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Steel Guitars

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Steel-String, Western or Folk Guitars

What is a steel-string guitar?

It is an acoustic guitar, ie a guitar designed to work without amplifiers, with steel strings as opposed to nylon-string guitars (classical guitars). Steel-string guitars originally came from America and are also referred to as western guitars or folk guitars. They have a much louder, brighter, harder sound than classical guitars. Because they use steel strings they have to be built to withstand the higher tension that using steel gives, as opposed to nylon guitar strings. Guitars designed for use with steel strings should not have their strings replaced with nylon strings. These do not work as they won't be able to create strong enough vibrations to produce much sound.

History of steel guitars

The forerunner of the steel string guitar was produced in the US by Christian Martin, a luthier (a guitar maker - the term comes from the word lute), who developed a technique called X-bracing, which is still used in steel guitar manufacture today. This was essential when the high-tension steel strings were developed towards the end of the 19th century. The most legendary Martin steel-string guitar was known as the Dreadnought and was first made in 1916. The arch-top guitars became popular as jazz guitars in the 1920s. These have a contoured or arched top which produces a louder sound, making them suitable for jazz bands. Orville Gibson, a famous luthier, pioneered the use of steel strings instead of gut and produced arch-top steel guitars. He founded a company in 1902 which went on to produce flat-top guitars after his death - called the Jumbo they were designed to compete with Dreadnoughts. During the 1960s the Japanese starting producing steel guitars with makes such as Yamaha competing with US manufacturers.

Steel guitars for the left-handed

It is not possible to adapt a standard steel guitar for left-handed use but there are left-handed steel guitars available. These tend to cost a bit more which won't affect those buying cheaper guitars so much, but it can be quite a big difference at the top end of the market. There are not such a wide range of left-handed steel guitars available as standard guitars either.

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