitka spruce top, East Indian rosewood
back and sides, mahogany neck ($2,229.00)

The thing with these guitars in the upper price ranges is that it’ll be rare you will find one that just sounds like crap. You might prefer the sound of one over or another, but that’s why it comes down to preferences and identifying what you like to hear and identifying your needs.

For example, if you’re a fingerpicker, you might opt for a smaller classic body style shape with a cedar top and rosewood or mahogany back and sides. If you’re heavy strummer, you might want a dreadnought with a spruce top that can handle those loud volumes. If you tend to do a little bit of both, you might opt for a classic body style with a spruce top and rosewood back and sides. It all depends.

Where to Buy an Acoustic Guitar & the Actual Buying Process

Ideally, you want to be able to try out and play your guitar before buying it. Check out any local music stores in your area. Sometimes local music stores (especially if you are in a small town) don’t have the ability to stock the nicer guitars, so you might also want to consider taking a look at popular stores like Guitar Center or Sam Ash Music.

If you are a beginner, it might feel intimidating to walk in a music store to try some guitars. Sometimes there are people in there cranked up really loud showing off their “skills.” Don’t worry about them or anyone else. This a serious purchase and it’s about YOU the buyer playing and listening to the guitar in your hands. If it’s too loud and you can’t hear yourself, ask a sales representative to show you a quieter room.

Again, it’s important that you can hear yourself so you can make an educated buying decision. If the whole process of selecting a guitar from a store still intimidates you, consider bringing someone along you know who plays guitar too.

If you aren’t in an area close to a music store, or don’t have the ability to shop at one, you might consider buying an acoustic guitar online. However, if you are going to go this route, you want to be very well researched and read as many reviews as possible, since you don’t have the luxury of listening to the guitar yourself.

Many popular online music stores like Musician’s Friend, zZounds, or Guitar Center have product review areas which allow you to read reviews by owners of whatever particular acoustic guitar you are looking to buy. You might also search for different guitar forums where you can ask other guitar players, based on your needs, what guitar would be the best to buy.

Conclusion & Credits

There are so many different characteristics and nuances that set one guitar apart from the other. If you can identify your budget, and your goals for playing, then you are off to a great start to selecting an acoustic guitar. At the end of the day, you have to let your ears be your guide. What sounds good to you? When we’re talking about tonal differences, it can be so subjective to the listener. If you don’t trust your own ears in selecting the right guitar, then bring someone along that you do trust.

And if we’re being completely honest, at the end of the day, a guitar only sounds as good as the one playing it. So don’t get too caught up or even overwhelmed in the buying process. Keep playing and practice a lot. Even a not so great guitar can sound great when it’s played by a good player.

Special thanks to Brendan Delumpa from Guitar Gear, Matt Warnock from The Modern Guitarist, and Curt Moye from Rock House Method for their additional contributions to The Ultimate Acoustic Guitar Buying Guide. Brendan writes some of the best reviews on guitars, amps, and effects pedals that I’ve seen on the internet, Matt has some of the most interesting artist interviews and in-depth reviews I’ve seen, and Curt is the editorial director at Rock House Method, one of the most excellent guitar learning methods on the internet. Make sure you check out their blogs.

Question for Our Readers

What would you add to this guide? What things do you consider and look for when buying an acoustic guitar?

1.) Consider Your Learning Goals

Before you drop some dough on a guitar, you need to think through what types of music you want to be able to play or the style of music you want to play. Somebody who wants to play jazz guitar isn’t going to get the same guitar as someone who wants to play metal. And somebody who wants to play folk music is going to stay far away from the guitars a metal guy/girl is going to look at (well, generally, anyways!).

Who are your favorite artists? Who do you want to sound like?

If you can start to answer these questions, it really starts eliminating the type of guitar you might consider buying.

2.) Budget, budget, budget

Another really good way to eliminate your options is to consider how much you are willing to spend. In other words, what’s your budget? You can buy a guitar for as much as $100 or $10,000!

While determining your budget, you do want to keep in mind that you generally “get what you pay for” when it comes to guitars. In other words, a $100 guitar is going to sound, feel, and play a lot differently than a $1000 guitar or even a $500 guitar.

If you go too cheap (under $200) you run the risk of getting guitar that isn’t built well. How do you know this you ask? One good indicator is how well the guitar stays in tune. Another is how the frets feel as you move up and down the neck. Do the frets jump out and rub really sharply on your fingers? Cheaper guitars also might not have the best electronics (that is if you’re looking at an electric or acoustic-electric guitar).

However, at the end of the day, don’t let a small budget stop you from learning how to play guitar. Simply, set your budget and stick to it, or consider saving up some more.

3.) Consider buying used (or borrow)

If you’re on a tight budget, check out Craigslist or eBay for used guitars. However, before doing this, go into a store and play some guitars (or if you can’t play yet, bring someone who does know how to play to help you) to see what might be a good fit for you. Once you have some options, start doing some hunting on Craigslist or eBay. You would be surprised at some the deals you can find!

