welcome back to p.m. TV UK the home of professional music technology on YouTube
I'm Sam, and I'm Meg and this is part 2 of our top 10 things to look for or not too
much about Meg as also this is our top 10 things to look for when buying an
acoustic guitar I just want to apologize for part 1 some of those same things
that weren't entirely factually correct but since then makes it on a way she's
had a little bit of a think about a life so hopefully we can pick it up for part
2 let's crack on with the video
number six make sure on acoustic guitar has poor tuning stability
everyone plays into so what's cool about that you need those outta tune chords to
really help you stand out from the crowd so why play a boring D major when you
could be playing a Q sharp minor we've added 11 par monocle and if you don't
really need to plane to a woman bother tuning up as mentioned earlier a sound
engineer can always fix it in the mix seriously Sam what kind of music do you
listen to this is complete nonsense of course you want your guitar to stay in
tune firstly always make sure that the tuning machine heads on a guitar are
good quality and aren't loose worn or slipping you may find that brand new
strings take a little while to bed in and hold their tuning you can always
give them a little stretch after fitting to speed this up next up you want to
make sure that the guitar stays in tune with itself as you play a chord moving
up the neck this is called the intonation an easy way to check for
accurate intonation is to play a harmonic at the 12th fret and then play
the string fretted at the same place both notes should be exactly the same
tuning if the fretted note is out of tune with the harmonic note then the
guitars intonation is out
on an electric guitar this can usually be adjusted because they have moveable
saddles but on an acoustic it's not very easy to adjust at all inaccurate
inclination means that the guitar will sound more out of tune depending on
different chords that you play even if the open strings are reading perfectly
in tune on a tuner and don't listen to what Sam said no amount of recording
studio magic can make an out-of-tune guitar sound any better number seven
always choose looks over sound and playability always by the blingiest
flashiest guitar that you can fancy inlays gold glitters and more the better
it will make sure that people know how good a guitarist you actually are and if
your guitar is pretty boring looking you can always jazz it up by painting it a
funky color or covering it in stickers
now there's nothing wrong with a bit of tasteful bling on the guitar just make
sure that you're not sacrificing good tone and playability for sparkly inlays
a funky color or eye catching graphic a lot of really cheap acoustics are
finished in bright colors or heavy lacquers to disguise the poor quality
finish of the woods this also really affects the tone a lot of better quality
acoustics only have a very thin layer of lacquer which allows the woods to
resonate even more delivering a much more complex tone and if you really care
about the sound of your guitar definitely don't cover it in stickers
like that idiot Sam suggested as this will only stiffen up the top and side
for your guitars natural voice number 8 does your acoustic guitar need to have a
pickup to be honest it doesn't really matter if you buy a guitar without a
pickup and want to play a gig that's a sound man's problem anyway if you do
want to add a pickup at a later date you can get one that just sticks onto the
body of your guitar for only a couple of quid on anybody problem solved
after market under the saddle pickup and preamp systems also really easy to fit
you don't need to be a professional luthier you just need a big powerful
drill a saw and a massive hammer
regardless of what sam says obviously he's a complete moron when choosing an
acoustic guitar it's really important to consider whether you're going to want to
plug into an amplifier or PA system at some point for gigging guitarists an
electro-acoustic is an absolute must as trying to make up an acoustic on stage
can be a bit of a nightmare an onboard pickup would deliver a consistent tone
reduces feedback issues and allows you to move around freely on stage acoustic
guitars can come fitted with a few different types of pickup systems
including sound hole pickups transducer sensors and internal microphones but the
most common type is an under the saddle piezo pickup with preamp system most
half-decent preamps feature volume and tone controls and usually have the added
bonus of an onboard tuner I played enough gigs in my time to know
how the front-of-house sound can change from venue to venue so it's nice to be
able control some of the aspects of my
electro tone without having to rely solely on a sound engineer and yes it's
true there are a huge range of aftermarket pickup systems available but
they're not as simple to fit as sound would like to think usually it will
involve drilling or cutting a couple of holes into your brand-new guitar and
it's fitting and under subtle pickup the saddle will need filing down so the
guitars setup is not affected if you're not experienced in this kind of work I
definitely recommend taking your guitar to a professional luthier the simplest
option is to make the decision whether you need on-board electrics before
purchasing your guitar just remember though an electro-acoustic can be played
