{"id":690,"date":"2020-03-13T21:16:00","date_gmt":"2020-03-14T02:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/?p=690"},"modified":"2020-03-13T21:16:07","modified_gmt":"2020-03-14T02:16:07","slug":"cutaway-guitar-pros-and-cons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/soundadventurer.com\/cutaway-guitar-pros-and-cons\/","title":{"rendered":"Cutaway Guitar Pros And Cons: Do You Need One?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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\n\n\n

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Since all electric guitars are designed with cutaways, the primary benefit for cutaways in acoustic guitars is that they provide the player with easier access to the higher frets. The biggest downside is that cutaways interrupt the design of an acoustic guitar which means less body to resonate, affecting the sound slightly<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, there’s lots of questions that come from this: why would you want access to the higher frets? How much does the cutaway really affect the sound? What About Double Cutaways? Let’s dive in so we can figure all this out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Is a Cutaway?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before we begin I feel like it makes sense to clarify what a cutaway is exactly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A cutaway is a concave recess in the body of the guitar located adjacent to the neck of the guitar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is an example of an acoustic guitar without a cutaway<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And here is an example of an acoustic guitar with a cutaway:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Pros and Cons of Having a Cutaway<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So… that’s what a cutaway looks like, but why would you want to get a guitar with a cutaway? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Advantages of Having a Cutaway<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The biggest reason for having a cutaway is so the player can actually play the top frets of the guitar<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is, I suppose, possible to play the top frets without a cutaway, but it’s extremely difficult. Your hand isn’t able to get any leverage behind the neck of the guitar. Effectively, any fret that’s covered by the body of the guitar is almost decoration except a few spare notes here and there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, a summary of the advantages are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n