In this article, we will study the best Fingerpicking Guitars Guide. The best guitars for fingerpicking and fingerstyle have a smaller body, a wider than normal fingerboard, are highly sensitive, project individual notes with great clarity, and have a balanced sound that is neither too bright nor too bassy.
What Is Fingerpicking Guitars and How Does It Work?
In this fingerpicking guitars guide, we will learn what fingerpicking is? Are you looking for a new guitar and prefer to play with your fingers rather than a pick? We’ll break down the response above in more depth in the following post, explaining why certain guitars are better suited to fingerpicking than others and letting you know exactly what to look for when narrowing down your new guitar choices. This includes the most appropriate sizes and forms, as well as the woods used in building and other characteristics.
However, bear in mind that while some types of wood, body shape, and size are more generally associated with fingerpicking than others, the tone of your guitar is influenced by a variety of factors. That involves things like how you play the guitar, such as whether you use a thumb pick or your fingers’ flesh.
Are the strings you’re using vibrant or dark sounding? The space you’re playing in, as well as a thousand other factors. So, use the information below as a guide, but remember that nothing beats your own ears and musical preferences.
What Is The Difference Between Fingerpicking And Fingerstyle?
Before we go any further, let’s clear up a common misunderstanding about finger style and fingerpicking. Let’s Talk about the Differences Between Fingerpicking And Fingerstyle.
When referring to your local music shop, for example, these words are often used interchangeably, which may lead to you getting incorrect advice.
Guitarists use either a pick (flat picking) or their fingers in the majority of types and approaches to the instrument (fingerstyle). As a consequence, fingerstyle covers a diverse variety of styles, including classical guitar and jazz, to name a few.
As a result, there is no such thing as the best fingerstyle guitar since the word encompasses far too many genres.
Fingerpicking, on the other hand, is a subset of fingerstyle guitar that incorporates an alternating bass pattern played with the thumb while the fingers provide the melody on the treble strings (much as ‘car’ is a subset of ‘vehicle’).
A thumb pick is sometimes used by finger pickers, but many do not. Travis picking is a variation of fingerpicking, though the two terms are also used interchangeably.
Tommy Emanuel, Chet Atkins, and Merle Travis are only a few of the guitarists who play in this style.
Also, Read: Squier Guitar Review: Is Fender Squier a Reliable Brand?
What Are the Characteristics of a Good Fingerpicking Guitar?
Acoustic guitars are available in a variety of shapes and sizes. While it’s frequently thought that this is solely for aesthetic reasons, acoustic guitars are, for the most part, built to bring out the subtleties and nuances of the type of music they’re meant to accompany.
As a result, the best guitars for fingerpicking consider the subtleties of the musical form. Since fingerpicking requires plucking individual notes with a continuous bass line with the fingers rather than a pick (unless using a thumb pick), the optimal fingerpicking guitar must be:
- It’s more comfortable to play with your fingers rather than strumming.
- Strings should be separated well (ideal when playing with fingers)
- Highly sensitive, for example, it does not take a strong attack to project scale.
- Individual notes can be projected with great clarity.
- Bass and treble frequencies are not too dominant in a balanced sound.
With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at the various choices available when buying an acoustic guitar, such as body size and form, as well as tonewoods.
Size of the body
Fingerpicking has long been associated with smaller-bodied guitars, such as concert and ensemble models. This is because of the following factors:
Convenience
For most guitarists, this is self-evident. Due to their smaller size, a smaller guitar is more comfortable to carry and play than a larger dreadnought or jumbo, which can restrict reach and feel bulkier to play. The weight of a smaller bodied guitar is often reduced when playing in a standing position.
The scale length of certain smaller-bodied guitars is also shorter. Shorter scale lengths need less tension on the strings, making them more sensitive and easier to fret.
Versatility
While a larger-bodied instrument, such as a dreadnought, is called a louder guitar, this usually refers to its ability to create volume when strumming with a pick.
Since the internal dimensions of the body are wider, more air may be displaced. However, more energy is required to displace the air inside the body cavity.
Smaller bodied guitars generate as much as or more volume than larger-bodied guitars when played with the fingers, since less energy is needed to transfer air within a smaller space, making them more sensitive to the lighter attack of fingerpicking in general.
Precision
When all other factors are equal, a shallower guitar body produces a more concentrated sound. As a result, a guitar with a smaller body will normally project individual notes more clearly.
Due to the deeper sides of the body pushing a larger amount of air, larger-bodied instruments create a more boomy, bass response. As a consequence, the fundamental tone is less dominant and the cutoff frequency is lower. The same is true for drums (consider the depth of a snare, in comparison to the bass drum).
When it comes to fingerpicking, clarity is crucial because this style does not usually involve strumming (playing several strings at once) and instead relies on picking out individual notes with the thumb and fingers.
