Table Of ContentTHE ACOUSTIC
GUITAR GUIDE
THE ACOUSTIC
GUITAR GUIDE
EVERYTHING
YOU NEED
TO KNOW
TO BUY AND
MAINTAIN A
NEW OR USED
GUITAR
Revised and Updated
Larry Sandberg
.cappellal
FOREWORD BY ARTIE TRAUM
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sandberg, Larry
The acoustic guitar guide: everything you need to know to buy and maintain a new
or used guitar / by Larry Sandberg-2nd ed., rev. and updated.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references (p. )
ISBN 1-55652-418-8
1. Guitar. 2. Guitar-Maintenance and repair. I. Title.
MLlOI5.G9 S3 2000
787.87'19-dc21 00-031788
Cover photo: Guitar and bass guitar by Harry Fleishman
Photo by John Youngblut, courtesy Harry Fleishman
Cover and interior design: Lindgren/Fuller Design
Line art by Fred Hickler, based on computer drawings by Larry Sandberg
©2000 by Larry Sandberg
Foreword ©2000 by Artie Traum
All righ ts reserved
Second edition
Published by A Cappella Books
An imprint of Chicago Review Press, Incorporated
814 North Franklin Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610
ISBN 1-55652-418-8
Printed in the United States of America
5 4 3 2 1
CONTENTS
Foreword . .... Xlll
Acknowledgments xv
.Introduction . . . XVll
PART I: All About the Guitar
o The Guitar Through History
Ancient Origins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Dark and Light Ages ... ... ... .. . 4
The Development of the Modern Classical Guitar. 5
C. F. Martin and the American Guitar . . . 7
The Early Years of the Steel-String Guitar. 9
Bigger Guitars for the 1930s . 10
The 1940s and 1950s . . . . . . . . . 12
The Folk Boom and Beyond. . ... 12
The Nostalgic Baby Boomer Market 14
New Sounds for a New Generation. 16
Guitars in a World of Scarce Resources 17
., It Takes All Kinds
Folk Guitar: The Steel-Strung Solidbody Flattop . 19
The Twelve-String Guitar 19
The Classical Guitar 21
The Flamenco Guitar . 21
Baritone Guitars . 22
Bass Guitars ..... . 22
Archtop Guitars ... . 23
HowArchtops /lVtJrk . . ... . .. . . . ... . .. . . .. . 23
The Great Archtop Guitars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
ElectricAnhtops ........ . . 25
The Contemporary Anhtop ..... .. . 26
p
.Is an A rchtop the Guitarf or You. . . . . . 26
Solidbody and Semi-Hollowbody Electrics 27
Hawaiian and Other Lap-Style Guitars. 28
The Pedal Steel Guitar . . . . . . . 29
Resophonic Guitars . . . . . . . . . 29
The Maccaferri ("Django") Guitar 32
Synth Guitar . . . . . . . . . . ... 33
Harp Guitars and Other Oddities 33
Seven String~ Ten Strings, and More . 33
The Harp Guitar. 35
Multineck Guitars 35
Air Guitars . . . . . . 36
e Guitar Sound
Tone ........... . 37
Tone , Timbre, and Pitch 39
Volume .... . 39
Presence ... . 40
Dynamic Range 41
Separation 41
Balance ... . 41
Sustain ... . 42
Cutting Power 43
Voice ..... . 44
Wraparound and Projection 44
You ... ... .. ... . 45
Ambience ....... . 45
Facts and Impressions 45
o Wood, Finish, and Glues
Plywood and Solid Wood . . . . . . . . . 47
Most Guitars Are Plywood . . ... . . 47
The Mystique and value 0/S olzd Wood . 47
Laminates 48
Buyer Beware . . . . . . 48
Laminate Construction 49
Stability and Durability 50
Detecting Plywood . . . 50
Laminate Tops . . . . . 50
Laminate Backs and Sides . 51
Laminate Fingerboards . . . 51
