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Acoustic Electric Guitars

Author: Peter Suhm

Acoustic electric guitars: is this not a contradiction in terms? After all, “acoustic” describes music, or a musical instrument that is not electronically amplified; “electric” however, implies that the music or musical instrument is electronically amplified. Well actually, the wonderful thing about acoustic electric guitars is that they combine both the qualities of the acoustic, which is to control, absorb, and carry sound, as well as the qualities of the electric which is to amplify the sound. Acoustic electric guitars give the player and the listener alike the full benefit of both acoustic and electric qualities.

Acoustic guitars have a hollow body (or at least a portion of the body is hollow) like acoustic instruments, but they also have electric pickups mounted directly onto the body. The purpose of an acoustic electric guitar is to get the tones of an acoustic, but with an increased volume. The most basic and original kind of acoustic electric guitar is an acoustic that has been fitted to include pickups. When these were first introduced, the major problem was with feedback. The electronic pickups couldn’t handle all the vibrations of the instrument and the electrical currents, so a screaming feedback often resulted. In addition, the acoustic sound was often compromised as well because the electric pickups simply could not manage the high frequency sounds.

Today, most acoustic electric guitars have piezoelectric pickups which require a preamplifier made directly into the body of the guitar. The more advanced acoustic electric guitars of today have eliminated these problems and enhanced the quality of sound as they are designed to be truly acoustic-electric as opposed to being acoustic guitars with an electric add-on.

There are two kinds of acoustic electric guitars: the acoustic-electric classical guitar, and the basic acoustic electric guitar. The acoustic-electric classical guitar was designed to amplify the sound. This guitar is first an acoustic instrument, and the electric component is added. This idea was then improved upon, thus the invention of the acoustic electric guitar. Generally speaking, you can remember that acoustic electric guitars are primarily regarded as acoustic instruments because the pickups produce a signal from the vibration of the guitar’s body rather than from the vibration of the strings.

The most valued benefits of an acoustic electric guitar are 1) the ability to plug your instrument into a console without the need for expensive microphone equipment, and 2) the ability to play at very loud volumes while still maintaining the clear, sharp, beautiful tones of the acoustic guitar. These guitars produce both clarity of tone as well as volume and are an excellent choice for many musicians.

The term acoustic electric guitars is not at all a contradiction of terms, rather it refers to the type of guitar that produces an incredible sound at concert levels by its innovative design.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/acoustic-electric-guitars-590478.html

About the Author

My name is Peter Suhm and i have played music since i was 9 years old.
Visit my website about electric guitars here:

http://www.find-electric-guitars.info

Fender Highway One Stratocaster Review – Great Deal!

Author: R. S. Rasnick

The USA-made Fender Highway One Stratocaster is located between Fender’s American Standard and the Made-in-Mexico Standard series. Rather than just being a “budget” American-made guitar, the Highway One Stratocaster has a vibe all its own.

The Highway One Stratocaster we examined came in a Flat Black finish. One of the cost-cutting steps of this series is Fender’s choice of a light nitro satin finish. It’s a personal preference, but we liked it, and the light finish will surely allow the alder body to breathe better over time.

The guitar features a large 70′s style headstock with big frets, a vintage-style tremolo bridge, C-shaped maple neck (with choice of rosewood or maple fingerboard), 3 single-coil pickups with Alnico 3 magnets, and a special “Greasebucket” tone circuit. The guitar also ships with a gig-bag rather than the SKB hardshell case that comes with the Fender American series.

Upon playing the Highway One Stratocaster, it becomes immediately clear that the guitar is a quality, USA-made six string, even if it’s got some major differences that set it apart from the American Standard series. As we’ve already stated, we dug the nitro finish and value the result it has on the guitar’s tone (yes, finish does affect tone). Individual notes and chords just seemed to resonate better than with glossy finishes.

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We decidedly loved the pickups, which had a little more “punch” and dirt than American Standard pickups do. We especially dug the Greasebucket circuit, allowing you to diminish the highs without simultaneously increasing the bass. This instrument is especially suited for blues and classic rock tones.

The neck might not be for everyone, but we really liked it. The 70′s headstock is purely an aesthetic decision, but the large frets and satin finished C-shape neck just felt right in our hands. Strings bent like “buttah” and the neck really helps sweep arpeggios and fast runs. It requires the right touch, but we felt like the neck was really well done (we opted for the maple fretboard, by the way).

If you’re not a fan of larger frets, you probably won’t dig the feel, but we thought it was quite comfortable and gave the Highway One Stratocaster a feeling all its own.

