The acoustic guitar is one of the most popular instruments in the world. But, with such widely different varieties of acoustic guitars to choose from, it might be bewildering. So, here’s our article about various Types of Acoustic Guitars. So, let’s know.
Let’s take a look at the famous varieties of acoustic guitar bodies. And also why a player would choose an instrument based on its sound and design.
Types of Acoustic Guitar
Acoustic guitars are classified into some main types:
- Dreadnought
- Parlor
- Jumbo
- Auditorium
- Auditorium Grand
- Classical
1. Dreadnought
The most prevalent acoustic guitar body style is the dreadnought/dreadnaught. That is the form that most people envision when they consider acoustic guitars.
The design was created by C.F. Martin & Co in 1916 and became popular in the 1930s. Amplification was still in its infancy at the time.
Because of its broad and rich tone, it was ideal for groups. It’s still a crowd favorite due to its power projection and deep low-end.
There are two styles of dreadnought guitars. The square shoulder has a straight upper and lower part and is the most frequent.
2. Parlor
The parlor guitar became popular in the late 1800s. These guitars feature smaller body frames and are appropriate for youngsters.
If you enjoy fingerstyle, this may be the guitar for you. It is easy to pluck because of its tiny size.
This tiny form of guitar has a short overall length and an extended body, making it appropriate for many playing genres.
C.F. Martin created the parlor body form in the nineteenth century. The ever-so-tiny parlor guitar has many fans in the twenty-first century.
3. Jumbo
Gibson pioneered the Jumbo body design after introducing the J-200 model in 1937.
This shape features the most rounded shoulders of all the forms and the biggest sound chamber.
The primary benefit of making this structure larger and broader is the volume. So, jumbo guitars are pretty loud.
A Jumbo provides the most volume for money, from heavy strumming to mild finger-plucking options.
Nowadays, pick-ups and pre-amps can give you any volume you want for your need. Yet, if you’re an acoustic musician seeking a powerful guitar to fill a crowd, a jumbo could be your best option.
4. Auditorium
The auditorium model, sometimes known as the “orchestra,” was created in the early 1920s and has remained one of the big sized guitars ever.
The guitar is currently classed as medium-sized. It has a narrower waist and a big upper bout with flatter shoulders compared to a dreadnought.
This C.F. Martin design also has a pleasant, well-balanced tone and is quite comfortable to sit and play with because of its narrow waist.
The guitar has a strong tone and fine treble-bass balancing, making it suitable for fingerstyle tunes. So, to its tone and performance, the success of the guitar in today’s market can be attributed.
5. Auditorium Grand
Auditorium Grand is another design by C.F. Martin. Its proportions are identical to those of the Dreadnought. But a closer inspection shows a substantially narrower waist, which makes some tonal qualities much more evident.
Due to its streamlined waist, the Auditorium guitar fits much more snugly over your leg.
This means that the inner curves of the guitar are defined farther inward, resulting in fewer internal cavities in the guitar form.
Some guitarists prefer this feature because it allows the instrument to sit firmly on its leg without sliding around.
7. Classical
These nylon-strung beauties are in a class of their own. Numerous manufacturers worldwide provide classical guitars with delicate Nylon string tones.
They have smaller dimensions than a dreadnought and are closer in size to a parlor guitar, and are typically used to perform classical music.
The Classical guitar is for you if you appreciate delicate tones in your instrument and enjoy classical European orchestral music.
Classical guitarists like John Williams and Andres Segovia were regarded as genre pioneers. Brazilian Boss Nova also employs the Classical style.
Here you can also learn about 5 different types of guitar strings.
Conclusion
We hope our article on various types of acoustic guitars explained here will give you a good overview. However, with so many different styles of acoustic guitars available, it may take a lot of work to keep track of them all. Therefore don’t be shy about going back and re-reading the content.
Learn something new you overlooked the first time.
