Leisure and Hobbies

To say where a lute - or any of the other dozens of similar instruments - leaves off and the guitar begins is an impossible exercise. Guitar-like instruments have been uncovered in archaeological digs and documents as far back as Ancient Egypt and Babylonia almost 4,000 years ago.

Gibson Guitar company has been making guitars since the 1920s, when they evolved from a producer of mandolins.

It’s possible to spend a lifetime researching - and a lifetime of savings buying - the right amp.

There are in the market today over a thousand guitar manufacturers, many offering hundreds of models old and new. With all that to choose from, no one could cover any but a few in a small space. But reading reviews is itself something of an art. We’ll pick a small sample, in order to highlight some of the common features discussed, so you’ll know what to look for.

Stratocaster, Telecaster… names of legend. These electric, solid-body guitars are at the pinnacle of the luthier’s ancient art thanks to modern technology.

One thing that is obvious about the modern world is the enormous variety of taste in music. Rock gets the most attention, of course, but there are millions who enjoy jazz. Many others prefer flamenco and there are those who enjoy music that’s difficult to classify.

Some songs are slow songs, others are fast. Still others are blazing. Guitarists, whatever their taste, naturally want to be able to execute any of them. It gives a wider range of musical choices and the chance to enjoy that rush that comes from zipping along the strings with perfect skill.

Electric guitars have components that are absent in most acoustic guitars. One of the most basic is the pickup. That’s a small electrical device, often near the center of the soundboard, that ‘picks up’ the vibrations produced by the strings and transmits them down wires to be amplified.

Nothing is more obvious in the world of guitars than the variety not only of the instruments themselves, but what they’re used to produce. Rock makes many a huge income, but jazz, classical, folk and a dozen hybrid styles continue to do well. In fact thanks to the Internet and lower production costs, music that in decades past couldn’t get a hearing can now attract an audience large enough to support anyone.

Though the primary sound of an acoustic guitar is produced by vibrations from the soundboard (top), something has to set that wood oscillating. And, of course, since the wood is a fixed shape and material it can inherently only produce one basic sound. The infinite variety of guitar music is the product of its strings.

In the world of guitars, what’s vintage and what isn’t is subject to interpretation. The sample in question may be a true classic, such as the 1961 Gibson Les Paul SG, or something as recent as a 2002 PRS Golden Eagle. But what’s more than just a matter of opinion is that many of these beauties still sound great after - in some cases - more than 50 years.

Guitars are crafted by professionals known as luthiers. What those experts know (among other things) that the beginner learns is the wide range of woods used and how they affect the overall sound of a guitar.

For such a simple looking instrument, a guitar has a surprising number of parts to produce its sound.

The parts of a guitar visible from the outside make it look simple, overall, even though there are a few dozen parts that make it up. But the real complexity begins when the guitar is examined from the inside out.

Guitars look fairly simple. A body and neck hold a set of taut strings and the musician clamps the string down at different points and strums or picks. Out comes music. But there’s more to the story…

Like a lot of things in the music world, finger exercises are a very individual thing. Some can do without them completely, but for most players some kind of exercise is a great help to developing good technique. You have to be able to control the instrument to make it do what you want. Exercises are one of the best ways for most people to accomplish that.

Some guys can play all day at top speed for years and never suffer. Others will develop tendonitis, carpal tunnel or any of a number of elbow, arm, wrist or finger problems. Part of that is the genetic luck of the draw. There’s not much to be done about that (yet). But you can shift the odds in your favor by monitoring and possibly modifying your technique.

Learning to play guitar is to some extent about eye-hand coordination.