With a street price of around $700, the Fender Highway One Stratocaster is a first-class USA-made instrument at a price that won’t break your piggy-bank. From its classy satin finish to its lovely C-shaped neck, the Highway One Stratocaster is an instrument that we highly recommend to Strat devotees who want an instrument just a little bit different.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/advertising-articles/fender-highway-one-stratocaster-review-great-deal-1764122.html

About the Author

Need to find the cheapest prices on a used or new Fender Highway One Stratocaster? Then head on over to Ray’s Guitar Shop, which offers the lowest prices on all used and new guitars (electric and acoustic). It doesn’t matter if you need a Fender Stratocaster, a Gibson SG, or a PRS Custom 24, they can help you find the perfect guitar.

Ibanez Electric Guitars

Author: Peter Suhm

Ibanez electric guitars are inseparable from their Japanese roots as the Hoshino Gakki musical Instrument Co. in Japan imported Salvador Ibanez instruments as far back as the late 1920s. The Ibanez Company was eventually bought by Hoshino Gakki and by the late 1950s Ibanez electric guitars were being fabricated solely in Japan. Since 1982 Ibanez electric guitars have been sold on the international market.

Originally the Ibanez electric guitars were imitations or copies of already established models made by Fender and Gibson, but by the late 1970s Ibanez emerged on the market with their own unique models, the Iceman, and the Ibanez Roadstar, thereby securing their place in the market of electric guitars. Since the production of the Iceman and the Roadstar, the company has no longer been producing copies of other models.

The Ibanez Roadstar series features 24 fret slim necks and most of the models have bolt-on necks with high-performing tremolos. One way to easily identify an Ibanez electric guitar is by the “Monkey grip” or the “Lion’s Claw” just below the tremolo. Vine or Pyramid inlay are also signature design qualities of Ibanez electric guitars. Today’s Roadstar guitars include a 6-step special treatment to the fret board for more comfortable playing. Ibanez also designed the “S” series which is now famous for its ergonomic and light weight bodies made of mahogany wood. As intricate design is ingrained in Japanese esthetics, it is no surprise that the Ibanez electric guitars include delicate inlay in their design.

Some of the famous musicians who favor the Ibanez electric guitars are Frank Gambale, Steve Vai, Joe Satriani and Nuno Bettencourt. Herman Li, guitarist for Dragonforce, is the newest endorser of Ibanez guitars. Frank Zappa’s guitarist, Steve Vai formed a relationship with Ibanez in the early 1990s, a collaboration that resulted in the Ibanez JEM and the Ibanez Universe models. Soon after the success of the JEM, a lower-priced version of this model appeared on the market and it too, was an instant hit among electric guitar enthusiasts.

Also true to Japanese manufacturing that aims for high quality at low cost, Ibanez electric guitars are noted for being amongst the best made guitars on the market for the best price. With so much bang for your buck, you really can’t go wrong with an Ibanez. In 2002 the company released the new Artcore series, a hollow body guitar aimed to attract the novice guitarist. Since then, the Artcore is considered to be among the very best value guitars on today’s market.

With its beginnings in Spain and its foot in the door to the Japanese market before its destruction in the Spanish Civil War, the Ibanez Company survived incredible obstacles, finally securing its place in the world market for electric guitars. This is truly remarkable and speaks highly for the persistence and dedication to excellence that has made the Ibanez electric guitar what it is today: an awesome instrument worthy of the passionate player’s attention.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/ibanez-electric-guitars-590487.html

About the Author

My name is Peter Suhm and i have played music since i was 9 years old.
Visit my website about electric guitars here:

http://www.find-electric-guitars.info

Yamaha Electric Guitars

Author: Peter Suhm

Yamaha electric guitars are produced by a company with more than 100 years of experience and expertise in making musical instruments. The brand stands on a good and proven record of quality products. Yamaha fabricated its first electric guitar in 1966 at its factory in Central Japan.

One of Yamaha’s core values is the absolute joy of music. For this reason, the company aims to make this wonderful discovery attainable by everyone. To meet this goal, Yamaha has a variety of complete guitar kits on the market. The Yamaha EG-112PF Electric Guitar kit is a popular choice for new beginners. This kit includes a practice amplifier, padded gig bag, guitar cable, 2 single-coil pickups, 1 humbucking pickup, 5-positiong pickup switch, a tremolo bar, and chrome hardware. Satisfied customers claim that it is the best choice for any beginner. In fact, many accomplished guitarists today began with this very kit. One of the nice things about the Yamaha EG-112PF Electric Guitar kit is that as the novice guitarists improves and becomes more accomplished, this first-love guitar can easily be overhauled to meet the needs of the growing musician.

Along these same lines is the Gigmaker EG guitar pack. This kit includes a PAC012 Pacifica solid body electric guitar, 20-watt 2-channel Drive guitar amp, Qwik Tune Digital chromatic tuner, guitar cable, gig bag, guitar strap, and an instructional DVD.