Laminate Necks and Headstocks 52
Materials and Tone . . . . . . . 52
Seasoning and Milling Solid Wood 52
Seasoning .. 52
Milling Lumber .. . 54
Prime Cuts . .. . 54
Grain andF igure. 54
Slab Cutting . . . 54
Quartersawed /lVtJod 55
Bookmatched Tops and Backs 57
Sets .. 58
Blanks . .. .... .. . . 59
Tonewoods . .. .... .. . . 59
/lVtJod Naming Conventions 59
Table: The Major Guitar Woods 60
Spruce . .............. . 60
Spruce Mystique. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Selecting Spruce for a Top . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Cedar and Redwood . 63
Rosewood . ..... . 64
Rosewood Substitutes . 66
Mahogany 66
Maple. 67
Koa .. 68
Walnut 69
Ebony. 69
Other Woods 70
Finish ..... . 70
Stain and Filler Preparation . 71
Mtrocellulose and Acrylic Lacquers. 71
Sunburst Finishes ... ... . . 72
French Polish and Spot Finishes . 72
Glues ................ . 72
e How Your Guitar Works I: Where the Action Is
Action and Setup . . . . . 75
Action Strzdly Difined . 75
Action Loosely Difined . 75
Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
The Mechanics ofS etup 76
Setup and Style . . . . . 76
The Neck . . . . . . . . . . 78
Neck Materz"als and Construction 78
Neck Shape and Contour. 80
Relief· ........ . 81
The Truss Rod . . . . . 82
Truss Rods and Relief . 84
Truss Rod Adjustment . 85
Warped Necks .. 86
WmpandBow 86
Diagnosis . . . 86
The Cure . . . 87
Joining the Neck to the Body 87
Neck Joints . . . . 87
Neck Set . ..... . 88
Resetting the Neck . 89
Fingerboard and Frets 90
Fingerboard Materials 90
Position Marker~ Inla" and Binding 91
Twelve- and Fourteen-Fret Necks. 91
Fingerboard Wzdth . . . . . . . . . . . 92
Fingerboard Shape and Contour. . . . 93
Replacing and Repairing Fingerboards 93
Frets ..... . 94
Fret Design . . 94
Reftetting . . . 95
Fret Placement 96
The Nut ..... . 96
Function ........ . 96
Materials . ....... . 96
Nut Height and Grooves . 97
Scale ............. . 99
Long and Short Scales . . . . 99
Fanned Frets for Mixed Scales 100
Headstock and Tuners . 101
Headstock or Peghead 101
Handstop or Volute. . 102
Tuning Machines .. 102
H ere s What You Need to Know About Tuners 103
o How Your Guitar Works II: Body Language
The Top or Soundboard . 105
The Soul oft he Guitar . . . . . 105
"Playing In " a 70p . . . . . . . 106
Laminate and Soltd JiJiOod Tops 106
Top Materials and Building. . 107
The Sound Hole . . . . . . . . 107
Sound Hole Shape and Size 108
The Pickguard 108
Bracing ....... . . 109
Top Bracing. . . . . 109
Transverse Bracing. 110
Fan-Bracing ... . 110
X-Bracing . .... . 110
Voiced and Scalloped X-Bracing . 112
Kasha and Other Bracing Systems 113
Damaged Braces . . . . 114
The Bridge ........ . 114
Function and Structure 114
The Bridge Plate 115
Bridge JiJiOods . 115
Bndge Shapes . 116
Bndge Pins . . 118
The Saddle .... 118
Function, Structur~ and Maten'als . 118
Adjustable Saddles . 119
Compensation 119
Keeping Your Temper 121
Back and Sides . . . . . 122
Back Bracing and Side Reinforcement 123
Linings, Binding~ and Blocks . . . . 124
Size and Shape .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Table: Approximate Standard Guitar Sizes ....... . 124
Shape ........................ . . 126
Cutaway Guitars . . . . . 127
