Acoustic guitars are some of the best guitars for folk music. However, the bigger the guitar’s body is, the louder the sound, producing a well-balanced tone, unlike the dreadnoughts and jumbo-body guitars that tend to make a booming bass sound.
Folk music all started in the 1960s, when Bob Dylan gave birth to this rich genre that we know today. However, folk music has not been limited to traditional music; it has become more about the art of storytelling having musicians using big dreadnought and jumbo-sized instruments.
There are various kinds of acoustic guitars currently available on the market that can be used to play folk music. However, the size of a guitar has an impact on the sound the guitar produces.
Top 5 Best Guitars for Folk Music
Best Choice Products Acoustic-Electric Bass Guitar – Full Size, 4 String, Fretted Bass Guitar – Natural
Features
- Brand Best Choice Products
- Size Full
- Color Natural
- Back Material Type Basswood
- Finish Type Lacquered
- Item Weight 7.15 Pounds
- Operation Mode Acoustic, Electric
- Number of Strings 4
- Instrument Acoustic-Electric Bass Guitar
- Item Dimensions LxWxH 45.5 x 18.3 x 49 inches
The Best Choice Products guitar is equipped with a 4-band EQ-7545R guitar preamp to produce high-quality sound for both beginners and pros. Moreover, the guitar is one of the best guitars for folk music. It delivers rich, resonant sound, and the wood composition has a beautiful sound. It is also great for unplugged jam sessions or performances.
However, the guitar also features built-in volume control, middle, treble and presence, and a 4-band equalizer adjust bass.
Pros
- Chrome die-cast tuners
- Crafted with an attractive inlay
- Ready out of the box
Cons
- Some customers feel that the tuner is cheap.
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Tanglewood TW2T Mahogany Travel Size Acoustic Guitar Bundle with Gig Bag, Clip-on Tuner, Strap, Strings, Picks, Austin Bazaar Instructional DVD. And Polishing Cloth
Features
- Brand Tanglewood Guitars
- Top Material Type Mahogany
- Body Material Mahogany
- Back Material Type Mahogany
- Neck Material Type Mahogany
- Fretboard Material Type Techwood
- String Material Type Phosphor Bronze
- Hand Orientation Right
- Number of Strings 6
The Tanglewood TW2T Mahogany guitar is excellent for folk music. However, the guitar features a Mahogany top, Mahogany back, Mahogany sides, and Mahogany neck.
Moreover, the guitar features a Pau Ferro Bridge and chrome die-cast machine heads and tech wood fingerboard. It also comes with a gig bag, clip-on tuner, Austin bazaar instructional DVD, strap, strings, picks and polishing cloth.
Pros
- Chrome die-cast machine heads
- Techwood fingerboard
- Attractive design
Cons
- You may need to tune the guitar since it often frequently goes out of tune.
Orangewood 6 String Acoustic Guitar, Right, Mahogany (OW-DANA-M-AK)
Features
- Brand Orangewood
- Color Mahogany
- Top Material Type Mahogany
- Body Material Mahogany
- Back Material Type Mahogany Wood
- Neck Material Type Mahogany
- Fretboard Material Type Mahogany
- String Material Type Bronze
- Hand Orientation Right
- Guitar Bridge System Fixed Bridge
The Orangewood 6 String Acoustic Guitar is a mini-concert shape acoustic guitar perfect for travellers and smaller hands. It features a quality layered spruce or mahogany top, back and sides. Moreover, it features a well-padded gig bag, a strap, tuner, polishing cloth, capo, picks, string winder, and chord chart.
Pros
- Right out of the box
- Easy to play
- Value for money
Cons
- There may be a need for you to change the tuner over time.
Jasmine S34C NEX Acoustic Guitar, Natural
Features
- Brand Jasmine
- Color Natural
- Top Material Type Spruce
- Body Material Rosewood
- Back Material Type Nato
- Neck Material Type Mahogany
- Fretboard Material Type Rosewood
- Guitar Pickup Configuration Combination
- String Material Type Steel
- Hand Orientation Right
The Jasmine S34C NEX Acoustic guitar is one of the best guitars for folk music. The guitar produces a warm, resonant sound, and the wood composition has a lovely sound. However, the guitar features a Spruce top, Sapele back, Sapele sides, Mahogany neck and Rosewood fingerboard.
Pros
- Quality materials
- Firm and study
- Easy to play
Cons
- There may be a need for you to change the tuner overtime
- Not great for professionals.
Alvarez Artist Series AD60 Dreadnought Guitar, Natural/Gloss Finish
Features
- Brand Alvarez
- Size Bass
- Item Dimensions LxWxH 46.1 x 4.8 x 17.3 inches
- Top Material Type Spruce
- Back Material Type Mahogany
- Item Weight 8 Pounds
- Number of Strings 6
The Alvarez AB60CE features a solid ‘A’ grade Sitka spruce and cedar tops carefully selected from quarter-sawn wood. However, the guitar produces a warm sound, open and powerful, and both the treble and bass registers are well present and balanced in relation to each other.
Its featured components include our FST2M bracing system, natural bone nut, bi-level bridge, and superb quality tonewoods. However, the acoustic electrics feature the SYS550 designed by B-BAND, a pro-level EQ and pick up that produces excellent sound from the guitar with great clarity.
Pros
- Chromatic digital tuner
- Quality construction
- Advanced bracing system
What Makes a Folk Style Guitar?
Acoustic guitars with flat-tops are most preferred for playing folk music. A guitar that has rich bass, the balanced tone is perfect for folk. On the other hand, acoustic guitars must have the above attributes to produce an authentic folk sound for fingerpicking and fingerstyle.
