I picked up my first Ovation at a pawn shop years ago, mostly out of curiosity. The seller warned me it had a thin neck and a slippery round back. He was right on both counts, and that is exactly why players with small hands keep coming back to Ovation. The brand’s Lyrachord roundback and … Read more
I have spent the last decade playing nylon-string guitars on small stages and in living rooms, and I still remember the first time I plugged a flamenco guitar into a PA and got the dreaded piezo quack. That moment is exactly why this guide exists: you want the best flamenco guitars with pickups, not just … Read more
Finding the best noise canceling headphones for guitar practice has become one of the most common problems for modern guitarists. Between thin apartment walls, late-night practice schedules, and family members who need quiet, the days of cranking a tube amp at midnight are over for most of us. Our team spent three months testing eight … Read more
If you’ve ever tried to plug your electric guitar into a set of AirPods or Beats headphones, you already know why the right pair matters. The signal comes through fizzy, thin, and nothing like the tone you hear through a real cab. After spending the last 90 days testing 10 different models with a Boss … Read more
Flatpicking is the heart of bluegrass and country lead guitar. A good flatpicking guitar has to push air, cut through a fiddle, and respond to a stiff pick without choking. I have spent more than a decade behind the wheel of a flatpick, picking fiddle tunes on jam stages and at home, and I can … Read more
I have spent the last decade playing coffeehouses, churches, and 500-seat theaters with an acoustic guitar strapped to my chest, and I can tell you from sweaty-palm experience that the wrong instrument on stage is a disaster waiting to happen. A flat top with no electronics, an under-saddle pickup that sounds like a kazoo through … Read more
Finding the best electric guitars for acoustic sound used to mean choosing between two different instruments. Today, acoustic-electric guitars (also called electro-acoustic guitars) bridge that gap beautifully. I have spent the last three months comparing ten popular models to find which ones truly deliver on both unplugged warmth and amplified clarity. The short answer to … Read more
Classic rock is built on the kind of rich, driving acoustic tone you hear on Led Zeppelin unplugged sessions, Eagles deep cuts, and Tom Petty stadium strumming. We spent three months comparing ten of the strongest acoustic guitars built for that exact mission, testing them on songs like “Stairway,” “Hotel California,” and “Free Fallin’” to … Read more
If you have ever watched the Alice in Chains MTV Unplugged performance and wondered how Jerry Cantrell made a classical-style nylon-string guitar sound so heavy and emotional, you are not alone. That 1996 set sparked a wave of rock players reaching for nylon strings, and I have spent the last several months testing guitars to … Read more
Finding the right electric guitar case is one of those small decisions that saves you from a very expensive bad day. I learned that the hard way when a cheap gig bag strap snapped mid-walk and my Strat took a header onto a sidewalk. Since then I have tested dozens of electric guitar cases for … Read more