Best guitar type for singers

[musicman1951]

RalphH is on the money, it really depends.

My son-in-law is a tenor soloist in demand in the area. He would need an exceedingly loud guitar. You want a completely different sound - and side and back wood selection is not going to get you there.

A dred has the bass you'd probably like, and volume you'd probably hate. You really want to go to your local shop and sing with as many guitars as they have anywhere near your price range. Maybe they won't have your ideal guitar in stock that day, but you'll get a very good idea of what works for you and what doesn't.

[Tiguarist]

Originally Posted by Coler

If you're at a point where the choice of the back and side material is going to impact on overall sound (singing and playing) you're a very accomplished guitarist and a bloody decent singer (I'm not suggesting you arnn
't).

I would advise you play a whole of guitars, and if the interaction with your singing.voice does matter so precisely... break out your vocals while you do.

Are you playing and singing amped & mic'd? Because that's a whole other set of variables.

I understand what you mean, im neither a very accomplished guitarist nor singer, however, i have a pretty neat idea of what im looking for in term of sound, i just can't really describe it, and im just trying to decipher the reasons why a guitar have it or not rather than asking for "a guitar model good for singing". I have to say you all are very helpful so far, thanks !

"Are you playing and singing amped & mic'd? Because that's a whole other set of variables." Im looking for a fitting pure acoustic sound atm, ill look into amps later, as far as i know i could as well put distortion and play metal on an acoustic guitar with the right amp, so i'll just look into that later xD

[Richard_H]

You can get a Fender CJ-290SCE, like the one I have, but the Piezo pickup was unstable - it seemed to compress over time.

I replaced it with a Piezo from GFS and it's turned out great, but you really need it to be replaced by a professional - disassembling, resoldering and reassembling the preamp was very difficult, and the bridge thru hole had to be filed a bit before the new pickup would pass thru.

I also use a Behringer ADI25 which improves the sound a whole lot.

[phavriluk]

I think the most valuable advice so far is that which tells OP to go forth and test-drive some guitars in his financial comfort zone, and those which are most suitable to whatever electronics he wants, if any. And it all matters. And I can not think of how I could offer guitar 'x' as an answer to OP's hopes in an online conversation. Way too many variables.

[il Pirati]

Yamaha FS850. Mahogany top, very affordable, looks great, easy to sell later on. Should be perfect to test the steel string waters, and will sound great with most voices. Should be well under $500.

[seannx]

It depends is good advice. You want a sound that supports rather than competes with your voice. If you have the option to demo guitars in person, try a variety of them, record yourself singing and playing, and then listen back on good quality earbuds.

[RalphH]

I will also add this to my "it depends" answer, just to muddy the waters even further;

Even string selection can make a difference; my GS Mini came with Elixirs, which are pretty bright strings. Moving to Martin Monel (I wonder if uncle Bob would hate me putting Martin strings on a Taylor lol) really mellowed out the tone of my mini and made it a better fit for my voice.

So yes, it depends. It depends on a lot of things. I had no intention of singing when I bought the GS mini; I just bought a guitar that I liked the sound of. Much later when I started trying to sing with it, I discovered we had a problem, hence my advice of go sing with a bunch of guitars.

[Mike McLenison]

Depending on the size of the venue, I would keep the classical and just invest in a good mic. I like Heil Sound's P-35's.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by Tiguarist

I'm a singer and i'm actually playing on an old classical guitar to accompany myself, i'd like to buy a folk guitar around 500$ and i'm interested in your thoughts on what back and side material is generally best for vocals? (soft sound with low mids and rich basses).

Thanks !

I guess it would depend on how good of a singer you were. Possibly a vintage Ditson?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmEN70kwI5c

Now that I've had my fun, you might consider a smaller all mahogany guitar. In your price range the Guild M-120 might work well.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFJAhxTbhZg

I have a 00 all hog with a K&K Pure Mini that works really well as a live performance acoustic.

[mercy]

There are many guitars that are good for singers but Gibsons are perfect. Its there but not in the way of the singer like Taylor's are. We have two extremes here.

[foxyloxy]

I agree with those who say " Try lots of guitars" A big guitar will generally sound more bassy, and heavy gauge strings too. Steel strings are brighter so consider a classical guitar with gut strings. I'd also recommend to buy used, you'll get a better guitar for the money, and the sound of many good guitars improves with age. I don't regard the wood used as important, trust your ear to decide which guitar makes the best sound.

[Goat Mick]

For my voice a 000 size mahogany back or all mahogany guitar works best. Rosewood backs just don't work that well for me because of the overtones. That being said, this is what works for my voice and your voice is probably different. Or not...

[Br1ck]

It depends is truly the answer. What style of player are you? Do you want a wall of sound behind your voice? A rosewood dread like my D 35 can fill up a lot of sonic space and sound great for 70s Eagles, Jackson Brown, Neil Young style numbers. My Texan has a much drier tone that you can play busy single note fills with clarity, and bass lines stand out while mids don't have the rosewood overtones to muddy things up, and you can slam bass notes while palm muting for that Johnny Cash freight train style. My Guild D 35 sits nicely in the middle as a Jack of all trades. My 00 15 can handle the most aggressive rhythm parts with total clarity, while handling depression era songs with an authentic rootsy vibe.

Pick one for most of my originals and the Texan wins, but having them all is a joy.

[LindaW]

Originally Posted by MBee

I have a small body spruce/mahogany, that is direct, clear, very balanced, and with lots of sustain. I find this works really well for my voice. I recently had the chance to use a larger body Stonebridge cedar/rosewood. Wonderful guitar, sort of lush sounding, with overtones and more pronounced bass. I actually found that it didn't work as well to accompany my singing.

So the choice of guitar may depend on your voice, style of singing, type of material that you're singing, and ultimately, what sounds good to you. If you can, it would be best to try a few, and get a sense of what's going to work for you.

This is my vote.

[bufflehead]

Originally Posted by Goat Mick

Rosewood backs just don't work that well for me because of the overtones.

Same here. The best complement for my voice is mahogany. I would probably take to rosewood if I were an instrumentalist, but I'm singer, and I don't want the guitar competing with me.

It's a very personal thing, I think, that depends as much on your voice as on your approach to music. I would never accompany myself with at Taylor guitar because the brightness just doesn't work for me, but there are a lot of Taylor folks who find that level of brightness essential to their acts. Similarly, Gibson acoustics work really well for a lot of singers, but no so much for me. I enjoy listening to Gibsons as long as someone else is playing them.

There's a guitar out there that will work the best for you. The fun part is finding it.