If you've owned a guitar for any length of time, it's happened to you. Someone walks into your house, sees your guitar in the stand, and asks if they can play it. Depending on the situation and the person you usually oblige to avoid seeming like a jerk. But this is on the low end of the anxiety scale when it comes to lending out your gear. The Music Player Forums have a post currently going about lending your gear out to other people. It's one thing to let someone play your guitar while you're standing close by. But what if someone's guitar or amp just broke and they have a gig tonight? Do you trust them? Will they watch out for belt buckle scratches or sweat and grease getting on the guitar like you would? For each person and each situation it may be a different answer. But it definitely can be an uncomfortable position to be in.

A sample reply from the thread:

"Maybe if we`re in the same band and I will be there for the gig. Even then I REALLY try to avoid doing that. Last night I did a short acoustic open mic set. Someone showed up without a guitar and the guy who was on after me loaned his acoustic. Well about two songs in the borrower started doing hand percussion on the guitar, with his knuckles. That would be it for me right there-give it back. Now.
Guitar straps, cables, picks-if they aren`t the really expensive ones-that`s different, mostly no problem lending those."

There is a post on the Acoustic Guitar Forum serving as a buyer's guide for classical guitars. The original question is posed by an experienced acoustic guitar player who suddenly was compelled by a classical guitar in the store recently. The store in question happened to have Taylor Classical Guitars and thus begins the thread:

Question:"I have never played a Taylor classical which is really what this thread is about. Do Taylor nylon strung guitars match up to Spanish made ones? Are they value for money or are you paying for the name?"

Answers:

On Taylors:

"The short answer is, no, Taylor nylon string guitars are not much like a Spanish classical guitar. They are heavier built and sound like a nylon string guitar vs a classical guitar. They have a narrower fingerboard than traditional classical guitars. This is a good thing for some players and not so good for others. It may be good for you if you are used to playing steel string guitars."

On Classical Guitars in General:

"I bought a classical guitar about 4 years ago. I tried out pretty much every classical guitar (up to about $3500 - I did not consider the more expensive small builder classicals) in a quality shop that has a lot more classicals than most places do.

I carefully tried out Bernabe, Loriente, and some others. I ended up with a Burguet, which was about a third the price of many of the others, and really seemed to me to be the best of the bunch regardless of price. I tried out about 7 of these Burguets and they varied quite a bit. There were some that did not impress me, and others that were good, but there were two that stood out, and I went with what I thought was the best of these two. It is a great guitar that I have played a LOT. Wonderful tone, good volume, very responsive. And it was not expensive, as these things go. I have recently heard though that they have tripled in price since I got mine.

If you are not wanting to go into those sorts of price ranges, there are a variety of decent less expensive classicals that can be found in a GOOD guitar store (most guitar shops I have been in have pretty poor selections of classicals). A brand that stands out in my mind is LaPatrie, made by the same folks who make Seagulls. Like the Seagulls, these are much nicer guitars than their very reasonable prices would suggest. They don't sing quite like my Burguet, but they are darn nice instruments that are set up well, play well, and sound good, especially considering the price.

I have read on the Web (and everything on the Web is true, right?) that unless you are going to go with a very expensive classical, you will probably get a better classical guitar if you go with a cedar top than if you buy a moderately priced spruce top classical. This web site suggested though that in the more expensive classicals, some of the spruce top classicals are the best. I don't know how valid this is, but I do know that in the price range I was looking at the cedar top classicals were indeed sounding better to me than the spruce top ones. Or maybe this cedar vs. spruce thing is a bunch of baloney. I don't know.

The cedar vs spruce decision probably mostly comes down to what sound you want. In general, I don't think it would be correct to say that one is better. They are just different."

