Stringed instruments are one of the most versatile class of instruments, guitars being a part of it. Guitars are one of the most well-known instruments around the world. Not only is guitar one of the most used instruments in music, but its tone and sound can change drastically. The guitar has two different types, acoustic/classical and electric. Which one is better?

Acoustic guitars are typically in the “standard” tuning (EADGBe) and typically use steel-wound strings (classical guitars do half steel, half nylon.) Acoustic guitars have a “clean” tone, meaning that it doesn’t use any effects to change its sound. The acoustic guitar is used in many genres, including pop, country, rock, metal, jazz, etc. Which makes the instrument versatile and well recognized. The pro’s for acoustic guitars include: acoustic pickups (the hole in the body), distinct tone, and being a good starter instrument. The con’s for acoustic guitars include: Unable to be modified much, tone generally stays the same, and It’s unable to learn songs that require, the electric guitar.

Several Acoustic Guitars

This brings us to electric guitars. The big thing that’s changed from acoustic guitars is that there is no hole in the body (excluding semi-hollow and hollow guitars.) The electric guitar is used more in music compared to its acoustic variant, being in pop music, rock music, metal music, rap music, jazz, etc. Unlike the acoustic guitar, electric guitars use many variants of tunings, some being : E Standard (EADGBe), D, Standard (DGCFAD), Drop D (DADGBe, Drop C (CGCFAD), Drop B (BF#BEG#C#.) Even so, the electric guitar can be hated by many people because of its main use, distortion. Lots of metal songs and many rock solos use guitar distortion to make it have a unique sound, and to let you play faster. The pros of electric guitar include: Many sound variants, being able to be modified, and you can learn famous songs because most songs use electric guitar. The cons for electric guitar include: Pricey compared to acoustics (Typically a low-grade professional guitar goes for $500), requires gear to fully function (cables, amplifiers, guitar picks, etc.) And it is very heavy compared to acoustic guitars.

The Electric Guitar with various pedals used.

Overall, the pros of the electric guitar definitely outweigh the pros of acoustic guitars, being able to be modified significantly (pick-ups, tuners, etc.) have the ability to use effects like “chorus”, “delay”, or “reverb”, and also use distortion or clean tone. These feature make the acoustic guitar less and less of an ideal choice on songs. But in the end, both instruments are amazing and are used for different purposes, it just depends on what you’re using it for.