Gear4music’s Select is not a new range, nor is it a sub-brand. It’s an extension of our pre-existing LA, New Jersey, Chicago, Knoxville, and Brooklyn guitar and bass ranges.

Offering our unique take on some classic guitar designs, the aim for Select was to produce a new breed of guitars and basses that are easy to play. They’re made from premium components, and they’re suitable for a broad range of playing styles, all whilst being accessible in price.

In this article, we’ll explore some of the regular questions that guitarists have about Select Guitars.

Why are Gear4music Select guitars good for beginners?

One of the things we’re most proud of when it comes to the Select range is that the guitars feel and sound great straight out of the box. This is a key selling point at this price point as it gives any beginner guitarist a solid platform to build on. It allows them to hone their craft without the risk of developing any bad habits as a factor of an improper setup.

Can professional guitarists and bassists use Gear4music Select guitars?

Yes! The range of high-quality components, exciting features, and finishes that Select guitars and basses offer makes them an attractive option to all players. They’re suitable not only for beginner guitarists but also for professional players who want a new guitar without breaking the bank.

Great for studio recording and performing on tour, Select guitars provide peace of mind to players looking for an alternative to their beloved, more expensive counterparts, whilst still offering the same level of flexibility and sound quality. The benefit then is that these pricier guitars can be kept safe at home.

What tonewoods do Gear4music use?

Although the tone of your guitar is the result of multiple factors such as pickups, string gauges, and bridge types, these parts are all interchangeable.

The one thing that remains consistent is the type of tonewood used in its construction. This has a massive impact on the feel of the guitar and its overall sound quality.

With three tonewoods to choose from, Gear4music’s Select series gives you more choice than most competition within this price range, so you can find the right model for you.

Mahogany

Popular amongst jazz, blues, hard rock, and metal players, mahogany has long been considered a “go-to” tonewood for solid body guitars.

Warm and mellow, this tonewood only gets better with age, offering an abundance of low frequency energy that complements the focused midrange and smooth high-end.

Not only does mahogany offer a crisp, clear tone, but it also has numerous practical benefits, including greater resistance to wood rot and warping over time.

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Swamp ash

Inspired by models from leading guitar brands in the ‘50s, many guitars in the Select series feature a swamp ash body. A great tonewood for electric guitars and basses, swamp ash adds to the versatility of the Select series, offering a balanced frequency response with fantastic articulation and presence that makes it suitable for a broad range of playing styles.

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Basswood

Lightweight, strong, and durable.

Basswood bodies are considered by many to be a great alternative to mahogany thanks to their bright tone and increased sustain and projection.

Tonally, basswood’s frequency response is balanced at the lower end of the frequency spectrum with gentle increases in the upper midrange and high end.

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What pickup configurations are available?

More so than the body wood, a guitar pickup significantly impacts the tonal quality of your guitar. This is why we offer a wide range of configurations on our Selects. Deciding which guitar pickup is right for you is completely subjective and it’s likely that your choice will be influenced by the type of music you wish to play frequently.

Single coil

Synonymous with bright, jangly tones, single coil pickups provide modest upper mid and high-frequency enhancements that make them ideal for rock, pop, indie, and funk styles.

Thanks to their clarity and definition, single coils are fantastic to pair with dirt pedals and time-based effects such as chorus, delays, echoes, flangers, phasers, and reverbs.

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Humbucker

Compared to a single coil, humbuckers tend to offer a darker, much warmer tone with more emphasis on low and lower-mid frequencies. It’s important to note that the slight reduction in high-frequency content can easily be counteracted via the amplifier’s onboard EQ or an external EQ pedal.

Great for enhancing the natural sustain produced by the guitar’s tonewoods, humbuckers are popular amongst jazz, heavy rock, and metal players, particularly the two latter styles as the high output of the pickup makes it effortless to crank amplifiers, introducing more dirt to your tone.

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P90

Sitting somewhere between a single coil and a humbucker, P90s are an excellent pickup choice for most music styles, particularly blues, rock, and country. Brighter than a humbucker, they offer a crisp, clear tone with excellent note separation that is reminiscent of a single coil, but with a fuller sounding midrange.

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Hybrid

If you’re still on the fence about which type of pickup is right for you, we also offer hybrid guitars which include multiple pickup types.

Shop now I LA Select Electric Guitar HSS by Gear4music, Sunburst

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What finishes do Select guitars have?

On first inspection, the most obvious difference between Selects and other Gear4music guitars is the finish.

Boasting all-new eye-catching colour schemes with a variety of tops, including flame, quilted, spalted maple, and satin, guitars such as the New Jersey Select Electric Guitar take influence from highly sought-after vintage models. They offer a nearly-identical finish for a fraction of the price.

Requested by several guitarists, Select offers a range of Legacy guitars that have been subjected to our unique ageing process.

From paint nicks to discolouration, each guitar has been relic’d by hand using specialist distressing tools. This means that no two guitars are the same and the model you receive will be completely unique to you.

Shop now I LA Select Legacy Guitar by Gear4music, Sunburst

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Want to know more?

If you have any further questions about the Select series, please comment below! And if you like the Select guitars, you’re sure to love our other models too.