Common Guitar Size

Few start-up musicians are engaged with a teacher or attend a music school. Most domestic guitar lovers are self-taught, who got the instrument from relatives or friends. They, as a rule, also show the first chords. Choosing a guitar for a specific performer is not an easy task. You need to know the size of the guitar, ideal for selected purposes, its type, to understand what sound it should make. Let's try to understand the generally accepted dimensions of this musical instrument.

Guitar type

First of all, before buying a tool, you need to decide which type of guitar you need:

• Classical - a six-stringed instrument with softer nylon strings.
• Acoustic - a kind of classical guitar, but with steel strings, the number of which can vary.
• Electric guitar is a guitar with an electromagnetic pickup.
• A bass guitar is usually a four-stringed instrument designed to extract low sounds.

The listed types are the most popular and universal, available in most music stores. There are more rare varieties, such as a stick guitar, acoustic bass guitar, guitars with a few vultures, but they are more needed by professionals.

Beginning guitarists choose a tool to help understand what music will be performed. So, for romances, classical works, flamenco or bardic songs, the classical guitar is ideal. It is the easiest, on an instrument of this type is taught to play in music schools, picking up the size of the guitar depending on the age of the pupil. For rock music, blues, jazz, country and other rhythmic melodies, it is better to choose an acoustic, electric or bass guitar. The latter is most difficult for novice learners, since it has a longer neck and tighter strings.

Sizes of classical guitar

It must be understood that a ten-year-old child and an adult guy is a big difference. What is convenient for a small person does not suit an adult at all, so an international grid of sizes has long been applicable in classical instrument models. A person of any age and complexion can choose a suitable instrument.

A guitar size of 4/4 (four quarters) suits an adult person - it's a full standard guitar. Guitar 7/8 smaller than the standard, ideal for teenagers or low adult musicians. This guitar size is ideal for bards and travelers, it is easier and more convenient to transport. Guitar 3/4, the size of which is designed for children ages 8-11 years - a popular option, because most often at this age parents take their children to learn the skill of playing a stringed instrument. If a child is 5-9 years old, then he needs 1/2 guitar, up to 6 years - 1/8.

Dimensions of acoustic guitars

The parameters of acoustic guitars duplicate the classical classification, but differ in the design of the case and its size. Unlike the classical guitar, the acoustic has stricter steel strings and a thin neck. The body of such a guitar is larger than the classical model. Acoustic instruments distinguish between the number of strings (6, 7 or 12), the size of the guitar and the shape of the case. Depending on the size (from the smallest to the largest), the tools are:

• Grand Concert is a compact descendant of a classical acoustic guitar that does not have the loudest sound due to the small amount of air in the case. A good option for teenagers and children.
• Grand Auditorium - guitars that are slightly larger and often feature a convex bottom deck. The sound of the instrument is deeper, more saturated.
• Dreadnought is one of the most popular designs today. A characteristic feature of the dreadnought - the near part of the body is much closer to the neck, and the far part is enlarged. These models have a deeper body, which gives a special sound.
• Jumbo is an extended version of the Grand Auditorium guitar with a volume approaching the volume of the dreadnought. They were created, as competitors dreadnoughts, have a more saturated sound. Not all of them are comfortable, so they release mini-versions of the guitar "Jumbo".
• Twelve-stringed guitars have 6 pairs of strings combined, which can be tuned in different ways (usually an interval of one octave), which makes it possible to create a chorus effect.

Features of bass guitar

The sizes of a bass guitar are much more in comparison with classics or acoustics (about 1,1 meters in length). But such a guitar is one of the most "young" - appeared in the 50s of the last century thanks to the American master Leo Fender.

Bass guitars are the same power tools, but they produce lower sounds. They have a single case, special sensors and control knobs. Such guitars are popular among performers of heavy rock and country music. In order to hear the sound of the bass, it must be connected using a cable with a plug to the amplifier and the speaker. The plug or "jack" is inserted into the socket intended for it on the tool body, the sensor signals are sent to the amplifier, it, in turn, converts the signal and transfers it to the speaker.

Which material should I prefer?

Most tools are made by combining a tree of different breeds. Plastic or metal is used less often. Experts say that there is no "better" or "worse" tree species - the tool should be chosen according to sound and convenience.

Brand and country of manufacture

Choosing a brand is especially important when buying electric and bass guitars, because the standards of their production are not clearly defined. Different manufacturers vary the number of strings, change the shape of the case and electronic components of the guitar. Now every brand works for a certain niche. So, Jackson - for metalworkers, Fender - to get a "clean" sound, Gibson releases a tool with "bold" sound, Yamaha - the optimal correlation of price and quality, but these are conditional signs. All of the above manufacturers produce quite versatile guitars.

It is believed that serial guitars are best produced in the US and Japan. For classical guitars of the upper price segment, the leader is Spain. However, the declared country-producer does not guarantee the quality of the instrument, the more often counterfeits are found on the market. When buying, you need to check the quality of the gluing of parts of the guitar, the smoothness of the neck, the absence of cracks.

Cost of the instrument

Used tools are definitely cheaper (2-3 times). On average, starting from 5,000 Russian rubles, you can buy a tool suitable for training. Professional guitars are much more expensive. In addition to the instrument itself, you need a cover (better water resistant and resistant to frost), tuner for tuning and other accessories - mediators, capo, belt. For an electric or bass guitar, you need a combo amplifier.