acoustically at any time you don't ever need to plug it in but the options
always there if you need it number nine steel or nylon strings what's the
difference honestly absolutely nothing I like to mix up steel and nylon strings
on my guitar and sometimes as a special treat I might throw on a bass guitar
string as well the truth is that any guitar string can be used on any type of
guitar all those different sets and gauges are strings that you see behind
the counter of your local guitar shop are just there to help us smug sales
guys they're more important when we pretend to know the difference
confusing you into buying more sets and making us more money you couldn't be
more wrong from besides the strings themselves the tone
and playing experiences offered by steel and nine islands are completely
different a steel strong acoustic guitar has more string tension and tends to
produce a louder brighter sound with a lot more sustain a nylon string guitar
has less string tension and produces a much mellower sound with less sustain
a lot of teachers suggest that beginners should start with a nylon string guitar
as the softer strings make it easier for sensitive fingers to press down the
strings and form chords for younger children buying 1/2 or 3/4 size guitar I
definitely recommend nylon strings but for teens and adults looking to start
playing you should also take into account the dimensions of the neck most
classical nylon string guitars have wider champion X that can make it more
challenging to form chords comfortably especially if you've got smaller hands a
well-made steel string acoustic will be set up in a way that's very comfortable
for beginners to play making it easier to form chords the choice between steel
and nylon strong really comes down to which tone you prefer and which style of
music you want to play steel and bronze acoustic strings are available in
different thicknesses or gauges heavier gauge strings tend to be harder to play
but deliver a louder fuller tone if you are struggling to play you're still
strong acoustic you can always fit and like to gauge sets of strings which
should make the fretting and bending a little easier on your fingers the
tension of the strings in relation to the gauge will differ depending on the
size or scale length of your guitar the scale length is the distance between the
nut and the bridge of a guitar a shorter scale usually means there will be less
string tension so strings will feel lighter to play and easier to bend bear
this in mind if you're buying a small travel sized guitar as you will usually
need to fit a slightly heavier gauge of string than you'd ordinarily use on your
full-sized acoustic finally number 10 always buy online without ever seeing or
playing the guitar it's always best to buy guitar online without actually
playing it preferably on ebay from a random seller based in China with zero
feedback you don't ever need to physically see or play a guitar before
you buy one they will look feel and sound the same seriously it's amazing
you can buy a real Fender acoustic guitar and eBay for less than 100 pounds
yes you might have to wait a couple of weeks
delivery is it gets shipped from China but that same guitar if bought from a
guitar shop such as professional music technology in the UK would cost well
over a thousand pounds if it says fender on the headstock it
must be a real fender right so by buying a guitar online you definitely always
get the cheapest price and you won't need to waste your time going into a
guitar shop when you could be getting on with much more important rock style
cliches like throwing TVs out windows or drinking until you pass out
seriously just ignore everything that Sam says good guitars aren't like
mass-produce TVs or iPhones every single one is completely unique even if the
differences may be very subtle every single piece of wood will have a
different grain which not only affects the way it looks but also has a knock-on
effect when it comes to the guitars tone it's really important to try and get to
play an acoustic guitar before making a purchase
you'll never know when you're going to pick up the perfect guitar for you of
course ordering online is very easy nowadays if you choose to go down this
route make sure to buy from an authorized dealer such as professional
music technology when you buy from us either online or in-store you'll have
the peace of mind that you're getting a genuine branded guitar plus if anything
does go wrong or you're unhappy with your purchase we've got a team of
experts - every one of our stores on hand to offer advice or any after sell
service that your new guitar might need and don't forget if you've seen it
cheaper from another uk-based dealer let us know we'll always try and be
competitive on price so thanks for watching that was our top 10 things not
to look for when buying an acoustic guitar obviously these videos have been
a little bit tongue-in-cheek so we hope you've enjoyed watching them as much as
we enjoyed making them to see our full range of acoustic guitars visit WWE on
line code UK and follow us on facebook facebook.com forward slash pnt house of
rock that is still pop into your local PMC I'm the acoustic specialist at PMT
Portsmouth there's someone like me on hand every store 7 days a week to give
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