Another viable option is to find somebody you know who plays guitar and who might let you borrow their guitar. This way if you try to learn and decide it’s not really for you then you haven’t lost on a huge investment, but then again…

4.) Consider buying a guitar an INVESTMENT

I think one of the fears is that you’ll spend a bunch of money towards learning guitar and then end up not enjoying it as much as you thought you would. However, even if you end up completely hating playing the guitar (which is not very likely), if you’ve made a good investment, you can usually resell it and get a significant amount of your money back.

My family actually owns some nicer, higher-end acoustic guitars that have increased in value the past ten years. If I sold them, I’d actually be making money off of them!

5.) Choosing a Guitar: Electric vs. Acoustic

Okay, so you’ve considered your goals, budget, buying used, and your investment. Now, how do you choose a guitar? What’s the best bang-for-the-buck?

You might recall from our Frequently Asked Questions by Beginning Guitarists we looked at some considerations on learning on electric guitar or acoustic guitar. I mentioned that a lot of your decision to learn on electric or acoustic (or in this case, buy an electric or acoustic) will depend on your learning goals or the types of music you want to be able to play.

So, if you’re wanting to rock out and crank up the distortion, then you’ll obviously want to buy an electric. If you want to be able to strum along to your favorite songs on the radio, then you probably want to buy an acoustic.

One thing you’ll want to keep in mind is that learning on acoustic guitar can be cheaper because you only have to worry about buying the guitar and tuner and don’t have to worry about buying an amp, cables, effects, power supplies, etc. Here are some advantages listed out between electric and acoustic:

As you can see, a lot of these advantages (or disadvantages) will ultimately depend on your learning goals and type of music you want to be able to play.

Now, let’s look at some potential options.

As you’ll notice, some of the electric guitar recommendations go across different musical styles and genres. I can say I’ve played about half of these recommendations or have owned some of these at some point in time. The other half I recommended based on good things I’ve heard from other people and positive reviews.

Conclusion

Again, you have a lot of options before you when it comes to buying your first guitar. However, if you consider your learning goals, budget, buying used, and investments you have a really good starting point for choosing your first axe. If you have any friends who play guitar, talk to them too. They might have some good recommendations based on their experience.

Got a question about a potential guitar your looking at? Post a comment so our readers can take a look and get you their thoughts!

Professional guitarist and instructor Zack Roberts has complied over 50 professional backing tracks for guitar. He’s offering five of these for free to try out. I’ve taken a listen and they are of good quality and variety.

Here are a couple from his free samples of blues backing tracks for guitar.

Backing Tracks for Guitar #1

12 Bar Blues Groove (G Pentatonic)

Download track

Backing Tracks for Guitar #2

Jazzy Blues (G Pentatonic & G Mixolydian)

Download track

In order to get the other three free backing tracks for guitar, go to his website here.

To get all 50 backing tracks it is $37, which means you get each for less than a buck. Zack is selling the tracks with a 100% money-back guarantee with some extras thrown in. It’s worth checking out. You can check it out here.

Just recently, I received an email from William Wilson, a classical guitarist from San Diego. William has put together a very fun and interactive resource created to help you learn the guitar fretboard, guitar scales, and theory called Guitar Games. I asked William if he would let me try it out and write up a review, and he gave me the okay.

Guitar Games Features

The goal of Guitar Games is to help you learn the guitar fretboard, guitar scales, theory, and how to read music. They’ve created a variety of interactive and fun games to help you learn all of this information that can often times be very boring.

I was pretty skeptical when I first received William’s email. I was honestly expecting the games to be cheesy and not very helpful. How can you possible make theory and learning the fretboard fun? It seems like a paradox.

However, I was pretty surprised once I took a look.

Guitar Games Inside Look

The games are divided up into two different categories. The first category is Note Reading and Fretboard Games. These games are designed to help you learn the notes on the fretboard, scale patterns, chords, and how to read music notation. Games include:

• Birds of Fretopia – Learn the notes on the fretboard while hunting alien birds.
• Super Scale Trainer – Scales and arpeggios quiz.
• Fret Tester – Learn the location of the notes on the neck of the guitar.
• Guitar Flash Cards – Flash card game that teaches you where the notes are on the guitar neck.
• Note Squish – Learn to read music notation by fighting off pests.
• Chord Mines – Learn guitar chords while dodging boulders and spiders.
• Note Fish – Learn the names of notes while under the sea.

Again, at face value, I wonder how much fun I can have shooting alien birds, but I was surprised by how addictive, engaging, and helpful these games were. My favorite out of these had to be the Super Scale Trainer. I had so many options available for what I wanted to focus in on in my learning (see screenshots above). I could specifically choose the type of scales and keys I wanted to work with.

My second favorite guitar game from this category had to be the guitar flash cards. Again, you have options for what you want to be tested on. This game is an invaluable tool for learning the fretboard.