Another unique electric guitar made by Yamaha is the SLG100 Silent guitar. This guitar is perfect for people who live in populated areas such as student dorms, apartments, and condos. Just plug in the headphones and what you hear will make you feel as if you are playing in a grand concert hall, but no one else will know! It’s a great way to practice. Then, just hook up to a sound system and you are ready for public performances.

Yamaha electric guitars are recognized for their through neck system whereas the neck is set deeply into the body instead of being bolted onto the body. Yamaha electric guitars are also known for their patented “T-Cross system” and “sustain Plate”. These new features resulted in a powerful yet warm tone quality. Known as high quality, yet affordable for the beginning and intermediate guitarist, it is often said that a Yamaha electric guitar is the optimal choice because it is both affordable and easy to play.

Like all the famous electric guitar manufacturers, Yamaha makes a variety of models. The Pacific series is significant because it was the first to be designed and built in the American Custom Shop in Hollywood California with the input from professional players.

Yamaha electric guitars are among the best for beginners, but the true Yamaha lover can stay with this brand forever. Yamaha electric guitars span the limits in versatility. From low-cost basic to high end professional instruments, Yamaha electric guitars can meet your needs and enhance your performance for a lifetime of musical bliss.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/yamaha-electric-guitars-590491.html

About the Author

My name is Peter Suhm and i have played music since i was 9 years old.
Visit my website about electric guitars here:

http://www.find-electric-guitars.info

Choose Electric over Acoustic – Guitars

Author: Lisa M

Electric guitars are used in various forms and styles of music including pop, country, rock and roll, jazz or blues. These guitars are used largely in rock music, and are a bit more forgiving than are acoustic guitars. Depending on the venue, electric guitars are one of the most common guitars used in the 20th century.

The strings used on electric guitars are steel strings as on acoustic guitars, but usually of a much lighter gauge so they are generally easier on your fingers. The guitars themselves are much heavier than are acoustic guitars. The wood is heavier and the electronic parts on the inside add weight to the guitar, as well. While the specific wood type for the body, neck and fingerboard is less of a factor in electric guitars, the wood chosen for a particular electric guitar does contribute its distinctive sound and as well as the feel of the guitar in your hands and even in your style of playing. The neck of the electric guitar must also take more stress due to the heavy body of the guitar.

Because of the type of strings used on the electric guitar, they are considered to be easier to play. The lighter gauge of the strings for the electric guitar makes picking and strumming much simpler. The trade-off, of course, is the weight of the guitar and ability to be heard by larger audiences.

Electric guitars are slightly more expensive than are acoustic guitars but quality electric guitars can be found in the lower price ranges, as well. The important thing to remember in planning to purchase an electric guitar is that they only sound good with an amplifier, so you must count on purchasing one of those as well as the guitar.

While various historians would argue about the time frame, electric guitars became popular in the 1960’s and 1970′s. At that point, rock n’ roll was the prevailing culture in the world of music. Electric guitars became a necessity in the competition with the amplified instruments used by jazz orchestras. They quickly became popular, even though there were some difficulties with their construction. The body of the electric guitar would vibrate because of the amplified sounds that came through the speakers, to which they were connected, causing what we know as feed-back. Electric guitars don’t work with microphones, but with special pickups on the body of the guitar that senses the movement of strings. These pickups also tend to pick up the various electrical noises of the room, giving the guitar a bit of a “hum” which can be a very large or very small depending on where the guitar is being played. Several different designs for electric guitars were tried and left unused because of this difficulty in the decades before the 70’s. However, the Les Paul by Gibson and the Stratocaster by Fender rose above the other models to help eliminate some of these difficulties and secured their place in electric guitar history.

There are many types of electric guitars: solid body, hollow body and metal body. The solid body electric guitar is actually carved from hardwood and has a lacquer finish. The guitars with the metal bodies are affected by the “weight relief” holes that are bored into the solid metal guitars or they are chambered metal so that the guitar will not weigh so much. The hollow bodied electric guitars are said to add resonance and sustain to the guitar while being lighter in weight for the guitarists handling of the instrument. The hollow body electric guitars have the pick-ups mounted in such a way that they convert the combination of the string and the instrument’s body vibration into the electrical signal sent to the amplifier.

Electric guitars are great instruments to have around. They can be played for large audiences and their versatility of style is excellent. Earphones are a great addition to the guitar and the amplifier for the student who lives in the house with others that don’t necessarily want to hear the instrument played all night or all day. With this one upgrade, the electric guitar is a great addition to the other instruments in my household!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/music-articles/choose-electric-over-acoustic-guitars-940568.html

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