A silent guitar is a type of guitar with chambered or solid body. The difference between this one and a standard guitar is in the way of producing a tone and, of course, appearance.
Simply speaking, a silent guitar has no resonating box, hence, it does not amplify the vibration into audible sound. Using the piezoelectric pickup, the vibration is converted into electric current. In relation to that, musicians can play without bothering others by listening to themselves through the headphones.
What are the Best Silent Guitars to Buy?
Types of silent guitars
There are several types of silent guitars.
- Skeleton guitars
Skeleton guitar is a small-body instrument with a frame and dimensions of standard guitar for those who get used to playing these instruments while sitting.
- Small bodies
Now, this one has a bit reduced body. That can affect the sound. Anyhow, the portability of these guitars and the ability to practice silently is something that travelers should have.
- Full-size bodies
This type of guitar actually has a full-size body and a soundhole. Anyhow, that is clearly unnecessary. Among others who employed this guitar was Mark Knopfler himself.
4 Best Silent Guitars and the Best Silent Guitar Brands
1) Yamaha SLG130NW Silent Acoustic/Electric Guitar
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There are few things that manufacturer wanted to achieve with this one. First of all, a guitar has outstanding playability. In relation to that, there’s ebony fingerboard. That is one of the best materials for a fingerboard.
Secondly, this guitar offers incredible practicality. Furthermore, it weighs only 4 pounds, hence, you can carry it around without any back problems. Whenever you feel like playing the guitar, just plug your headphones in and enjoy. No one will hear your mistakes.
When it comes to technical parts, the guitar obtains maple body, mahogany neck, and rosewood bridge. All of these materials ensure great durability and great comfort while playing.
Moreover, with a string scale of 650 and master volume overall controls, the guitar will provide nice sound even without resonating box.
Finally, this guitar comes with headphones and tuned strings.
Pros and highlights:
- Playability- The guitar provides great playability thanks to the fine materials that offer comfort while playing.
- Durability- Fine materials used for this guitar will drastically increase overall durability.
- Portability- However, this guitar belongs to a lightweight category with only 4 pounds. You can carry it around and play wherever you want.
Cons and potential flaws:
- Headphones quality- Anyhow, headphones that come with this guitar might not be good quality as this instrument.
2) Yamaha SLG200S Steel String Silent Guitar, Natural
This one is a beauty on what Yamaha should be proud. The guitar comes with steel strings and has a natural finish. What makes it different from others, other than the quality of the sound is its great appearance.
In relation to that, this one belongs to a skeleton type silent guitar. It has a knee-rest frame which enables to play the guitar while sitting.
Moreover, this instrument is perfect for travel, practice or stage use. It is portable, with only 4.63 pounds. Also, the silent option provides you a possibility to play it anywhere without bothering others.
Whether you are playing it line-out or through headphones, amazing SRT-powered pickup system will provide fully natural acoustic tone. In other words, SRT powered is brand new technology that tends to create full natural body resonance sound.
Unlike other silent guitars, a quality of the sound that comes from this one for studio purposes is simply speaking, outstanding.
Pros and highlights:
- Design- Combination of traditional guitar lines and some new, innovative form is something that can be only seen on SLG.
- Playability- One of the most important things related to playability is neck width and slim body, which this guitar surely provides.
- Portability- The detachable parts of SLG are making this guitar super portable.
- Silence- Sometimes, for the outer world, your practice might be a bit annoying. Now, with this guitar, fear not. No one will ever hear you repeating one same sequence dozens of time.
Cons and potential flaws:
- Slight popping noise- Sometimes, when playing a certain set of notes, the internal pickups make slightly popping noise.
3) Silent Electric Nylong String Guitar
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With 21 nickel frets, one battery case and geared machine tuners, this guitar might be everything that you are searching for.
In charge of better playability and durability, there are materials that took a part in creating this beautiful instrument. Therefore, maple skinny neck and body not only increase playability but durability of the instrument as well. Rosewood fingerboard and bridge, along with mahogany wood inlays are what makes this guitar different from others.
The guitar is covered with black rubber and comes with nylon strings. The length of this guitar is 33 1/4″, while scale length goes around 25 1/2″. This makes it extremely portable guitar.
Pros and highlights:
- Skinny neck- One of the most important things for a musician is the thickness of the neck. It drastically increases the playability of one guitar. This guitar excels in that field.
- High-quality materials- Rosewood, mahogany, and nylon strings are some of the best quality materials in the guitar world.
- Great portability- Moreover, the guitar’s length is around 33 1/4″. Since this guitar belongs to the lightweight category with only 3 pounds, you will be able to easily carry it from gig to gig.
Cons and potential flaws:
- Tuners- Anyhow, tuners are not the same quality as a guitar. Replacing those might cost you a bit, but on the other hand, you will fix the only downfall of this guitar.
4) Silent Steel String Guitar
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Now, this 6 steel string guitar has hard-wood made frame. On the other side, the neck and a body are made of maple wood. The fingerboard is rosewood which is standard material for the fretboard.
Furthermore, this guitar obtains all chromed hardware tuners. There are 20 nickel frets, hence, a lot of frets for practice.
The guitar comes with padded gig bag, a thus rod on the head, a cable, a 9V battery, and mini earphone.
Moreover, the overall length of the guitar is 38 1/4″ with the scale length of 25”, and the nut width 1 3/4″.
On the other hand, guitar weighs 10 pounds, which is a bit above the standard.
The guitar is great for a silent practice since there would be no one to catch your mistakes. Just plug in your headphones and dive into your own world.
Finally, the guitar belongs to an affordable price point category and pays great value for the price.
Pros and highlights:
- Performance- This guitar excels in the field of performance. For the price that you invest, you will get more than just a good performance.
- Appearance- Anyhow, a great appearance is what makes this guitar different from others.
- Great value- As we previously mentioned, the guitar belongs to affordable price point category and pays great value for the price.
Cons and potential flaws:
- Tuning- This guitar might come out of the tune. In order to adapt strings, you need to stretch them with multiple tunings as any other new guitar.
Choosing the Best Silent Guitar from the Best Silent Guitar Brands
In the light of everything we previously said in this review, we may conclude that these 5 fine examples of silent guitars are some of the greatest on the market.
Anyhow, it is hard to achieve a same resonating sound that you get on a standard guitar. On the other hand, you benefit from some other features that standard guitars can’t offer.
They all hold pretty good value for the cash and you will be able to practice everywhere you go without bothering others.