Which Acoustic Guitar Body Size is Best For Me?
There are various acoustic guitars currently available on the market. They all come in multiple shapes and sizes. The most popular ones are the Dreadnought, Parlor, Grand Auditorium, among others.
However, these different guitar styles bring their characteristics to the table, so consider their other features before purchasing the best acoustic guitar for you. Moreover, the bigger the acoustic guitar, the bigger sound it produces. On the other hand, the smaller the guitar, the tighter and more focused sound the guitar makes.
However, Dreadnought and Jumbo guitars deliver deeper sound and increased bottom end due to their hollow body sizes. These two guitars are the favourite guitar of some legendary solo singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash and Sheryl Crow.
Moreover, this massive sound the guitar produces can get lost in a band situation though; and the increased volume can make up for the lack of full-band accompaniment.
A small-bodied guitar like the Grand Auditorium, ‘000’ or Parlor is more suitable if performed with a band. Nevertheless, the size of a guitar affects the tone and how comfortable you feel while playing the guitar.
So, If you are more comfortable playing, do not hesitate to purchase it; on the other hand, if you feel more comfortable with a more prominent guitar, go for it. Your comfort matters a lot when playing.
What is the Best Wood for an Acoustic Guitar?
There is no best wood to make an acoustic guitar, as the tone we like is entirely subjective. However, some woods tend to resonate more than others, and some combinations work great together. These tend to be the favourite when it comes to building an acoustic guitar.
The unique combination of a spruce top and Mahogany back, neck and sides are popular among luthiers. However, how Mahogany and spruce interact with each other produces a well-rounded tone—the spruce making a lot of brightness that pops out your style and cut through the mix.
On the other hand, the Mahogany adds a dash of low-end resonance to the spruce brightness, and that’s what brings balance and perfection when playing. However, most acoustic guitar tops are made from pale woods, such as spruce and Mahogany.
When there was a Great Depression of the late ’20s and ’30s, Martin decided to make affordable guitars to stay afloat. To do this, firstly, the ’15’ series was introduced, which features the tops, the back and the side, all of which are made of solid Mahogany.
This idea saved Martin company, and it also created a guitar that produced an excellent tone. However, as expected, it does not give the bright punchiness that spruce makes; it provides a calm, woody mid-range tone that has gained popularity in more recent years.
Acoustic Guitar Hardware
Acoustic guitars have little hardware. However, the hardware has a lot of effect on the tone of your guitar. If you think about it, an acoustic guitar produces its tone through vibrating. However, having a good bridge or a nice set of tuners will make it easy for your guitar to resonate or vibrate freely.
You are looking at a bridge, for example. The bridge is the only point of contact between the top of your guitar and the strings. However, guitar manufacturers ensure that the bridge does not inhibit your guitar’s resonance more than it needs to.
Moreover, the material used to produce your bridge also has a significant impact on the tone of your guitar. For example, having bridges made of mahogany or rosewood sound a little warmer.
It is a fact that the quality of your guitar hardware would increase as you increase your price bracket. However, if you spend more money to purchase a guitar, there would be an improvement in the quality of the materials used to produce the guitar or the stability of the tuners.
Pickups and electronics
An acoustic guitar pickup works in various ways, and the under-saddle piezo pickups are the most popular guitar pickups. These pickups collect the string vibrations through the saddle and send the tone produced to the output jack.
However, your pickup quality matters as a cheap pickup can sound brittle and spiky, while the pickup detects vibrations where the string tension is pretty tight.
The magnetic soundhole is another type of pickup. The magnetic soundhole pickup works like an electric guitar pickup, creating a magnetic field that captures the strings’ vibrations and then passes the vibration to the output jack and into your amp.
However, if you use percussive techniques while playing, the soundboard transducer pickup is a great choice. These pickups can be fixed anywhere inside or on the body of your guitar, picking up more vibrations than other types of pickups.
Nevertheless, there may be a need for you to EQ tweak more often on your amp to get the right sound. However, it is worth it if your playing style requires one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Folk Style Guitar?
A folk-sized guitar is carefully sized and shaped to produce a balanced sound. On the other hand, guitars like dreadnoughts and jumbo-body have a more booming bass sound. However, the best folk guitar for you is the guitar that sounds and feels the best to you.
What Strings are Best for Folk Music?
Martin “silk and steel” strings. These strings are carefully designed to soften the steel-string guitar’s tone and feel, making the guitar more applicable to folk guitar.
Is an Acoustic Guitar the Same as a Folk Guitar?
Folk guitars usually have a more soft sound than acoustic guitars. This is because folk strings are pretty thinner than acoustic strings. The body of the folk guitar is smaller than the acoustic one, making its ability to emit sound more limited.
Do all Acoustic Guitars Sound the Same?
Acoustic guitars are shaped in different ways. However, the shape of a guitar has a significant impact on the sound of the guitar.
Conclusion
In today’s world, folk acoustic guitars feature an endless variety of brands and models to suit individuals’ different tastes and budgets. However, some acoustic guitars have a different shape, thereby producing a different sound, allowing foreign players to play and enjoy folk music in their separate ways.
Whether you’re a beginner, intermediate, or a professional at playing the guitar, shopping for quality guitars for folk music is quite challenging and time-consuming if you do not have the correct information. However, this could be a worthwhile venture if you buy the best guitars for folk music, either yourself or someone else.
However, we’ve believed with the help of our review article above, and you will be able to get the best guitars for folk music with little or no stress.
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