Steel-string guitar

The standard acoustic guitar of folk, country and rock, strung with steel or bronze-wound strings at much higher tension than nylon.

That higher tension requires a stronger instrument: a heavier braced top, a truss rod in the neck and a dovetail or bolted neck joint that can carry the load, and a neck usually narrower and slimmer than a classical guitar's. The sound is brighter and louder with a strong attack, and the choice of string alloy then changes it further, with bronze giving warmth and phosphor bronze giving a slightly darker, longer-lasting voice. It is normally played with a pick or with fingerpicks.

Example: strummed with a flatpick, a steel-string produces the broad, cutting accompaniment that supports a voice without amplification.

Steel-string guitar

See also