The second category of guitar games is Theory & Ear Training. Games include:

• Woody Says – Ear training, memorization, and visualization.
• Super Scale Trainer – Music theory drill. Identify note name, guitar, and piano modes.
• Music Theory Blocks – So addictive. Identify intervals as notes fall from the sky.
• The Melody Game – Plays a melody and you must transcribe it.
• Ear Tester – Ear training. Identify intervals, triads, and sevenths.
• Key Hunt – Learn key signatures.

Some of you might know that I’m a music student at university. What surprised me most about these guitar games is how similar they were to different software tools that I’d use in my Aural Skills (ear training) and Music Theory classes here at school. The only difference is that these are ten times more fun and addictive!

Final Thoughts

After spending some time reviewing William Wilson’s Guitar Games, I highly recommend it if you want a fun and engaging way to learn the guitar fretboard, learn guitar scales, understand theory, and learn how to play by ear. These games come with a ton of options and settings as well. This gives you the ability to tweak it to your level so it’s not too hard but not too easy either. For example, what type of scales do I want to learn? Do I want to be quizzed over all the notes on the fretboard or just some?

You can try it for free or you can purchase a one year subscription ($19.95) or a two year subscription ($32.95). I’m surprised by how cheap this is. The music theory and ear training software that I mentioned I used for my classes was nowhere near this cheap. The resources that Guitar Games provides will allow you to get a tremendous amount of use. It’s not like you get done playing the game and that is it. Even as a third year music student, I’m finding these games helpful, challenging, and fun for my growth as a guitarist.

So what are you waiting for? Check out Guitar Games!

Here are some important things to keep in mind that can help you with selecting strings for your guitar. For now, we’ll just look at choosing steel strings for the acoustic guitar. I’ll also give some recommendations of specific types of strings to try out.

What Type Of Acoustic Guitar Do You Have?

The body style of your acoustic guitar should play a role in what type of strings you choose. The most popular body styles are dreadnought and grand auditorium. Think of ‘body style’ as the shape of your guitar.

The guitar on the left has a dreadnought body style and the guitar on the right has a grand auditorium body style.

Different string sizes, or the gauge of the string, will suit different body styles. Usually, medium gauge strings will most suit dreadnought guitars, while light gauge strings will most suit grand auditorium guitars. Often dreadnought guitars are built and designed to be played with medium gauge strings. The same is often true for grand auditorium guitars: they are build and designed to be played with light gauge strings.

Something important to keep in mind about the gauge of the strings is that higher gauge strings like mediums will put more tension on the guitar neck than lights. Again, dreadnought guitars are built to handle this tension, but on the flip side, grand auditorium guitars are often not built to be played with medium guitar strings! 

I’ve put medium guitar strings on my grand auditorium guitar once and it wasn’t good news. Because of the added tension, the neck ended up moving and the action of my guitar got really high!

What is Your Playing Style?

Think about the types of songs you play. Are you more of a fingerpicker or a heavy-handed strummer? Choosing the best acoustic guitar strings can depend on the type of music you play.

Often times, fingerpickers will be more prone to light strings. Light strings are easier to play than medium strings. This is why if you are first beginning guitar you might want to use light strings. 

If you are doing more strumming, medium strings are good for it. But again, medium strings can be a little harder on the fingers, so it won’t be uncommon to use light strings even if the majority of the music you play involves strumming.

Some people find that they want the best of both worlds and will get light-medium strings. With light-medium strings, the bottom three strings are light gauge strings, and the top three strings are medium gauge strings. This can be good if you are doing both fingerpicking and strumming. Some people like this, others don’t. 

What Sort Of ‘Sound’ Do You Want?

This also kind of involves looking at the types of songs you play. Often medium strings will have a deeper and bolder sound than light strings. Medium strings tend to really bring out more bass. On the flip-side though, light strings can accent more of the highs and be brighter in sound.

This is also why medium strings tend to work really well on dreadnought guitars. The shape of dreadnought guitars is much wider than the grand auditorium body style. Naturally, dreadnought guitars bring out more bass. If you throw some medium strings on it, that deep bass and booming sound will really come out from your dreadnought.

Some Recommendations

Elixir Phosphor Bronze Strings
I’ve used Elixir strings for many years now and they’ve been very faithful to me. The good thing about Elixir strings is that they sound good and hold up for a long time. A lot of strings get dead after a week of playing them, but I could go a couple months of playing my Elixir strings before I had to change them. They are a bit more expensive than other strings (I recommend getting them online), but because they last so long, you don’t end up spending more money in the long run. Elixir makes both light and medium gauge strings.

John Pearse 80/20 Bronze Strings
Someone recommended these strings to me a year ago. I was thrilled with the sound of them when I tried them. A great thing about them is that they are dirt cheap compared to say Elixir strings. The only downside with them is that they don’t last as long as Elixir strings. But I’ll tell you what, they sound great.

You can get John Pearse strings in both light and medium.

What types of strings do you use on your guitar?

There are so many different options when it comes to choosing strings. Sometimes it’s just a matter of experimenting and trying different strings.

What types of strings have you found to work on your guitar?