The Acoustic Guitar

PRESENTS… Buy & Play The Acoustic Guitar

c i t s u o c A & Pl y ay u B

Learn…

Fingerpicking Altered tunings Play like The Beatles

PRINTED IN THE UK

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How To… Buy the right guitar Get started on acoustic Sound professional on stage

C on t e n t s

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CONTENTS 6 8 12

How We Got Here

How the acoustic guitar evolved

In praise of the Martin Dreadnought

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Learn some essential techniques here

Techniques: Fingerpicking

22 26 30

Techniques: Altered Tunings

Try out some classic altered tunings

Bob Taylor, co-founder and president of Taylor Guitars, explains environmental and sustainability issues facing modern makers

Fingerpicking styles at your fingertips

So You Want To Buy An Acoustic?

The definitive guide to buying an acoustic guitar in today’s market, for all budgets

Good Wood?

VAULT

VAULT

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Patrick James Eggle shows us the inner workings of an acoustic guitar

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Techniques: Getting Started

Anatomy Of An Acoustic Guitar

The differences between the most common acoustic body shapes explained

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What you need to know to buy the right amp

Shapes Of Things

How To Choose & Use An Acoustic Amp

Accidental Hero

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Techniques: Blues Legends

Learn the timeless techniques of the Delta blues pioneers

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Techniques: The Beatles

VAULT

Recording: Basics Our guide to capturing great tone

Playing Live: Basics

Got an acoustic gig? Read our tips for great tone and you can’t go wrong…

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VAULT

Learn the markedly different acoustic styles of John, Paul and George (not Ringo, though)

C on t e n t s

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Techniques: Fingerpicking VAULT

Classical picking exercises and tuition

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Interview: John Martyn

The legendary acoustic maverick on his influential style

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Interview: Eric Bibb

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The US bluesman on his historically literate recent records

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Interview: Ed Sheeran

The UK’s most successful new acoustic artist on his amazing rise

104 Interview: Ben Howard

This exciting modern troubadour already has two Brit Awards to his name

110 Interview: Ralph McTell

The household-name acoustic artist on his love for his guitars

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Interview: Martin Simpson

The consummate folk star on his recent award-winning album

116 Gallery

Feast your eyes on some of the world’s most beautiful acoustic guitars

128 Subscribe

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130 10 Must-Hear Acoustic Albums

Essential listening from the acoustic archives

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Ac ous t ic Bu y e r ’s Gu i de

So You Want To Buy An Acoustic?

These are our 65 favourite guitars from the last three years of Guitarist’s review instruments. Get your wallet ready…

Information in this guide How we chose these guitars Every guitar in this guide has been reviewed in Guitarist within the last three years and has gained a minimum of a 4.5 star rating, achieving either a Guitarist Choice or Guitarist Gold Award. That means we feel their build quality, sound, playability and value for money are not in question at their relative price points.

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Sigma SDM-15 £499 Guitarist says Looking for a bluesy belter or a general allrounder? The SDM-15 is the no-brainer of all no-brainers

Scale length A guitar’s scale length is important because it has a direct effect on the tension of the strings and therefore how the instrument feels to play: the longer the scale length, the higher the tension of the strings for a given pitch. In terms of tone, all things being equal (which they rarely are!) a longer-scale-length guitar will tend to have more pronounced string separation and clarity to single notes; compare a Martin 000-28 with an OM-21 for example.

To measure a scale length, measure from the inside edgeof the nut to the centre of the 12th fret, then double it.

Your scale length is this distance x2

1 A note on prices

4 Nut widths

The prices we’ve quoted are the manufacturers’ suggested retail prices, correct at the time of the original review. Some official SRPs will have gone up slightly, while many advertised/web prices from retailers will be lower.

We’ve quoted nut width as it’s a significant factor in playability; below are some common widths. You’ll be amazed how different a millimetre or two across the nut can feel!

