The sound of a guitar, like other instruments, will only be as good as the condition of its various parts. If your strings need to be changed or the nut is old, your sound probably won’t be as crisp and clear as it was when your guitar was brand new.

If you purchased a used guitar, or just let yours go unmaintained for a good amount of time, it’s probably not sounding the way it should be. Fortunately, you don’t have to purchase a new guitar. There are plenty of guitar upgrades and modifications you can do like changing the guitar bridge parts that’ll help improve its sound and save you money in the long-run. 

From switching out your strings to choosing better quality picks to upgrade Guitar, here are some affordable ways to improve the sound of your guitar.

Saddles

The saddles on your guitar's extension serve basically a similar capacity as the nut, then again, actually, they lay on the furthest edge of the guitar. Similar issues can torment bad quality extension saddles; in case it's hard for the strings to move, it will prompt inflection issues. 

After regular use, nonetheless, players can likewise foster a burr in their guitar bridge saddles when the metal begins to wear out, leaving a sharp edge on the seat, which will make strings break habitually. However this can be helped by focusing on some steel fleece on the seat, you might need to consider an overhaul once you have the chance. 

Similar tips for nuts can apply to saddles: graphite is mind-blowing with regards to addressing inflection issues, though metal can add specific pleasantness to the top of the line, making your guitar somewhat more energetic.

Getting Some New Strings

The easiest and most obvious thing you can do to improve the sound of your guitar is to give it a nice set of new strings. This is especially recommended if you purchased a secondhand guitar, as it’s likely the previous owner didn’t put new strings on before selling the guitar.

A decent set of guitar strings will cost you pretty less, but there’s more to this concept than just buying new strings and installing them. 

You should be purchasing strings that are made for the way you play. Some strings are made specifically for jazz guitar tailpiece, while other strings are more versatile in nature. Take a look at our selection of strings, and find the type that best matches your playing style.

Upgrading The Nut

Anything that comes in direct contact with the strings of your guitar will have an influence on its tone, the guitar nut included. It’s not uncommon for guitar manufacturers to ship out their guitars with nuts made of plastic or other cheap material, so even if your guitar is brand new, upgrading the nut could improve its sound. 

If you aren’t sure if the but should be upgraded, pay attention to a pinging noise during play, this pinging noise is indicative of strings sliding around in the slot, which can cause the guitar to go out of tune at a much quicker rate. 

Replacing a plastic nut with a more slippery material, such as graphite or synthetic bone, can help solve this problem by allowing the strings to slide freely within the nut slot.

Strap Locks

In case you're an effectively gigging artist, this is an easy decision. Having your instrument takes a tumble in front of an audience is past disillusioning. The sooner you tie a strap lock on the instrument, the sooner you can quit agonising over it. 

In case you're restless with regards to penetrating new lash buttons into your guitar, Planet Waves has been making a tie that locks on the tie side that may merit consideration, however from what I can tell, it appears to be substantially less secure than the full tie lock overhaul.

Switching Some Picks

Most guitarists underestimate just how much their choice of guitar parts affects their tone. Professional guitarists carry around a variety of guitar picks for a reason they use light ones for strumming, heavier ones for single-note picking, and medium gauge picks for everything else.

Sometimes the guitar case can be a thing to worry about. Consider changing that with a quality case. 

While it may take some getting used to, switching from a light pick to a medium pick or a medium pick to a heavy pick can do as much to thicken your tone as other, more expensive guitar upgrades. 

And, you really can’t complain about the cost, there’s no single, cheaper way to switch up the tone of your guitar since you can purchase a pack of guitar equipment you can just replace for just a few dollars.

The Takeaway

Ensuring your guitar is properly set up is one of the most effective things you can do to a guitar no matter how old, new, cheap, or expensive the guitar is. 

This actually applies to brand new production guitars more so than it does second-hand guitars, as there’s a good chance a used guitar has already been set up properly at some point in time. 

Although you can set up your guitar on your own, we recommend buying the best guitar parts from a genuine or professional store.