Playing Different Guitars - Helps or Hinders Long-term Improvement?

[davidbeinct]

I have two guitars that are similar in a lot of ways. 12-fret 00s with mahogany back and sides. My Alvarez has a mahogany top. The two big differences when I’m playing them are neck shape and string spacing at the bridge. The Waterloo has a chunkier neck and wider spacing at the bridge.
When I go between them there’s always an adjustment. I feel it especially in the neck. I’m getting better at coping with the string spacing difference but the neck is funny. It’s like when I play one for a while and then switch I’m like “yeah, that’s the way a neck should feel!” It doesn’t seem to matter which way I go either.
Am I dithering too much? I’m unsure if this is slowing my progress down but it feels like maybe it is.

[jklotz]

I don't think so. It's just part of playing guitar. Different guitars will always feel different. After a while, the adjustment period will most likely get shorter.

[Mandobart]

Helps a lot. I really started progressing in guitar and fiddle when I started playing mandolin. I'm regularly playing my Martin HD-28, an Eastman arch top, a 12 fret round neck spider cone wood body resonator, a 12 fret Ovation 12 string and a gypsy jazz Sel-Mac copy.

Then there's the resonator mandolin, the banjolin, F4 and F5, an A4 mandola, my mandocello, octave mandolin, 5 fiddles, tenor ukulele....

For me it's cross training and never a boring routine.

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by davidbeinct

I have two guitars that are similar in a lot of ways. 12-fret 00s with mahogany back and sides. My Alvarez has a mahogany top. The two big differences when I’m playing them are neck shape and string spacing at the bridge. The Waterloo has a chunkier neck and wider spacing at the bridge.
When I go between them there’s always an adjustment. I feel it especially in the neck. I’m getting better at coping with the string spacing difference but the neck is funny. It’s like when I play one for a while and then switch I’m like “yeah, that’s the way a neck should feel!” It doesn’t seem to matter which way I go either.
Am I dithering too much? I’m unsure if this is slowing my progress down but it feels like maybe it is.

This is actually quite a complex subject - so I'm going to say "it depends". If I was your sports coach then we'd look at outcomes, i.e. what is the outcome we are practicing for going to look like in the real world, and does that outcome have ambiguity or is it constant. If it has ambiguity then you need varied practice. The downside is that it takes a little longer to learn a skill; the upside is that you can perform that skill in different situations.

So if you are practicing for a gig, and you are going to use a specific guitar for that gig, then you would practice on that guitar. But if your goal is to enjoy playing both your guitars, or if you may use both at a gig or even perhaps the "house" guitar, then you should practice on both. Simples!

[JonPR]

I'll make just one observation.

Influential fingerstyle hero Bert Jansch ("The Hendrix of the acoustic guitar" - Neil Young) began on a DIY mail order guitar as a teenager. By all accounts it was a really bad guitar (he could just about play a D chord on it).
The first real guitar he bought (aged 16) was stolen after a few months. With payments still to be made on that one, he couldn't afford another.
For the next six years or so (1960-66) he played nothing but borrowed guitars, often a different one for every gig, whatever happened to be available. That includes his seminal debut album (recorded on two borrowed Martins), and two albums after that.

Those multiple guitars - no doubt hugely varying in quality - didn't seem to do him any harm....

In short, you can get way too fussy about your instrument. You could argue that the worse the guitar is - the harder it is to play - the better it is for your progress. It's boot camp! I wouldn't go that far myself, because I think any guitar should be properly set up to be as easy to play as possible. I don't think there is any sense in making things tough for the sake of it. If a guitar feels good to play, you will play it for longer, which is how you improve faster.

[rllink]

Keith Richards says that if you want to get better on the electric guitar practice on an acoustic guitar.

[Tannin]

^ I've been practicing the acoustic guitar for 50 years, and I'm still a truly awful electric player. Sorry Keef.

[Mbroady]

I say play any and every guitar you can get your hands on. Differences in tone, action, and reaction can give insight on how ones technique could/should change (hopefully) to bring out the best on a specific guitar. The most apparent is nylon string vs steel string. But it applies to great vs ok guitars. It will also help define what qualities in a guitar works best for a player.