2 Type See p12 for an explanation of body styles and types.

3 Woods See p42 for a guide to different acoustic tonewoods.

Nut width

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Reviewed: Issue 366 2 Type: Dreadnought electroacoustic 3 Top: Solid mahogany Back/sides: Solid mahogany 4 Nut/scale: 43/645

Common nut widths 1 5/8 inches 41.2mm 1.65 inches 42mm 1 11/16 inches 42.8mm 1.69 inches 43mm 1 3/4 inches 44.5mm 1.77 inches 45mm 1 13/16 inches 46mm 1 7/8 inches 47.6mm

Ac ous t ic Bu y e r ’s Gu i de

Lag Tramontane T66A £179 Guitarist says This Tramontane T66A is a real find among budget folk-sized guitars

Sigma DR-28 £348

Reviewed: Issue 337 Type: Auditorium-sized acoustic Top: Laminated spruce Back/sides: Laminated mahogany Nut/scale: 43/650

Guitarist says A superbly wellbuilt dreadnought, bursting with tone and representing excellent value for money

Lag Tramontane T100D £299 Guitarist says A hearty welcome to the ranks of affordable, eager-to-please dreadnoughts

Ibanez EW20ASE-NT £378

Reviewed: Issue 337 Type: Dreadnought acoustic Top: Solid red cedar Back/sides: Laminated mahogany Nut/scale: 43/650

Guitarist says A well-made, modern electro offering a lot of guitar for the money.

And with show-stopping looks, too!

Yamaha APX500II £320 Guitarist says Knockout performance for the money and guaranteed to keep APX high up the stage-electro charts

Reviewed: Issue 354 Type: Dreadnought acoustic Top: Solid Sitka spruce Back/sides: Laminated rosewood Nut/scale: 43/645

Reviewed: Issue 348 Type: Jumbo electro-acoustic Top: Laminated quilted ash Back/sides: Laminated quilted ash Nut/scale: 43/641

Faith Naked Mercury Parlour £389

Reviewed: Issue 343 Type: Medium-bodied electro Top: Laminated spruce Back/sides: Laminated nato Nut/scale: 43/634

Guitarist says If you pick a lot and strum not much, you need a parlour! No electronics, but very affordable

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Reviewed: Issue 368 Type: Parlour-sized acoustic Top: Solid Engelmann spruce Back/sides: Solid Indonesian mahogany Nut/scale: 43/608

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E r ic Bi bb I n t e rv i e w

Eric Bibb The latest albums from US acoustic-blues singer-songwriter Eric Bibb have seen him record updated Delta blues using Booker White’s National guitar, and resurrect the earliest blues and folk guitar styles of America. Here, we find out more…

G u i ta r ist A pr i l 2 010 & M a rc h 2 01 2

UPS please

ric Bibb is the real deal. His timeless, commanding voice, highly developed yet tasteful playing, crafted songs and committed delivery have established him as the leading light in new acoustic blues. He evolves the old-school sympathetically, with rhythmic and melodic hooks attuned better to 21st Century ears. His 2008 project set all of this in full flow, following a chance encounter with a very special guitar that inspired a new album of stripped-down songs in celebration, but not pastiche, of the Southern Delta and country-blues artists.

And it all started with a man named Booker…

“I was up near Newcastle some years ago,” explains Bibb as we ask about the origins of the album, Booker’s Guitar. “At the end of one of my gigs, a man came up and said, Thank you for your concert, I’m so glad another generation is carrying on the acoustic blues tradition. If you’d like to play the guitar owned for decades and decades by the great Booker White – Bukka White, as he was known – I can meet you at your hotel, because I have it!

“So we made an appointment and he came with some camera equipment, because he knew I’d be interested in taking some pictures. Then here’s this incredible 1934 National Duolian that was personalised by Booker.”

Was the guitar in good shape? “It really looked weathered, though the instrument itself had probably been re-chromed. He probably thought he could spruce it up, so he re-chromed it. He also taped a setlist to the side of the guitar, with some old yellow Scotch tape. It was still there, the paper he wrote it on still had the letterhead, which was the name of a hotel.”

Bibb goes on to explain how he was struck by the guitar’s rich tone and dispels the myth that all old guitars are necessarily wonderful. “Well, I’ve played a lot of old Nationals,” he states, “and some of them sound great, some sound like crap – great-looking but not great-sounding artefacts. But this was in great shape, playable, so I was amazed at the vibe of the guitar – it really felt like it had some heavy history in it. Booker spent many hours over many decades holding that guitar in all kinds of situations; travelling all over through the South and even to Europe.”

