Playing guitar – like any hobby – can produce a decent amount of waste. From disposing of old strings, to getting rid of instruments once they’re past their prime – here’s how to recycle your guitar parts in an environmentally-friendly way.

Strings 

You should be changing your guitar strings regularly – but what do you do with the old ones?

Guitar strings, with the exception of nylon strings, are made from metal, and can be recycled. You can take old strings to your local scrapyard to be recycled, and you might even make some money off of it, since many scrap yards offer compensation for metal junk. Your best bet is to save up a collection of old strings and recycle them all at the same time. 

D’addario also offers a string buyback program, which lets you take your old and unwanted to strings to one of their partner locations for recycling. Click here to learn more. 

Amps/gear 

Every guitarist has gone through some destroyed amps, fried pedals, and other broken gear. Instead of tossing it, consider putting it for sale on sites like Reverb or Craigslist. Even broken gear has a market – Reverb has a special category for non-functioning gear. Enterprising tinkerers might be able to repair the gear for sale, or else use parts for projects. 

If you don’t get any bites, you can also take the gear to a scrap yard. 

Unwanted/broken guitars

Unfortunately, guitars don’t last forever. If you find yourself with old, unwanted guitars, here are a few things to do with them: 

Donate them: Many programs, including Guitars Not Guns, Music is Art, and Guitars 4 Vets collect used instruments and put them in the hands of those who need them. Most organizations accept only functional used guitars, so if yours is damaged or broken, check with the organization’s guidelines. 

Sell them: There’s likely someone out there who wants the challenge of fixing up an old guitar – or who needs parts! 

Trade them in: Several retailers offer buyback programs for used gear. Check out these options (but make sure to read all of the details):

• Apple GiveBack Program
• Microsoft End-of-life Management Program
• Walmart Electronics Trade-in Program
• Amazon Trade-in Program

Get crafty: There are plenty of cool ways to repurpose an old guitar – as a planter, birdhouse, and more! Check out this guide to guitar crafts. 

Recycle them: Electric guitars are e-waste. Check your local government’s guide to recycling e-waste in your area. 

How old is the guitar, exactly?

Stringed instruments, played with two hands, pre-date written history. Two of the main forebears of the guitars we know today are the oud and the lute. 

The oud dates back to ancient Persia (originally called the barbat), and was used throughout the Middle East. The oud has a pear-shaped body, a fretless fingerboard, and a short neck. Its name in Arabic, ūd (“wood”), refers to its body, made of aloe wood.

“Oud (Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris)” by dalbera is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

The lute is descended from the Middle Eastern oud, brought to Europe through Spain in the 8th and 9th centuries. During the Medieval Period, the lute usually had five strings that were played with a quill as a plectrum. In the late 15th century, lutists mostly abandoned the quill and plucked with their fingers, as sixth (sometimes more) strings were added. 

“File:A Woman Playing the Theorbo-Lute and a Cavalier MET DP145907.jpg” by Gerard ter Borch is marked with CC0 1.0.

By the 16th century, Spanish musicians started to use string instruments that more closely match the curved guitars we recognize today. They were known as baroque guitars and featured five “courses” (strings) and movable frets. 

These guitars, known as Baroque guitars, effectively replaced the lute as the go-to stringed instrument for musicians from about 1600 to 1750. Further refinements, such as five courses of gut strings and moveable frets, made these instruments easier to play.

“Tielke baroque guitar” by Jo Dusepo is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

By the 1790s, a sixth course was added to Spanish guitars, and a standard body type was established (although it was smaller than modern guitars). 

In the mid-1800s, Spanish musician and luthier Antonio de Torres Jurado created the guitar design that resembles the modern classical guitar. It featured a wider body, a thinned belly, and had machined heads instead of wooden tuning pegs. The strings were split evenly between gut (now plastic or nylon) and metal-spun silk. 

In the United States, the guitar continued to develop. Christian Frederick Martin, who was born in Germany, created the flat top acoustic guitar in the U.S. in the 1830s, which was designed to handle the extra tension caused by modern steel strings. 

The harder, tighter steel strings required musicians to change up their playing style from the delicate, plucked melodies of a classical guitar. Many started using picks, which helped to popularize chord-driven music. 