View the full thread to read all of the responses

- Over at guitarforums.com there is a discussion over whether you should practice sitting down or standing up. Like many of these questions, the answer depends on your goals as a guitarist. If you intend to play live a lot, it would probably serve you well to also have frequent practice playing your guitar in the standing position. For more tips, our own Peter Vogl has free videos on the seated guitar position and standing position

- Trying to decide between the real deal and a knock off? Take a look at this post on Gibson Les Pauls vs. a copy. Take a look especially at dspellman's comments:

IMHO, Gibson doesn't start making a really good Les Paul type guitar until you get to the $3000 mark. Even at that price point, there are guitars that are far less expensive that easily compete with Gibsons in terms of playability and build quality.

At the low end, Rondo Music's Agile AL3000 series (AL3XXX, actually, since there are 3000M and 3100's) are real contenders, and normally run about $389 - $599 (if you want a 3/4" solid maple top). The pickups in these are Alnico V's that actually sound and respond very much like Gibson's '57's. The controls in these are serviceable, but it would certainly be cheap to shake these out and replace them with the best availalbe. But these guitars come with multi-layer binding around the body and headstock, single-layer binding on the fretboard. They have ebony fretboards and real abalone inlays. The fretboards have a 13.7" radius (Gibsons are 12", the frets are hand-dressed, the necks are a bit thinner than Gibson's '60 series (you can also get necks that are wider and thinner) and very comfortable. The bodies are SOLID mahogany (I think there's one series that has chambered bodies available) and the result is a guitar that measures up very well against what Gibson tosses out there in the sub-$3000 range.

- And finally we have a thread debating Rosewood vs. Maple fretboards. Two arguments come into play. Does the type of wood that the fretboard is made from make a difference? And if it does what are the differences.

It's currently Spring Break time and summer is coming up fast. Are you going on a cruise any time soon and hoping to get a little picking in while on vacation? The Acoustic Guitar Forum has a thread discussing tips on taking your guitar along with you on the cruise ship. I'd say the most important tip boils down to keeping your guitar with you during the orientation/emarbarkation time and not leaving it with the rest of your luggage that may just be left outside your door. Consider your guitar your carry on. Other than that you should have no worries and plenty of time and great settings to practice.

The Jam Session Guitar Forum has a mammoth 6 page thread about microtonality or microtonal theory. To get you started on the concept here is an excerpt from wikipedia's entry on the subject:

"Microtonal music is music using microtones — intervals of less than an equally spaced semitone, or as Charles Ives put it, the "notes between the cracks" of the piano. A looser definition includes anything not in 12-tone equal temperament, while a stricter definition distinguishes between microtonal music (which can take 12-tone equal temperament as an audible basis), and xenharmonic music (which does not)."

Check out the post and learn more about playing microtones on a guitar.

Are you trying to figure out whether or not you can live without your guitar during your week long beach trip this summer? Or more importantly, are you worried about the effects of the climate on your guitar? The Les Paul Forum has a thread discussing various aspects of taking your guitar to the beach. If it all possible, it's great to have a junky guitar for these situations. Check out the deals on some used guitars at your local music store or on ebay to see if you can find your very own travel guitar.

Looking for a solution to dropping your pick during a gig? The Harmony Central Acoustic Forum has a discussion going on about possible prevention and solutions. Though not the most efficient method my favorite answer was:

"I always keep several million in the pockets of my blue jeans. Just pull 'em out of my pocket if I drop one. Or I pick up the one I dropped on the floor."

I know about 5 guys that have the same philosophy.


The Acoustic Guitar Magazine Forum is debating the best ways to sound check at a gig. I think one good bit of advice is "If I can possibly manage it, I have someone there to help check sound. You need someone with a good ear who can test the sound in a variety of spots in the room." Ideally you should get someone not in the band who typically comes to your shows. Doesn't hurt to throw them on the guest list as a thank you either.

There's a discussion over on the Acoustic Guitar Forum over the pros and cons of using an anchor while finger picking. For more beginner info on finger picking and classical guitar style check out our Premium Download for beginners.