But the guitar’s eventual arrival in England and its new owner was, if anything, an even more remarkable story. So how did it end up here? “He [Booker White] had befriended this guy when he came to England with the folk-blues tours for several years,” expands our storyteller. “And this guy – Keith Perry – photographed Booker, kept in touch by letter and phone call. At one point, he found some of Booker’s older recordings from the 1930s, made cassettes of them and sent them to him in Memphis. Booker had lost track of them for years and was so grateful. Then, before he died, he just made a decision – he packed up his guitar and UPS’d it to his dear friend.”

Does Bibb care to speculate about White’s motivation for the gift? “Well, as a token of his appreciation for all the friendship and support,” he says, without hesitation. “But it’s funny how you do something and maybe you have some kind of intuitive feelings for the best way for the legend to live on or not, but, sincerely, he wanted to thank his friend and that’s how I got to play it!”

Breathing in the heritage and vibe of the old guitar, Bibb then did what any self-respecting songwriter would do, and got to composing. “I was so inspired,” he enthuses.

“I left the experience to germinate for a while and I wrote the song about it. So I called Keith up and I said, Hey man I’ve written this song... He asked me to send him the lyrics and he put them in the guitar case so they could live with the guitar. He said, I think you should record that song with this guitar when you get a chance. Then there was a moment when this record was coming together and I

“I’d say the further back your blues listening can go, the better.

Because fairly quickly after it was first recorded, blues evolved into something else” 93

Gr e at Ac ous t ic A l bu m s

ACOUSTIC PICKS Inspire your playing with these classic, must-hear acoustic guitar albums

Johnny Cash

Eric Clapton

Nick Drake

Bob Dylan

At Folsom Prison (1968) Along with the followup, At San Quentin, this showcases Cash’s simple but powerful acoustic guitar style to perfection: it’s scintillating and powerful stuff.

Unplugged (1992) Clapton’s moving ballad Tears In Heaven, the reworked Layla and some accomplished blues standards on a Martin 000-42 reignited interest in all things acoustic.

Pink Moon (1972) Drake’s third and final album is a sparse affair, featuring mainly just acoustic and voice. Superb fingerpicking propels this beautifully crafted study in melancholy.

The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (1963) Containing some of the best-known folk songs of all time, Dylan’s direct, unadorned acoustic sound retains its power, and sounds fresh even today.

Michael Hedges

Robert Johnson

John Martyn

Aerial Boundaries (1985) The late, hugely influential acoustic virtuoso’s finest album is technically breathtaking, and pushes the horizons of possibility for the acoustic guitar.

The Complete Recordings (2008) All of the world’s great guitar players have studied every note on this eerie Delta masterpiece: it’s one of the few truly timeless albums.

Solid Air (1973) This influential album runs the gamut of Martyn’s soulful style, from the rhythmic fingerpicking of The Easy Blues to the Echoplex of I’d Rather Be The Devil. Mesmerising.

Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, Paco De Lucia Friday Night In San Francisco (1980) We’re treated to three guitar heroes for the price of one in this stunning flamenco-flavoured gig.

10 More…

Joni Mitchell

Neil Young

Blue (1971) Mitchell’s Appalachian dulcimer, piano and alternate-tuned acoustic guitar ushered in the era of the confessional singer-songwriter, and Blue remains enigmatic and raw.

Harvest (1972) This country-tinged, live-sounding masterpiece features three indisputable folk classics in Heart Of Gold, Old Man and The Needle And The Damage Done.

Davy Graham Folk, Blues And Beyond (1964) Don McLean American Pie (1971) Leo Kottke 6 And 12 String Guitar (1971) Joan Armatrading Joan Armatrading (1976) Tracy Chapman Tracy Chapman (1988) Kelly Joe Phelps Roll Away The Stone (1997) Pierre Bensusan Intuite (2001) José González Veneer (2003) Eric Roche With These Hands (2004) Bon Iver For Emma, Forever Ago (2007)

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