When it comes to getting a guitar case, you of course need to know what type of guitar you are going to put in it. And when it comes to choosing a guitar, this can depend on the type of sound that you are going for. For those who are looking to get a blues guitar lesson or two, having a nice bluesy guitar is a great investment. You really need your own guitar to learn, as you will need to put in as much time as possible to practice.
Let’s take a look at some of the greatest blues guitars out there today. When you own one of these beautiful instruments, you can be sure that you are going to want it to be kept in top condition, so make sure that you get a good case to keep it protected, especially when traveling about, maybe even to lessons.
The Fender Stratocaster is perhaps the most iconic blues guitar out there. This is the instrument that redefined guitar music and truly put electronic amplification on the map. Jimi Hendrix is perhaps best known for using this guitar, and Eric Clapton’s favorite Strat is called Blackie. In fact, he composed Layla on it and when he put it up for sale in a charity auction he ended up buying it back as he couldn’t stand to let ‘Blackie’ go.
When you look at pictures of some of the original bluesmen, they tend to have larger acoustic, or semi-acoustic guitars as this was before the times when amplification was common. To get this look and feel today, I would highly recommend the Gibson ES-335. The thinline archtop with “f” holes gives it that semi acoustic tone, and if you put thick strings on it you get a really rustic sound perfect for the blues.
So we’ve looked at a full-blown electric and a semi-acoustic/electric guitar so far. Each of these would be a fantastic buy to learn the blues guitar. There is a final guitar I would like to investigate and that is the Dobro Resonator guitar. Resonator guitars are favored by slide guitarists and feature the metal fronted resonator which gives it a distinctly bluegrass sound when played. This guitar was also featured on the famous Dire Straits’, Brothers in Arms album sleeve, and was used extensively on that album. If you are going to take an acoustic blues guitar lesson course, then this could well be the guitar for you.
Of course you don’t need a specialist guitar to learn the blues, but one of the above ones, well protected with a good quality guitar case, will last a lifetime and give you a lot of playing pleasure.