15 checks on an acoustic guitar

[Portland Guitar]

Hello Everyone, I'm a luthier who normally posts in the custom shop section. I wrote an informational article detailing 15 components related to musicality, playability and quality of an acoustic guitar. I aimed this as a guide to explain to someone looking to buy a guitar what to look for. There's a lot of text, too much for this post. So here is the list below and you can check out more here: acoustic guitar buying guide intermediate

The list that I go through is:

Top quality , back and sides quality, tuning ease, bridge pin ease, fretboard buzz, fretboard dead spots, neck shape preference, action preference, measuring stiffness of the top and back, mass consideration, evenness of finish, craftsmanship details, intonation quality, pickup quality.

My list is by no means exhaustive and there are many things I missed or could explain in more depth or with more clarity.

[mercy]

Thank you for this, Im sure it will assist our community

[jnidoh]

PG, thanks for the info. Old fools like me need all the help they can get when buying guitars.

john

[Portland Guitar]

Thank you for the warm response. haha, the more information the better.

[MakingMusic]

I can't believe you just posted this. I am looking to buy a fingerstyle guitar and recently started to put together a similar list on my own. Yours is way better and saved me a lot of time! Now, if I can just match up a guitar with your checklist, I'm good. The one problem I keep getting stuck on is that with the guitars I'm looking at, it is hard to find them brand new. So now I've started to check the used market. If you can't play the guitar first, then you have to trust the seller to accurately answer what you're asking. So, even with the buying guide, at some point there is a "leap of faith", right?

[Portland Guitar]

How serendipitous! That is the trouble of buying a guitar online, a huge selection but yes, a leap of faith. My argument for the used market is that if you don't like the guitar you can resell it and only lose on the cost of shipping and the cost of your negotiating skills.

[Mark L]

How’s she built?
How’s she look?
How’s she sound?
How’s she play?
How’s she fit?
What’s she cost?
How’s she make me feel?

Perhaps most importantly, How does it go between us when the lights are out?

Please feel free to change your pronoun preference as desired. .

[KevinH]

Thanks for posting this. It'll be a nice reference.

I'm curious, there were a few structural-related things left out - like checking the neck for twist, and the angle, how much saddle is left, looking/listening for loose braces, that sort of thing. Was this meant primarily for evaluating a new guitar, where those things are less likely?

[Birdbrain]

I have to question your suggestion to "press down on the top and back with 3 lbs. of force." Can you really feel any noticable amount of deflection in the top of a fully constructed guitar this way? I don't. What you might feel is certainly determined by where you press. I tried it beside the soundhole.

The Seagull factory tests deflection on raw panels of top wood, and braces each according to that measured stiffness. But adding braces and sides would eliminate almost all top deflection, and an untrained hand wouldn't be able to measure that accurately anyhow. I wonder if some of your suggestions presume an amount of experience that novices wouldn't have?

[Portland Guitar]

KevinH: Yes, it is primarily for a new guitar. I wrote it with the intent that people could use some of the points to check a guitar in a store while playing. It wasn't until I finished the article that I realized we were living in covid times and couldn't visit stores.

Birdbrain: Those are all true. The purpose of this test is to evaluate how much the top will deflect while played. I should have specified to apply the pressure to the bridge as this is where the string force is. The deflection is small, 3 lbs is the upper limit of what the strings provide. The deflection is proportional to the weight applied so you can press until you see a noticeable change. Even if someone does do this it would be hard to replicate the same force for every guitar. It would look strange to bring a hand weight or plate into a guitar store, but maybe a book. Either way this point isn't meant for novices and might be a stretch, but I thought it provided some good information.