Putting the Guitar Together .... . . . .... .. .. . 128
• Suiting Yourself
Making a Good Marriage with Your Guitar 131
The Ideal Guitar Does Not Exist 132
Guitars Differ Differently .. ... . 132
Suiting Your Body . . . . . . . ... . 133
Size and Shape Make a Difference . 133
Cutaways ..... 133
Lf!ft-Handed Guitars . 134
Guitars for Kids 135
Suiting Your Eye . . . . . 135
Ornamentation . . . . 135
Headstock and Neck Inlay 136
Binding, Purfling, and Rosette 138
Finish . ............. . 139
Suiting Your Style . . . . . . . .. . 140
General Playing and Casual Styles 140
Bluegrass and Old-Time Music 140
Blues ............ . 141
Contemporary Fingerpicking. . 141
AcousticJazz ......... . 142
Suiting Your Suitcase: Travel Guitars . 142
Suiting Your Pocketbook . 143
Under $300 .. 143
$300 to $450. . 145
$450 to $750 . . 145
$750 to $1) 000. 145
$1) 000 to $~ 000 146
Over$~OOO 146
eStrings
String Basics . . . . . . . . . . . 147
From Catgut to Stainless Steel 148
Picking Your Strings .... 149
What Are Strings Made Of? 150
Bronze- WOund Strings 150
Coated Strings . . . . . . 150
M'ckel- WOund Strings . . 151
Compound ("Silk and Steel") Strings 151
Flatwound and Groundwound Strings 152
Winding and Squeaking 152
Flatwound Strings .. 152
Groundwound Strings 153
Nylon Strings . . . . . . 153
String Gauge and Tension . 154
Gauging String Gauge. . 154
Ultralight and Supertight 155
Extra-Light Gauge 155
Compound Strings 155
Light Gauge . . 156
Medium Gauge . . 156
Heavy Gauge . . . . . . . . . . . 156
Measuring String Gauge . . . ... 156
Typical String Gauge and Tension 157
Table: Typical String Sets .. 157
Making Up Your Own String Set 158
Strings and Setup . . . . . . . . . 159
String Brands .......... . 159
Bad Vibes, Heavy Metal Fatigue, and Other Tough Breaks in
the Life of a String 160
When to Replace Strings . . . .... . .. . 161
o Pickups and Amplification
Amplified Versus Natural Sound 163
Transducers .......... . 164
Introduction to Transduction . 164
Contact Pickups . . . . . . . . 165
Pickups, Preamps, and Impedance 165
Internal Mini-Microphones 167
Magnetic Pickups ....... . 168
Why Plug In.p. . . . . . . . . . . 169
The Great Signal Chain of Being 170
Aftermarket or Factory Installation? 171
Electro-Acoustic Guitars . . . . 171
Amplifiers and Sound Systems 171
Electn'c Guitar A mplijiers 172
On-Stage Sound Systems . . . 172
Acoustic Guitar Amps .... 173
Acoustic Guitar Amp Power and Volume 174
Microphones and Other Inputs . . . . . 174
Equalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175
Not[h Filters and Parametn'c Equalizers 176
Reverb . ........ . 177
Sound Processing Devices . . . . . . . . . 177
CD Used, Vintage, and Modern Guitars
Looking for Mr. Goodfret . . . . 179
Owning More Than One Guitar . . 180
Vintage Guitars ........... . 181
The Nature of a Collectors' Market 181
The Nature of Collectors . . . . . . 182
Vintage Guitars as Investments . . 183
Why Some People Think Old and Vintage Guitars Are Better 184
Why Some People Think New Guitars Are Better Anyway 185
Modern Luthiery: The New Golden Age? ... . 186
Longevity ...................... . 187
Table: Pros and Cons of Buying a Used Guitar 188
Fine Guitars ...... .. 188
Becoming an Expert . . 188
Great Names of the Past 189
Junk Chic . ...... . 190
