Do you want to choose a good classical guitar to start learning to play? If you are planning to start your adventure with a classical guitar or are thinking about changing your instrument to a newer model, and at the same time you do not know how to approach the question of choosing a guitar and checking it before buying, then I invite you to a practical guide for buying a classical guitar.
Choose a good guitar
Is it worth buying very good classical guitars for completely beginners?
Now I would like to briefly discuss a rather controversial, in my opinion, issue. Is a completely fresh beginner guitarist really needed a good instrument? Theoretically, the matter is simple: the higher the class, the better. In my practice, I encountered cases when at school guitar competitions young, not very able students were given very good instruments and did not know what to do with them.
It turned out that accustomed to their average “boxes” with short and narrow sound they were suddenly lost in a flood of sounds, including aliquot ones. They could not use the much wider dynamic possibilities of high class guitars. An instrument that is overly good for someone who is just biting the guitar ABC is not the perfect solution. Such an instrument not only has positive performance features, but its obvious errors and shortcomings are more clearly displayed.
Of course, you can not agree with this opinion, saying that the better the guitar, the better and faster progress in the game. Needless to say, the opposite situation (i.e. a good musician and a bad guitar) is much less interesting.
The most expensive guitars make sense?
As I have already mentioned, at the teaching stage (primary music school, high school, music academy, etc.) I would suggest changing the guitar several times – of course – always for the better. Anyone who wants the guitar to serve him only for a simple accompaniment to singing should be content with a middle-class guitar, which of course must be tuned as well as possible. Playing an instrument that is too loud can even prevent discreet, subtle singing in intimate conditions. Therefore, if you have a really high-class guitar, you need to know what to do with the “excess” of dynamics.
So how do you buy a classical guitar?
It’s best not to go for an instrument alone, but with at least one playing guitarist (if possible better than us). In addition to advice, it is also important for us to hear from a distance the sound that will be heard later by others. In some professional stores, customers have at their disposal a special, muted room to be able to check the purchased instrument very accurately. At no price should you agree to rush or nervousness when making a purchase.
It may happen that we are embarrassed to ask for another copy of the guitar – the seller looks at us impatiently, closing time is approaching etc. All this is irrelevant. If the owner or employee of the store respects us and wants to have a good brand in the industry, he should abolish the most inefficient questions or tedious and lengthy checking of instruments; should allow us to make a calm and accurate purchase even after closing the store.
How to choose a guitar
It is obvious that every guitar should be inspected very well and checked if it has no visible or weakly visible damage, cracks, splintered elements, etc. I advise you to always look along the neck (against the light) to see if it is straight and whether the individual thresholds do not get too far out of line.
Checking the sound, I suggest starting with the issue of tuning the guitar, i.e. paying special attention to whether the guitar you want to buy tunes well in various (especially high) positions. After tuning the strings to the correct height for a long time (usually in stores they are not well stretched, so it takes some time for them to form), it is necessary to check whether the octaves of each string on the XII fret are clean (XII threshold test).
With the obvious falsity of several strings on this threshold, I suggest you leave such a “miracle” alone and look further among other copies. If it happens that among generally well-tuned octaves one or two strings are slightly crazy, it is best to exchange such a string for another, of better quality, of a good brand. It can happen that only the string is to blame for such falsehood – this happens even in the best sets.
We should also check the guitar on different chords and in different positions. You can start by comparing the same functions in different places on the neck, e.g. in C major in positions I and VIII. In a good guitar, both chords should sound clean. It should be noted that there are tones that “bite”, ie a guitar well tuned in one key shows some impurities in another. Some of the cross tones belong to such “biting” systems
food and flat. The manner of catching the chords is not without significance – you should be very careful when placing your fingers on the frets not to stretch the strings up or down along the threshold, because this way you can tune the sounds of even a very well tuned (and tuning) guitar. According to some experts on the subject, there are no perfectly tuned classical guitars and even the best ones (read: the most expensive) may have their worse days (climate, pressure or temperature differences in rooms, etc.). In addition, practitioners know well that they don’t always tune their guitar in the same way, but rather according to the song.
You also need some intuition when choosing a guitar
While the guitar adept should pay attention mainly to the instrument’s attire, Szarpidrut with experience already knows that he must look for the right sound and playing comfort – he prefers, for example, a guitar with a singing treble and a metallic bass. Musicians who have already dealt with several instruments in their careers know the importance of intuition in their selection. Sometimes, for the first time, we pick up a guitar and after a while (without checking it thoroughly and watching it) we feel that this is what we mean, that – as it is commonly said – she plays it in our hands. Issues such as maximum game comfort or build quality are difficult to assess explicitly. Let’s just add that if we manage to find such a copy and the guitar will be made especially for us – it should also be taken a good look and no less carefully checked and tested.
Custom guitars?
Increasingly emerging luthier workshops, where talented guitar builders work, give us the opportunity to purchase an instrument for individual orders. Such an order should contain various tips and wishes regarding the type of neck, scale, size of the box (to a limited extent), as well as information about materials, ornamentation, etc. Purchase of a guitar on order also has a great psychological advantage – it is a matter of waiting for an instrument, which should give the buyer wings and mobilize him to work even more intensively.
Discover our classical luthier guitars
If you decide to buy a guitar in a music store, remember that a trip to the instrument is sometimes a matter of not minutes or even hours, but entire long days of searching and dilemmas.
Today we are fortunately in a slightly better situation – in Guitarclassics guitars are thoroughly checked by people with great knowledge and you get the best instrument at the selected price. You can order detailed photos and specially recorded sound samples before we send you your dream guitar.
So get to work! I wish everyone the right choices and quick progress in the game.
Christopher
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