The ordinary six-string flat-top, with its body shapes, woods and strings, has its own guide: acoustic guitars, tonewoods and strings. The kinds of guitar guide gives the overview; this page covers the other acoustic families in depth, each built for a particular sound or style, and the pickups that make an acoustic into an acoustic-electric.
Classical and flamenco guitars
Both are Spanish nylon-string guitars, and they look alike. A classical guitar is built for a sustained, rounded tone, usually with a spruce or cedar top and rosewood back and sides. Its action, the string height above the frets, is set moderately high so the strings can be played hard without buzzing.
A flamenco guitar is built lighter and set up with lower action. The traditional version, the blanca, has cypress back and sides and a spruce top; the negra uses rosewood. A clear tap plate, the golpeador, protects the top from the finger and nail taps of flamenco technique. The sound is brighter and more percussive, with a fast attack and short sustain, and players accept a little string buzz as part of it.
Crossover (hybrid) nylon guitars keep nylon strings but narrow the neck toward a steel-string's width, by an amount that varies by maker, and usually add a cutaway and a pickup. They suit steel-string and electric players who want the nylon sound without relearning a wide classical neck.
Twelve-string guitars
A twelve-string has six pairs of strings, called courses, each played as one. The lower four courses (E, A, D, G) pair a standard string with a thinner one an octave higher; the top two (B and high E) are pairs at the same pitch. The octave strings give the strummed sound its shimmer.
Twelve strings put far more tension on the neck and top, so the neck is wider and the build heavier. Many players tune down a half step or a whole step to ease the load and the fretting effort, and use a capo to reach standard pitch. Every fretted note presses two strings, and tuning and restringing take twice as long.
Archtop acoustic guitars
An archtop has a top arched like a violin's, carved from solid wood or pressed from laminate, with two f-holes instead of a round soundhole. The bridge floats: string pressure holds it, not glue, so its position sets the intonation. The strings anchor to a tailpiece at the end of the body.
The tone is punchy in the midrange with short sustain. Before amplification was common, the acoustic archtop was the rhythm guitar of swing and older jazz bands, where its chords cut through horns and drums.
Gypsy jazz guitars
The Selmer-Maccaferri design, from 1930s France, is the guitar of gypsy jazz. It is very lightly built, with a floating bridge, a tailpiece and light-gauge steel strings. The two classic models are named after the soundhole: the earlier D-hole, with a large D-shaped mouth, and the later oval-hole, with a small oval hole, a longer scale and a neck joining the body at the 14th fret. The oval-hole is the usual lead instrument and the D-hole is associated with rhythm. Both are loud and dry, with the fast attack the style's driving rhythm, la pompe, depends on.
Resonator guitars
A resonator guitar replaces the vibrating wooden top with spun aluminum cones under a metal cover plate. The bridge drives the cone like a loudspeaker, and the guitar is much louder than a flat-top of the same size. Bodies are metal or wood. The three main designs:
- Single cone with a biscuit bridge: the cone faces up and a small wooden disc carries the saddle. Hard, metallic and punchy; the sound of the classic metal-body blues resonator.
- Single cone with a spider bridge: the cone is inverted and an eight-legged aluminum frame spreads the string energy to its rim. Bright, with more sustain; the bluegrass resonator sound.
- Tricone: three smaller cones joined by a T-shaped bar, sweeter and more sustained than a single cone.
A square-neck resonator has high action and is played flat on the lap with a steel bar, usually in open G tuning, in bluegrass. A round-neck resonator is held like any guitar and played with a slide or the fingers, often in an open tuning, in blues. The alternate tunings guide lists the notes of each tuning.
Parlor, travel and mini guitars
Parlor guitars are small full-scale flat-tops, compared with larger bodies in the tonewoods and strings guide. Travel and mini guitars shorten the scale, shrink the body or both, giving up volume and bass for portability; sizing for young players is in guitar size for kids.
Acoustic bass guitar
An acoustic bass has a large, deep hollow body and four strings tuned E-A-D-G like an electric bass. Unplugged it is quiet beside acoustic guitars, so nearly every model has a pickup. See kinds of bass for the electric side.
Comparison of acoustic families
| Type | Strings | Construction | Sound | Common uses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Classical | Nylon | Wide neck, moderate action | Warm, long sustain | Classical repertoire |
| Flamenco | Nylon | Light, low action, cypress back and sides, tap plate | Bright, percussive | Flamenco |
| Crossover nylon | Nylon | Narrower neck, cutaway, pickup | Nylon tone, familiar feel | Steel-string players on stage |
| Twelve-string | Steel, paired | Heavier build, wider neck | Shimmering | Strummed folk and rock |
| Archtop | Steel | Arched top, f-holes, floating bridge | Punchy, short sustain | Swing and older jazz rhythm |
| Selmer-Maccaferri style | Steel, light | Very light, D-hole or oval-hole | Loud, dry | Gypsy jazz |
| Resonator | Steel | Aluminum cones under a cover plate | Loud, metallic | Blues, bluegrass |
| Acoustic bass | Steel, four | Large, deep hollow body | Soft unplugged | Unplugged sessions |
Acoustic-electric pickup systems
An acoustic-electric has a built-in pickup, usually with an onboard preamp for volume and EQ. Each pickup type hears the guitar from a different place, and each has a known weakness.
| System | Where it sits | Sound | Usual complaint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Undersaddle piezo | A strip under the saddle | Bright, clear, resists feedback | "Quack": a hard, nasal attack when strummed hard; uneven string balance if the saddle seats badly |
| Soundboard transducer | On the underside of the top or bridge plate | Woodier; picks up body taps | Feeds back sooner at stage volume |
| Magnetic soundhole | Across the soundhole | Warm and round; very feedback-resistant | Sounds closer to an electric; steel strings only |
| Internal microphone | Inside the body | The most natural and airy | Feeds back easily; picks up handling noise |
| Blended | Two of the above, mixed in the preamp | Attack from one source, air from the other | More controls to set |
Nylon strings do not work with magnetic pickups, so most nylon guitars use an undersaddle piezo, sometimes blended with a microphone. A repair technician can fit most of these systems to an existing guitar.
Which type suits which player
- A beginner in steel-string music does best on a six-string flat-top and adds a twelve-string later.
- Classical repertoire calls for a classical guitar; flamenco technique depends on a flamenco guitar's low action and tap plate.
- A singer-songwriter who plays out needs an acoustic-electric, and the pickup shapes the amplified sound more than the body does.
- Swing rhythm and gypsy jazz each sound most like themselves on their own guitar.
- Slide blues suits a round-neck resonator; lap-style bluegrass needs a square neck.
Getting advice
If you are deciding between two of these, bring the question, or the guitar, to the free intro visit. Lessons on them are described on the classical guitar, fingerstyle and folk and acoustic pages.
Questions
Is a 12-string guitar good for beginners?
It is harder than a six-string: each note presses two strings, the tension is higher and tuning takes longer. Most players learn on a six-string and add a twelve-string later.
Do I need an acoustic-electric guitar?
Only to play through a PA or amplifier, at open mics, in a band or on stage. For practice and lessons an ordinary acoustic is enough, and a pickup can usually be fitted later.
