Guitar Points

Author: Nigel Rowles

Article:
It doesn't really matter the price range that you have in mind.
Years back a low cost guitar would be a nightmare to play, and
for a beginner it was worse, I had one for my first guitar.
These days with advanced machining and mass production
techniques there are a large number of guitar manufacturers
turning out quite good guitars at low cost. Regardless of the
price if you take any two guitars of the same make and model,
even with consecutive production numbers it's quite likely that
one will be easier to play than the other.

How well a guitar plays is determined by the action.The action
on a guitar is the distance between the underside of the strings
and the frets. The frets are the thin metal strips that lie
across the neck. The maximum distance is found in the area where
the neck and body join. If the distance is greater than say 3mm
then it will be harder to play the guitar up the neck than it
should be and for a beginner it can totally discouraging. Keep
in mind that that a small difference can mean a lot. A 4mm gap
is a big step up from 3mm.

There are four things that influence the action. 1. The Saddle
Height 2. The Nut Height 3. The Truss Rod Adjustment 4. The Neck
Angle

The first three can be adjusted. If the neck angle is bad then
adjusting the other three will bring about little change to the
action. Picture a guitar lying level on its back and you place a
straight edge along neck and extending down to touch the bridge.
The bridge is the piece of timber attached to the body of the
guitar that has the strings attached to it, and the saddle is
the (usually) white plastic strip that sits in the bridge and
has the strings running across it. When the neck angle is good
then the neck and the top of the bridge will be on the same
line. When the angle is bad then the straight edge will point to
a spot closer to where the bridge joins the body and is a really
bad case it would touch the body of the guitar first.

Now we cannot carry out this test in a music store, however what
we can do is sight down the neck and it's fairly easy to see
where the line of the neck points to, it should be in line with
the top of the bridge.

This is all probably a lot to absorb in one go, the important
thing is to be aware of the action and any good guitar
salesperson should know all this and be able to point them out
to you so you can make the best choice so you have a guitar that
is easy to play.

Lastly do not buy a guitar because you like the color of it, buy
the guitar that sounds good and plays well. Good Luck



About the author:
1986 Diploma in Music - Classical Guitar Major. I have been
performing for 34 years either as solo instrumentalist, in duos,
trios and in rock bands playing guitar or bass guitar. 10 years
ago I started teaching guitar, bass and music theory which led
me to independently writing, producing and publishing The Guitar
Instruction, Musicianship & Reference Manual with DVD on Left &
Right Hand Techniques.

www.nofretguitarlessons.com.au