Acoustic Guitar Accessories

Guitar Strings As Acoustic Guitar Accessories

2009-03-23T22:17:00.005-04:00

Of all of the acoustic guitar accessories that a guitar player will continually invest in are the guitar strings. It's like putting fuel into your car. The strings need to be clean and sharp which means buying a new set when the old ones no longer perform. You can tell when you need new strings first by looking at the old ones. They may appear dirty and even a little green in color. Another way to tell that you need to change acoustic guitar strings is the fact that they often go out of tune, and you may have trouble keeping them in tune. The best way to tell is by the flat sound that they produce. They no longer have the rich full sound that they had when they were new.

Some people boil their old strings in water to clean them. I've never tried that, but wonder if they rust easily, especially the wound strings. How do you completely remove the water between the coils?

Acoustic guitar strings generally come in three gauges. There are more gauges but we'll talk about the basic three. Light, Medium, and heavy. I used to use heavy gauge strings when I had my Martin D-28 and played a lot of bluegrass music. I've never used medium gauge strings so I can't comment on them. I have been using light gauge guitar strings for the last few years because they are easy on the fingers and I still get a rich sound.

I was a big fan of Guild Phosphor Bronze strings for years but found that most any phosphor bronze wound acoustic guitar string is just as good in my opinion. I now use Darco strings which is made by Martin and find them to be just as good, and they last a long time. They are also cheaper in price. I can get three sets for $10 at my local guitar store.

Of all of the acoustic guitar accessories that you buy, you will become most familiar with the guitar strings. Experiment with the different types, gauges, and brands to see what suits your pleasure. Whatever you decide in the end, chances are that you will stay with your choice for years.

Acoustic Guitar Accessories: Guitar Picks

2009-02-22T13:12:00.009-05:00

One of the most basic acoustic guitar accessories is the guitar pick. Some guitarists choose not to use a pick but instead, use the tips of their fingers or finger nails to pick or strum the guitar.
Their are various shapes, thicknesses and materials used for the guitar pick with the most popular shape being a slightly curved triangle made of plastic. Thickness is measured in gauge, but they are basically thin, medium and heavy.

Materials used for guitar picks are plastic, rubber, felt, tortoise shell, wood, metal, and stone. The first plastic pick was made in 1922 by D'Andrea Picks. The most common picks today are made of celluloid, nylon, tortex, acetal, ultem, and lexon.

Thickness is usually determined by playing style and/or strings. A thin pick may produce a "click" or scrubbing sound and is preferred by guitarists who strum the guitar and use light gauge strings. The thick or "hard" pick produces a brighter sound on heavier gauge strings and is preferred by Bluegrass flat pickers for example, or lead guitar players.

Their are also "finger picks" that wrap around your fingers used in finger style playing, while some may use bare fingers. Basic finger picks are a set of three picks that are worn on the thumb, index and middle fingers. There are no rules for wearing finger picks, as some guitarists may only wear a thumb pick or maybe only use two picks. Finger picks can be made of plastic or metal. Some people wear a metal thumb pick and use plastic for the other fingers.

Some guitar picks are made with small protrusions to make it easier to hold, and some have a high friction coating. I prefer a heavy flat pick, but suggest that a beginner use a thin guitar pick because it is easier to strum the guitar and is more flexible.

Choosing An Acoustic Guitar Tuner

2009-02-07T12:37:00.008-05:00

Having a well tuned instrument is the most important aspect of playing the guitar. If you study piano, you will understand the importance of tuning. When I started playing the guitar, there were very few acoustic guitar accessories to choose from, much less an electronic tuner. I used a tuning fork and/or tuned by ear which you should be able to do anyway, but not everyone does.
The tuning fork is easy to use and comes in different keys. That doesn't mean that you have to use a different fork to tune each string. I bought an A fork, used it to tune the A string and then tuned the other guitar strings around the A string.
One draw back to using the tuning fork which I found out later is making the fork resonate. You strike the fork on a hard surface and place the ball or bottom of the fork on a piece of wood to hear the sound. I used to put the ball on the body of my guitar, which after time caused dimples to show up on the wood. Have a coffee table or piece of wood handy to do this with. Another trick that I learned is to place the ball of the fork on your front teeth and you can hear the sound in your head.

If you are looking for an electronic tuner there are plenty out there ranging in price from $10 to hundreds of dollars. I use a $10 Korg GA-30 Guitar/Bass tuner that I bought at Guitar Center. It tunes the acoustic guitar through a Mic and has an input to tune the electric guitar or bass. I use both functions because I play both the acoustic guitar and the electric bass.

An electronic tuner is very easy to use and only takes a few minutes to get familiar with. It basically uses a meter and/or lights to indicate when the string is in tune. The meter will show "in tune" at a zero or middle indication and the lights will show a "green" light. It's that easy.

You can also find an online guitar tuner on the Internet which is good if you are sitting at the computer while practicing, you can use an online tuner microphone, just a plain microphone hooked to your PC. Some laptops have built in microphones which work fine, but you can't take it with you.
Do not over spend for bells and whistles when looking for acoustic guitar accessories like an acoustic guitar tuner especially if you are just learning how to play guitar, because all you are trying to achieve is a guitar that is properly tuned. All you need is a meter and/or lights and nothing else.

Acoustic Guitar Accessories - Guitar Capos

2009-02-02T13:44:00.010-05:00

Welcome to Acoustic Guitar Accessories. This is a new blog that is designed to help the inexperienced guitar player with making decisions about the type of acoustic guitar accessories that will be needed and helpful to them, from a thirty year guitar veteran.

I do not have an inventory, nor do I sell these products. Any suggestions that I make will come from personal experience and not motivated by a desire to make a profit. I may occasionally endorse a product and leave a link so that it will be easy to find.

Guitar Capos:
A guitar capo is a clamp that is used on the guitar neck to change the key or pitch of the strings. A capo can be used on both a right handed guitar or on a left handed guitar. There are hundreds of types and brands of guitar capos on the market with costs starting from a few bucks to hundreds of dollars. A beginning guitarist should not consider spending more than $30 for a new capo. My favorite is a saddle capo with an adjustable tension bolt on top. It must be put on the guitar neck by using both hands, but it is very stable and doesn't slip.

There is also the spring lever type of capo that uses spring tension to stay in place but can be knocked out of place when bumped.
Next is the cheapest costing guitar capo, the elastic which requires both hands to install and is wrapped around the fret. There is the trigger capo that can be installed with one hand and is best used while performing to change keys quickly.
Another "one handed capo" installs and locks in place. This is my least favorite because you are unable to adjust the tension and it weakens over time and must be replaced.

I will give opinions and reviews of several acoustic guitar accessories in the months to come to give the beginner a perspective on what to look for when deciding what is needed. I hope that you can benefit from my experience.

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2009-02-01T10:56:00.002-05:00

Updated April 2009

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