Acoustic guitar dreadnought: creation history, features, analogues

At rock concerts, musicians famously deduce solo parts on electric guitars, and in the courtyard youth in the late evening wakes up neighbors by chords of "Stars called" Sun "to the accompaniment of acoustic. Such a classification of a musical instrument beloved by many is most common among the uninitiated. However, everything is not so simple. If a person wants to connect with the world of music or just wants to expand their horizons, it would be nice to begin to understand the types of guitars. In this case, we are talking about acoustic, and the most famous among them is the guitar dreadnought.

The first of its kind

Classical and variety are the two most important subspecies of acoustic guitars. What are they different? First of all - the neck and strings. "Classic" is also called "Spaniard", because its homeland is the same-name southern country. Already in the XVIII century it had its own recognizable appearance and form. "Classic" is a guitar with a wide neck, made entirely of wood, which is one of its main differences. The second are strings - they are nylon. It is with her that you should start a musician who is just beginning to get acquainted with the instrument. Classical guitar prefers fingers, not a mediator.

Source materials

For the production of "classics" the same wood species are used as for other acoustic guitars. For some, more durable and heavy, for others - lighter. And not only the usual, but also exotic. And in recent years the guitar with the synthetic case, based on carbon plastic, epoxy and other resins, is gaining popularity. However, wood is still a more familiar material for this tool. For example, the top deck is made of spruce, which gives a loud, sharp, bright sound, but the cedar, in turn, is used to obtain a more gentle, soft, enveloping sound. Rosewood, mahogany or maple are suitable for the back wall, as well as the sides, which give a deep, soft or sharp sound, respectively. For the neck can be used several types of wood in several layers.

It is necessary to make louder

In the beginning of the last century, in particular, in the United States, new musical directions began to appear, such as jazz, country and others. In this connection, it became necessary to make the guitar sound more visible, so that it would stand out against the background of other instruments. For a single performer, a classical guitar could remain an ideal option, but in the team it needed something more. The stage required a loud sound. So the variety or folk guitar was invented. But since there were a lot of directions in music, for each of them the version of the instrument was gradually chosen. What are they different about?

How did the first guitar dreadnought?

The man who came up with how to make the guitar louder was called Christopher Frederick Martin. He thought about this question as far back as 1883. His idea was metal strings for guitar, but the standard wooden neck of the "classic" simply could not withstand their tension. Martin started with the guitar springs and arranged them crosswise. This move greatly strengthened the top deck, it became more rigid. But the most important achievement, which was overcome by a strong tension of the strings of metal, was an anchor bolt, with which the neck was attached to the enlarged body. Christopher would be the first who invented this kind of guitar and founded the now world-famous firm Martin.

Distinctive features

The most popular since the 1920s and up to now is the guitar dreadnought, which differs in its massive and heavy body, more "rectangular" because of its wide "waist". This form provides a loud sound and distinct basses. The neck is narrower, it is thinner than the "classics". It is often called a western guitar. The purpose of its creation was accompaniment in folk and jazz collectives, later it often sounded at concerts of country and popular variety music, and already in the middle of the century it was performed by acoustic blues. And even later, the guitar dreadnought became the favorite of the bards and settled down on household gatherings and "apartments". In the manufacture of this guitar emphasis primarily on strength and reliability, as the tension of the strings in it is very strong. For the same reason, they play on this instrument only with a mediator, and the upper deck is protected by a special overlay - a drop.

Analogues: similarities and differences

Musicians are demanding and resourceful people, they do not stop improving their instruments in order to get this or that sound. So there were other species.

Acoustic guitar dreadnought for 12 strings - an option for true professionals and virtuosos. The strings are arranged in pairs tuned to one note, with the first two pairs sounding in one octave, and the further ones differ by one octave. This kind can boast of the richest timbre.

In order for the musician to be able to take a higher harmony, another version was invented - with a cutout. Such a guitar dreadnought loses a bit at low frequencies due to the reduction in volume.

Another variant of western guitars is jumbo and superjambo (from the word "huge"). In fact, they differ from dreadnoughts only by a narrower "waist".

But parlor is much smaller in size than all previous species, it has a wider neck and prefers fingers to a mediator, like "classic", although the strings for the guitar are metallic, and not synthetic, like the Spanish. The name "parlor" went from the word "living room", which in itself speaks about the appointment of this tool, which is more suitable for small rooms. Its balanced sound is not drowned out by unnecessary bass in a cozy home environment.