What do you do to test a guitar?

[Indyroamers]

Hello,

Ok beginner here. Exactly 1 year playing in. My 40th birthday is coming up at the end of the month and I've saved some money to buy a nice Electric-Acoustic. I read somewhere that you should test out the guitars higher up the neck before you buy. Well I'm embarrassed to say I'm not exactly sure what chords/fret placements to do that. I can strum chords down low but does anyone have advice on what you do to check out a new guitar?

I appreciate any input.

Thank you

[Von Beerhofen]

I'd normally play the chromatic scale on each string individually, going through all fretpositions playing single notes only.
This allows you to determine if there are any 'dead' spots or other anomalies in the sound you hear.
The higher positions will sound shorter and thicker strings even sound shorter still around the 12th fret. Important is that the guitar gives sufficient notelength when struck. Listen for volume differences between each string and position and check for stringbuzz (usually a sign of poor setup).
There shouldn't be too much overall tonedifference but higher up the neck the difference will be more audible.
There's a lot more to take into account though when assessing which guitar is better, most of it is personal preference but if you stick to well reputated brands it shouldn't be too hard to find the one you like best.

Ludwig

[billgennaro]

In a nutshell, I first play some really pretty chords, just strumming them once and letting them ring out until they disappear. Then I play snippets of my repertoire and see how the instrument handles that wide variety of songs. Then I'll play one or two particular songs from start to finish.

[Lacks Focus]

In addition to chromatic soundings you can play the first three strings in a D position all up and down the neck. You can also play the F barre position as well.

BTW, welcome. I'm in Indy myself.

One suggestion is to ask the salesperson to play the guitar for you while you listen. This serves the dual purpose of hearing the guitar as an audience would, while allowing you to listen for any buzzing or dead notes when he/she plays chords and notes up the neck.

You might also bring a capo, attach it at the 7th fret, and play your first position chords there to listen for any undesirable sounds.

Playing higher on the neck is always more difficult than playing lower on the neck, but it shouldn't be painful. One should be able to (more or less) comfortably play barre chords up to the 10th or so, even though the string height will be greater there. Too much height might indicate too much relief on the neck or too tall of a saddle.

You'll always do well to go to a shop that does more than just unpack guitars from their boxes and hang them on the wall. Smaller shops with less inventory turnover often take the time to address these sorts of concerns before they display them, reducing the likelihood of finding a problem.

Happy birthday!

[Br1ck]

Picking a new guitar is as much a learning curve as learning to play. At your stage the most useful thing is to find a good guitar shop. Hopefully there is one in your area. Having a teacher or very experienced friend is a plus too, but a good shop interested in a long term customer who will understand your needs, where you are and what your budget is, can help a bunch. A shop with predominantly high end merchandise will have filtered out the lesser quality guitars and what they have will be the best of the rest.

Buy the best you can afford. None of this I'm not good enough for an expensive guitar stuff.

Make that buy a better guitar than you can afford. Eventually it will cost out at .25 per hour.

We live in a golden age, so it is hard to find a truly awful guitar once you get to the all solid wood level. What no one else can tell you is if it feels right to you. You don't want to sit in an uncomfortable chair, so why buy a guitar that is uncomfortable to play? Learn something you can play without thinking about it, then go on autopilot and really listen. Do you like big and lush? Focused and warm?

If you haven't decided on a style you want to play yet, say so and get steered to something that will cover many bases.

Your ears are as good a judge as anyones. It is nice to have someone to point out what you are hearing as it relates to size and wood material. I'd start with a 000, then decide if your ears want bigger or smaller.

You want to pop open the case and smile. Looks matter. I like old and beat up, others like shiny and new with lots of bling. What do YOU like? The more you play the better you get. Bling and cheap = costs cut where it really matters.

You want to salivate on your way home because you have it waiting there.

Take a couple of hours off work and hit the guitar shop right after it opens on a weekday. Quiet environment , few customers= more attention given to you.

Buy more guitars. You will get better at it. Practice makes perfect

[jseth]

The main thing for me is "How does it FEEL..."; I will sit with it and play a few chords, let them ring a bit... then play some single note passages and double stops (pairs of notes struck simultaneously), up and down the fretboard... if I REALLY like the guitar, then I'll take a much closer look; at the neck, the body, the joinery, the finish...

If you aren't confident in your own ability to assess a new instrument, the best suggestion I can give you is to have a friend go with you; someone who knows more about guitars than you do... and let them check it out, as well.

Certainly, you can have a salesperson play it for you or check it out, but the truth is, I have rarely met a salesperson at a store who will give you an unbiased opinion (based on knowledge!) about a guitar that THEY want to sell to you! They are out there, just few and far between...

If the guitar cost $300 or more, I would ask for both new strings on the guitar and to have the guitar "set-up" for me, that is, adjusted so it plays smoothly and in tune all over the neck. Although you are a beginner and as such may not know yet what "your" set-up requirements may be, there is a standard place to begin with any guitar... If you're buying a guitar from Guitar Center or some "big box" store, getting the guitar set-up correctly may entail going to some where else to have the work done, as NOT all guitar techs are created equally...

[JohnnyDes]

I always make sure to bring a capo with me when trying out guitars. You can strum your normal chords way up the neck with a capo on. Some guitars choke up considerably with a capo on the 5th fret and higher, whereas others seem to handle it pretty well.

JD

[posternutbag]

Things I look for:
1) Strum some open chords. Is the tone generally pleasing?
2) Strum some open chords hard. Does the guitar overdrive and break up?
3) Play barre chords. Does the neck feel good? Does the action feel too high?
4) I put a tuner on the headstock and check intonation on all 6 strings on the first twelve frets. If the action is high, this can throw off intonation a little, that is OK, that can be fixed in setup. I am looking for major intonation problems.
5) Play a couple of tunes, usually Layla, Blackberry Blossom and Uncle John's Band. Those three tunes give me a lot of feedback about how a guitar feels and plays.

The most important thing to me, besides tone, is how the neck feels. I can usually tell immediately if a guitar is comfortable. There are a lot of problems with setup that are easily corrected by my guitar tech, and even tone can be changed, but uncomfortable necks and serious intonation issues are things I just can't abide.

[davidd]

First I sniff the sound hole. Then I grab the neck and cop a feel up and down. Play some nice cowboy chords. Play some licks up and down. Check the action and neck angle. Hold it out in front of me and see how purdy it is and then decide.

[Archtop Guy]

Usually I just buy it.

[JJO]

You can also do the 12th fret vs 12 fret harmonic test to look for any major intonation issues. On higher-end guitars, this should almost never be an issue, but on cheap ones, you might catch some problems that would make a difference.

[Flgatorgirl]

Originally Posted by Br1ck

You want to salivate on your way home because you have it waiting there.

Br1ck, everything you said was right on, but this brought a tear to my eye and a grin to my face. Time to go salivate...

Finger a D chord and move it progressively up the neck hitting just those first three strings. Pause at a few random frets and listen intently, then continue. A scowl would help. It doesn't matter if you don't know what you're doing. I don't.

[Dru Edwards]

Hi Indy, Welcome to the AGF. It's nothing to be embarrassed about. Lots of good advice above.

I'll add that the guitar should feel comfortable and you should like the tone. Structurally, I shake the guitar very lightly, and carefully, just to make sure I don't hear any rattle.