There’s a significant difference in the low-end resonance of the guitar, <\/strong>otherwise the frequencies look very similar. <\/p>\n\n\n\nIs this a huge difference in frequency? Not really–these frequencies are close to the edge of what humans can hear, although that bass does add to a fuller sound. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s also very possible that beyond the frequencies you can see in this graph the timbre of the instrument (the general sound) is different even if the frequencies look similar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Conclusion: Whether the Sound is Different Between a Cutaway and Non-Cutaway<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
From listening directly and from the data I shared, the cutaway can make a significant difference in sound. <\/strong>I admit I didn’t notice when I was only listening and wasn’t watching. Likely, only other guitar players would notice the difference in a recording. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAt this point, I entrust to you, noble guitar player, to trust your own tastes in the sound you would want to have. Take comfort in knowing that nobody can tell you that one is better than the other–they are <\/strong>different, but not hugely different. <\/p>\n\n\n\nDo I Need a Cutaway?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Here’s the big question–do you even need a cutaway? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The answer, of course, is it depends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Classical guitarists often only need the 1st 5 frets of the fretboard<\/strong> for many songs in that genre. <\/p>\n\n\n\nAcoustic guitars are typically associated with folk, folk rock, indie, alt rock, bluegrass, and other styles of music where the guitar is mic’d not amp’d. There are thousands of songs in these genres, so of course you’re going to find exceptions, but generally much of this music is played with open chords and on frets behind the 14th fret. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, if you want to solo a little on your acoustic guitar<\/strong>–now we are in the business of discovering the range of your instrument. <\/p>\n\n\n\nBlues, Rock, Ballads, Power Ballads, Metal… and dozens of other genres often feature electric guitars. Electric guitars don’t need to resonate, and so provide full access to all the frets of the guitar. Although many of these genres feature electric guitars, that doesn’t mean that many players play acoustic guitars with these styles of music.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nFurthermore, what other people play on stage doesn’t dictate what you use to play–all songs are open to you, whether you have an acoustic or an electric guitar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bottom line: <\/strong>If you are planning on chords, classical playing, or some soloing but nothing extensive, then you can get away without a cutaway.<\/p>\n\n\n\nIf you are planning on learning how to solo and play up and down the fretboard, or if you are into blues, then a cutaway will be indispensable. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Okay, so you want to learn guitar, or perhaps buy your second guitar. It can be overwhelming! One specific question you might have is what’s the advantage of a cutaway?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":691,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,2],"tags":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":12,"label":"Guitar"},{"value":2,"label":"Instruments"}]},"featured_image_src_large":["https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/cutaway-vs.-non-cutaway-1024x768.jpg",640,480,true],"author_info":{"display_name":"Peter Mitchell","author_link":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/author\/thesoundadventurer\/"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":12,"name":"Guitar","slug":"guitar","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":12,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":2,"count":32,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":12,"category_count":32,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Guitar","category_nicename":"guitar","category_parent":2},{"term_id":2,"name":"Instruments","slug":"instruments","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":2,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":105,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":2,"category_count":105,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Instruments","category_nicename":"instruments","category_parent":0}],"tag_info":false,"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=690"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":704,"href":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/690\/revisions\/704"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}