I really don't know if this goes here but I can't find a better spot for it (and the other thread similar wasn't moved).
I rather been placed into the unfortunate situation that my guitar rather broke and it would cost (I'm guessing) about the same amount of money to get it repaired as it would to buy a new one. But when I started to look on ebay, there were these little words like "jumbo" and "dreadnought" and "thinbody" attached to the description. And not as if to make anything more difficult, they include things like "classical" and "concert". What is the biggest difference between these things two set of words? Should I avoid a certain kind because it would be too wide for my arm to wrap around or is that not a problem?
Also, while I"m bombarding you with all these questions, I've primarily seen sapelle and walnut being used for back/sides. I'm pretty sure walnut is a dense wood but I have pretty much no clue about sapelle except a little blurb in wikipedia about it being used on guitars. Is that okay for guitars or should that be avoided? I can't get anything really expensive, nor do I really want to yet, because I've only been playing around six months, but I don't want to get something that is just going to break on me by September.
Thanks,
Abigail
I used to have trouble holding my arm in picking position over a guitar, but that was due to a shoulder injury. I really don't think you'll have a problem. The very common acoustic guitars you see all over the place with sort of a big boxy square shouldered body are dreadnoughts. Martin introduced them in the late '20s and everyone's copied them. Gibson's answer to the dreadnought (they make dreadnoughts too) with a broad, rounded, feminine bottom (it's true, look at one) are jumbos. Very cool guitars, but they tend to be on the pricey side. Both of these big styles are strong on the bass notes and were originally made as rhythm guitars for string bands that would stand out in the mix on the bottom. IMO the jumbos have a broader tonal range than dreadnoughts. To my ears dreadnoughts are kind of boomy. Some of the other sizes you hear about like "Grand Auditorium," 00, 000, etc. are old Gibson size designators. Smaller guitars that some find have better balanced sound for solo fingerpicking and such. There are lots of newer makes, shapes, sizes and styles of guitars that don't fit into any of those categories. It'll help if you get out to music stores and with guitar playing friends and try different guitars to help figure out what you like. Looking at what your "guitar heroes" who play the kind of music you most like will help a lot.
Oh yeah, sapele is a mahogany-like wood that's showing up a lot now, especially on lower priced guitars. Nothing wrong with it. I think it's really pretty, especially when it's got a striped grain pattern.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Gibson's answer to the dreadnought (they make dreadnoughts too) with a broad, rounded, feminine bottom (it's true, look at one) are jumbos.
look at what, specifically? a jumbo guitar, or.....
At the jumbos. I look at plenty of the other. Jumbos look like a lady with advanced middle-age spread. :lol:
(I've got an SJ-200, I can say that.) :P
Gibby got back...
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
I really don't know if this goes here but I can't find a better spot for it (and the other thread similar wasn't moved).
I rather been placed into the unfortunate situation that my guitar rather broke and it would cost (I'm guessing) about the same amount of money to get it repaired as it would to buy a new one. But when I started to look on ebay, there were these little words like "jumbo" and "dreadnought" and "thinbody" attached to the description. And not as if to make anything more difficult, they include things like "classical" and "concert". What is the biggest difference between these things two set of words? Should I avoid a certain kind because it would be too wide for my arm to wrap around or is that not a problem?
Abigail
Seems like a lot of guesswork going on here. First about how much it might cost to fix a broken guitar. (maybe it's not as bad as you think - some folks here know a lot about repairs & such) Then about the meaning of guitar-world words.
If you took those guitar-world words and those questions to a guitar store the answers would make a LOT more sense and you'd be able to try the guitars on for size. You do not have to buy their guitars just because you visit the store.
Besides reading on eBay you can read on guitar center's website and various manufacturers websites.
If you want to get completely immersed in the learning about guitars you can even listen to how different woods sound on the same design guitar playing the same music by the same player! (Lakewood guitars offers this interesting bit of experience on their website)
Dreadnought was the name of an early 1900's BATTLESHIP. That sort of provides a hint as to what a dreadnought guitar might be sizewise. :-)
But hands-on sampling of various guitars is worth a thousand posted explanations.
Enjoy the shopping! (you can get some pretty good guitars for very little money these days)
Unimogbert
(indeterminate, er, intermediate fingerstyle acoustic)
here are some links with some helpful pics
#4491....
I would love to win a Gibson SJ200 anytime soon...and that's not just due to its size alone.
if you're buying a new guitar and don't know too much about them, i wouldnt suggest getting it off ebay. At least go to a store first. it doesn't guarantee that you won't make a mistake but at least you'll be able to compare brands and guitars. You don't have to spend a lot either. I wanted to get a "good" guitar for my first guitar so I bought a Seagull dreadnought. Well, come to find out, I don't like dreadnoughts, I like smaller guitars so I now have an 000 size. But at some point I bought a $60 halfsize guitar to take outdoors with me and I love that guitar. It's great. It should have been my first guitar.
