Poster on choosing a guitar

GloopyJon

Ha, if it exists by then!  At the moment it's as mythical as the guitar shop, so they're a perfect fit

KungFuPro

Scale length would be a good talking point. Younger learners with smaller hands might prefer a shorter 'Gibson' scale length, where as someone with larger hands or sausage fingers might get on better with a standard Fender 25.5". If they're feeling flush maybe a 25" PRS .

Number of frets too, 24th fret is rarely used but it gives more space around the cutaway to play higher frets, new players are likely to dislocate their thumb trying to bend the last/22nd fret on a Les Paul. Conversation for standard heel vs modern contoured set-necks or neck-thru's right there.

Just to add to neck comfort, fretboard radius is something to consider. Strat/tele style guitars usually have a smaller radius which feel more comfortable for chords. Then you've got wider12-16" Ibanez/Jacksons which are aimed more at lead/technical players. I'm not a fan of the term shredding, Django Reinhardt 'was a shredder' back in the 30s, just without the distortion.

Fast playing and feeling are not mutually exclusive, if I was to open a guitar shop I would have that banner above the store.

Back to neck comfort, a compound radius is the best of both worlds, something a new guitarist shouldn't have to worry about, but another talking point if the potential customer has never heard of the term before.

GloopyJon

Thanks, those are some good points!  Scale length was in my head before I started but then I forgot about it

hyperfish

FWIW I think you have it back to front Jon.

Sound should be the first consideration. As you say, that's what it's all about.

i.e Can I sound like my hero/music genre, and then can I afford the same gear. If not go for similar.

Then that more or less negates many of the other points.

GloopyJon

I agree, and I was trying to build it up to the sound.  I think that I'll try to emphasise that at the design stage.

You've just given me a good idea for another poster, though.  "If you want to sound like XXX, you need A, B and C" - repeated several times for a bunch of popular guitarists.  All of the info is on the web, and that could also be a great series of posters!

GloopyJon

Yes, that's my choice even though I've got quite large fingers.  I should probably replace my avatar by a picture of my PRS instead, but I like that picture!

KungFuPro

Currently doing up a partscaster that has a 25" scale length neck, it's a nice middle ground between the main two.

I like Fender scale lengths for solos higher up the neck but find them a bit of a stretch for lead stuff lower down the fretboard. Gibson scale length feels more comfortable on the lower frets but a little crowded from 15th upwards, well, for my sausage fingers anyway.

GloopyJon

Thanks for all the comments so far, I've made a number of changes to the first poster.  In the meantime, I've had a first crack at poster number 2, which is about choosing an amplifier.  As before, all comments will be very much appreciated!

These posters have been made (in PowerPoint) at A3 size, but given the amount of text on them and the need to make them more attractive with some pictures & shop branding, I'd probably get them done in A2 in the end.  I think that designing the text to fit into A3 is reasonable at this stage, though.
                                                                       

AndrewH13

You have missed a reason why I didn't buy the Line 6 DT25. It's appearance. I thought it fugly especially because of its grill. Maybe not as crucial as for guitars, but for collectors of gear like us rather than live performers, it has quite a bearing.


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AndrewH13

PS, like the graduated light blue colour of the posters. Can't read all the detail easily on my phone at the moment so will have a look later on PC.


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