Stability
As previously said, smaller-bodied instruments have a lower bass response than larger-bodied dreadnoughts. In practice, this ensures that the bass notes (remember, fingerpicking relies heavily on the thumb playing a steady, accompanying bass line) would not drown out the treble strings’ melody lines.
Smaller guitars usually have a more balanced bass and treble response, with the midrange tones being emphasized. When playing in front of a microphone, this also helps to reduce criticism. When playing live, low-frequency resonant feedback is a major issue.
Unlike most acoustic guitars, which have the neck joint at the 14th fret, many dedicated fingerpicking guitars have the neck joint at the 12th fret. This creates more room around the top of the soundhole and changes the orientation of the guitar’s internal bracing and bridge.
As a result, the bridge sits lower on the guitar frame, in the middle of the lower bout, which is the guitar’s widest section. Though this is entirely subjective, many guitarists agree that playing with the fingers creates a warmer, richer tone.
Body Type
The guitar’s form has an impact on two distinct regions. The guitar’s tonal consistency and how simple it is to play. For this reason, many of the guitars considered best for fingerpicking have tight waists.
Convenience
The waist of the guitar is the region between the lower and upper bouts. Many people believe that guitars with tighter waists, such as concert and orchestra shapes, are more comfortable to play in a seated position than larger dreadnoughts.
Tone
While a larger body creates a more boomy, bass-driven sound, the shape of the guitar can also affect the sound. The wider waist of the guitar and its position, for example, lead to the boomier, more bass-driven sound of the dreadnought due to the greater surface area the wider waist allows for.
The Jumbo guitar, which has a wider body than the dreadnought but a tighter waistline, is a clear example of how form affects the sound. Because of their shorter waistline, jumbos are generally more articulate and balanced than dreadnoughts.
As the soundboard resonates from the vibrations of the strings, the soundwaves emitted bounce around, bouncing off the sides of the guitar body’s internal cavity. A tighter waist reduces bass response, at least to some degree cancelling out the guitar’s boomier nature and improving clarity.
Furthermore, the internal bracing of the guitar is governed by the shape of the guitar, which also influences how the soundboard of the guitar resonates.
tonewoods
If you want to learn more about tonewoods and how they affect the guitar’s playability and sound, you can read the full guide here.
The type of wood used to build your guitar has a significant impact on the sound it produces. Because of its wide surface area and direct interaction with the bridge, which transfers vibrations from the strings, the soundboard is the most influential aspect. Acoustic guitars depend heavily on the materials used, while tonewoods are often the subject of much discussion when it comes to electric guitars.
The Effects of Wood on Tone
Density
The less dense the wood used to construct the guitar, the less it can absorb the sound waves produced. Sound is reflected at a higher velocity as this happens, resulting in a faster overall response.
While this increased response is beneficial to fingerpicking, it can also contribute to tonal imbalances, such as dominant highs and/or lows. The sound of a guitar designed for fingerpicking is best when the bass and/or treble frequencies are not too dominant. As a result, less dense woods create a more balanced tone, but at the cost of some responsiveness
Guitarists who play with their fingertips, for example, often use Western red cedar. Since it is a less dense tonewood than, say, Sitka Spruce, it is said to have a balanced, warm tone. Mahogany’s mid-range punch and greater sustain are also attributed to its less dense nature.
Pairings of Timber
Although some tonewoods are brighter or more sensitive than others, the tonal relationship between the tonewoods used to build the body is also significant.
Cedar top with rosewood sides, spruce top with mahogany sides, mahogany top, and mahogany sides are all common fingerpicking combinations. However, all of this is subjective and relies on a variety of factors, including your guitar attack; for example, if you are a percussive player, a softer soundboard wood would be marked and destroyed very easily.
Insights
Although the information above will provide a reasonable starting point for selecting your next guitar, I’d be remiss if I didn’t remind you that the guitar is a highly individual instrument. The subtleties of your guitar playing, the songs you want to play, and, in particular, your guitar assault, will have the greatest influence on your sound.
For example, some people swear by dreadnoughts for fingerpicking, while others say that the heavier bass response drowns out the accompanying melodic lines
This, in my opinion, is most likely due to differences in how people play the guitar. A dreadnought, for example, is likely to be a better match for you and feel more relaxed to play if you combine strumming with fingerpicking and have a strong picking side.
A smaller-bodied guitar, on the other hand, is likely to be a better match for you if you play quieter, folkier music. Other factors include the string gauge you use and also more technical details like the guitar’s joints, such as the neck joint, and how they lead to tonal loss if the body and neck have different acoustic properties.
Remember that you and the way you play the guitar are the most critical aspects of your sound. So, try out a few different guitars before deciding on the one you think is perfect for fingerpicking.