[AcouStickistNS]

I play different guitars as well as different instruments. A few years back I had an hour long lesson with a very skilled multi-instrumentalist on how to train yourself to switch instruments instantly without having to warm up to adjust. This guy could switch from upright bass to bass, acoustic guitar, electric, and piano effortlessly.

What he showed me was somewhat what I learned in 4-6th grade playing clarinet. Play a two octave or more arpeggio starting at the low end of the neck, on the sixth string working your way up to the first string then come back down. Shift a few frets up and repeat, keep shifting up this pattern until you cover the whole range of your guitar. Now repeat this with your other guitar.

The arpeggio pattern went 1-3-2-4-3-5-4-6-5-7-6-8 etc on a major scale. You can try other patterns too, just avoid playing scales. Need to work chord patterns in order to work your hands an fingers. Practice this for a couple of weeks and both guitars should feel normal.

[Methos1979]

This is not the way I thought this thread was going to go! From the title, I thought the question was more going to be along the lines of, "Am I not improving as much as I should because I spend all my time looking for the perfect guitar instead of just playing the heck out of the guitar I have?" For me, this would definitely be the case! If I had spent as much time practicing and playing as I have surfing here on AGF and buying/selling/trading guitars I'd be SO much better. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed every bit of it and I've played/owned some incredible guitars. And I've also managed to improve a fair amount along the way. While I'm by no means all that great, I do have an acoustic duo with my wife and we get paid to play out. So that alone means I'm already better than I thought I would ever be.

As to the OP's question, I don't think so. At least not for me. If anything, changing back and forth between two guitars with different neck shapes and string spacings is good exercise. I used to think I could only play certain size guitars with certain scale lengths, neck shapes and string spacings. And then I realized that while I certainly have preferences, I can (and do) pretty much play anything. I can acclimate to any guitar in a relatively short amount of time. Neck shape used to be the one thing I felt most unable to overcome but now it's just about the easiest. The only thing that I don't like is long scale guitars. But even that can be overcome if need be. But note that it also took me a good ten years to get to this realization.

[Gordon Currie]

Since the OP used the phrase 'long-term,' my opinion (and experience) is that switching guitars or even instruments generally has a super positive effect over time.

Anything you can do to lessen dependence on a particular guitar is beneficial. It's fine to have a favorite, but it is too easy to find that you can only play a specific song on a specific guitar.

I believe there is a strong psychological component to being able to play the same thing on many different guitars. YOU are in control of the tool, instead of the other way around.

[bendandsnap]

For me, I own multiple guitars and it slows my progress when I switch back and forth frequently. I enjoy playing different instruments, but I typically stick to one for a period of time. It just takes a little longer for my fingers to adapt especially if I’m playing different scale lengths such as a full size then a shorter scale travel guitar. My fingers adapt and I can play both no problem, but sometimes it messes up my spacing and I get some buzzing or unclear notes.

[Glennwillow]

My own experience is that the better I got at playing the less small differences in neck shape, scale, or string spacing affected me. When the differences between guitars are extreme, it does take 5 minutes of so to get acclimated even after almost 60 years of playing.

For a new player, it might be better to stick with one instrument while learning if the two guitars are significantly different.

- Glenn

[Pnewsom]

It depends,

If a player is already accomplished technically, then theoretically it shouldn't be too difficult shifting between instruments. However, every guitar requires time to develop the muscle memory necessary to bring out the best in it. Similar neck profiles and scale lengths make things easier, but discovering the idiosyncrasies individual guitars takes time.

However, for a player in the early stages of develop still working on fundamental things like chords, scales, reading, etc., adding another instrument is not going to help in the short term. Quite often it can turn out to be a distraction.

[TBman]

I think in the long run, as others have pointed out, your skill overcomes the differences.

If someone is a relative beginner (not playing 5+years) though I would pick the guitar that is most comfortable to play and use that one for daily practice.