 Despite the popularity of picking, early guitars still often got drowned out in the mix during the big band jazz era. Innovative musicians tried to use attached microphones or telephone transmitters to increase the volume of the guitar. The first commercially available electric guitar – as we know it today – was released in 1931. 

The Rickenbacher A-22 Electro Hawaiian – also known as the “Frying Pan” was created by George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker. The guitar included an electromagnetic device that changed the strings’ into a clear resonant sound. Although Rickenbacher and Beauchamp won the first patent for the electric guitar, there were plenty other inventors who worked on electrifying guitars – including        , who designed the solidbody design for Gibson Guitars, Leo Fender, who created the Fender Telecaster in 1951. 

“File:Rickenbacher Frying Pan (clone), short scale, 22 fret – 2011 TSGA Jamboree.jpg” by brad_bechtel is licensed under CC BY 2.0.

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Sources: 

Musicians Institute: Guitar History: How the Guitar has Evolved

Britannica – Guitar 

Metropolitan Museum of Art – HEILBRUNN TIMELINE OF ART HISTORY – ESSAYS

Yamaha Corp – The birth of the classical guitar

The Great American Eclipse is happening over much of North America on April 8, 2024! Fret Zealot’s headquarters are in Buffalo, New York, so we have the best seats in the house to celebrate this rare celestial event. Check out these eclipse-centric songs to stream – or learn on guitar! 

“Total Eclipse of the Heart” – Bonnie Tyler 

“Total Eclipse” is Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler’s biggest career hit, and she’s made the most of power ballad’s astronomical themes. In 2017, Tyler performed the song live onboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship during the solar eclipse of Aug. 21. 

“Ain’t No Sunshine” – Bill Withers

What better song to play when the moon blocks the sun for around four minutes on April 8? Check out this website for exact times.

“You’re so Vain” – Carly Simon

Simon’s 1971 hit includes the lines “you flew your Lear jet up to Nova Scotia/To see a total eclipse of the sun” referring to the March 7, 1970 total solar eclipse. “You’re So Vain” is one of the very few recorded songs to mention a specific eclipse. 

“Black Hole Sun” – Soundgarden

Depending on where you’re located, the eclipse may look like a “black hole sun” at the point of totality. Just be sure to wear the correct protective glasses when looking at it! 

“Eclipse” – Pink Floyd 

This song from 1973’s Dark Side of the Moon contains the line “… and everything under the sun is in tune/but the sun is eclipsed by the moon.” Want to play it just like David Gilmour? Check out this player study. 

“Back in Black” – AC/DC

Black never goes out of style – but it’s certainly the color du jour with the “blackout” of the sky being imminent. What better song to learn for the occasion?

Want to learn how to play guitar like British singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran? Check out this Ed Sheeran Player Study to learn his groove-based acoustic style, seen in his hits like “Shape of You”, “Photograph”, “Bad Habits”, and “Thinking Out Loud”.

Background

Ed Sheeran was born in 1991 to two art gallery employees in West Yorkshire, England. Sheeran grew up singing in a church choir and started playing guitar at age eleven, and started to write songs while attending high school. He began recording music in 2004. Sheeran was involved in theater as a teen, joining the National Youth Theater in London and Youth Music Theatre UK. In 2009, he began studying music at the Academy of Contemporary Music, but left that same year to support hip-hop musician Just Jack on tour. In 2010, he released his EP Loose Change, which contained “The A-Team”, which would become his debut single.

Style

Ed Sheeran has said that his influences include Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, and Van Morrison – saying that Clapton was the “reason he started playing guitar”. He also cites Eminem as an inspiration. Sheeran has said that he had a stutter when he was younger, and that rapping along to the Marshall Mathers LP helped him to overcome it. Sheeran often incorporates rapping into his songs. His guitar style utilizes slap technique, chug technique, flowing fingerstyle, and embellishing simple chord shapes. 

Awards 

Sheeran has earned many accolades during his career, including being appointed as a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 2017. At one point, he had the highest-grossing tour (for his “Divide” Tour), dethroning U2. He’s one of the best-selling artists in the world with over 150 million records sold. He has received multiple GRAMMY awards. 

Once you have Sheeran’s signature style down, try out this song lesson for “Photograph”! It includes the lesson and play-along version. 

Photograph