Where the headstock on the Acoustic guitar is a solid piece of wood, the headstock on the Classical guitar is always distinctly slotted.
The dead give away on whether we are looking at an Acoustic guitar or a Classical guitar is in the head stock. Again, take a close look at the headstock.
Now let’s check out the Classical guitar, grandfather of the Acoustic guitar. Not all Acoustic guitarists do this when seated, but it’s very common. It makes a nice-sounding guitar, but it’s usually too big for anybody except adults.įinally, notice that the player holds the guitar by laying the guitar’s waist over his right leg. Not all Acoustic guitars have the large Dreadnought body, but it’s pretty common. This larger body, refered to as a “Dreadnought” body, makes the guitar louder and provides a stronger bass sound. This Acoustic guitar has a large, somewhat squarish body, with a wide waist. They are used because they don’t absorb the vibrations of the strings, helping project the sound out the soundhole in the front of the guitar. Mahogany and rosewood are dense and hard. Normally the sides and back of the body are made of mahogany or rosewood. The neck and headstock are conventional, and the yellowish color of the top of the body tells us that it is spruce, the usual light, strong wood used for guitar tops. Plucking the strings gives a strong percussive sound, with a distinct bass and strong clear highs - the sort of sound we would expect from a high-quality guitar of this type. This is a fairly conventional, though very well made, Acoustic guitar. Later, we’ll see that it is very different from the headstock on the Classical guitar.) (Hint: take a close look at the headstock of the Acoustic guitar. Let’s check out the differences.įirst up, the Acoustic guitar. In the 1950s guitars with solid wood bodies and specially designed electro-magnetic “pickups” hit the market, and the electric guitar was here to stay.Įach of these changes, to steel strings and larger bodies, to solid wood bodies and electronic pickups, has changed the sound of the guitar and how it is played. Microphones were problematic in light, hollow wooden instruments and have been largely abandoned. They wanted to play with the “Big Bands” of the era and not be drowned out. In the 1930s musicians experimented with putting microphones in guitars.
#Wonderful tonight acoustic professional#
Combining the larger bodies and steel strings with different production methods allowed by industrialization brought about, by the 1930s, what we now recognize as a conventional Acoustic guitar.īut professional musicians wanted still more volume. Luthiers experimented with larger bodies and, eventually, steel strings. But professional musicians asked luthiers (the people who make stringed instruments) for instruments that were loud enough to be heard in larger venues.
Guitars were often played in the parlor (the home theater of its day) for entertainment on Sunday evenings, back in the days before cars, radios, TV, movies, or the internet. Martin & Company by the time of the American Civil War (1861 - 1865), though guitars of the time tended to be quite a bit smaller than they are today.
What we now recognize as the “Classical guitar” was essentially fully developed by the famous C.F. Then we can compare how they look, sound, and are played, and the differences will make more sense. The song is Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight.” Three guitars, one song.īut before we look at the videos, it will help to understand the differences if we take a quick look at how the guitar developed over time. I searched out three performances of the same song, one performed with an Acoustic guitar, another with a Classical guitar, and another with the song played, as written, on an electric guitar. Through the magic of YouTube videos I’ve found a nice way to see and hear the differences. What are the differences between Classical, Acoustic, and electric guitars? People ask me. There are distinct differences between the headstock, fretboard, body, and waist of Classical, Acoustic, and electric guitars, but they are all instantly identifiable as guitars.
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