Guide: Guitars & Basses

Buying advice, technical background, and care tips for electric, acoustic, and classical guitars, bass guitars, and amplifiers.

Classical Guitar

Buying a Used Classical Guitar: What to Check

How to judge a used classical guitar: price and depreciation, inspection order, top, bridge, neck and frets, crack types, climate damage, repair costs, negotiation and red flags.

Bass Guitar

Precision Bass vs. Jazz Bass: Comparing the Classic Body Styles

How the Precision Bass and Jazz Bass differ in history, pickups, sound, neck width, body and price, plus PJ hybrids, used-market checks, myths and a P-or-J decision guide.

Bass Guitar

Active vs. Passive Electronics: How They Differ in Sound

How active and passive bass electronics differ in tone, output, battery and cost, with tips for buying used and choosing.

Bass Guitar

4-String vs. 5-String: What Beginners Actually Need

A buyer's guide for first basses: 4, 5 or 6 strings, short to extra-long scale, neck width, tuning, costs new and used, mistakes, myths and which bass suits whom.

Bass Guitar

Buying a Used Bass Guitar: What to Check

How to buy a used electric bass: where to look, rough prices, neck, frets, body and electronics checks, counterfeits, test-playing, setup basics, negotiating and shipping risks.

Acoustic Guitar

Acoustic Guitar Body Shapes: Dreadnought, Concert, Jumbo and More Compared

How dreadnought, grand auditorium, concert, parlor and jumbo bodies differ in size, scale length, tone and comfort, how to pick the right one and how to check action, intonation and tuning yourself.

Acoustic Guitar

Acoustic Guitar Tonewoods: Spruce, Cedar, Rosewood, Mahogany and Solid vs. Laminate

What top, back and side woods really do to an acoustic guitar's sound, how solid, solid-top and laminate construction differ, how to compare and care for woods, and what rosewood regulations mean for used buyers.