Whats you preferred body size and why?

dean111music · July 2021

If you could choice one body shape what would you pick and why?

Body Size and what style/music would and could you use on it?

drofluf · July 2021

I find Dreadnaughts uncomfortable to play for any length of time so my main guitar is a 000/concert size. For fingerstyle and mainly Celtic tunes.

Having said that I’ve recently got a Parlour size 12 string which feels so comfortable to play that I may look for a six string version.

tomjax · July 2021

OM or 000, best balance of tone and comfort for me. The short scale on the 000 size is another comfort bonus.

dean111music · July 2021

drofluf said:

I find Dreadnaughts uncomfortable to play for any length of time so my main guitar is a 000/concert size. For fingerstyle and mainly Celtic tunes.

Having said that I’ve recently got a Parlour size 12 string which feels so comfortable to play that I may look for a six string version.

Yes i find the Dreads are too big. I have a maton 808 which is in-between a 00 and 0M with deep body.

I find the 5" depth can be a struggle on the arm sometime so I might look at an 00 or OM body with different woods

octatonic · July 2021

00 or 000 are most comfy.

Kilgore · July 2021

00 preferably 12 fret.

dean111music · July 2021

Seems so far 00 are looking popular!

What’s the sound like going between 00 and 000 ?

Mahogany and spruce?

octatonic · July 2021

dean111music said:

Seems so far 00 are looking popular!

What’s the sound like going between 00 and 000 ?

Mahogany and spruce?

How long is a piece of string?
00's can be boxier, but are you flat picking or playing finger style?

VimFuego · July 2021

The best sounding acoustic I've ever played was a Lowden, their big one (can't recall the number/model). To this day I regret not picking it up at the time (I had this weird notion that my skills weren't good enough for it). So I guess that'd be my preferred size, but I'm happy enough my my OM.

Gandalph · July 2021

0 or 00 short scale for finger style blues.

Hattigol · July 2021

OM

earwighoney · July 2021

I have acoustic guitars in a number of sizes being 0-12, 00-12, 00-14, OM, and a 12 string small jumbo.

I like aspects of all of them and they have their specific advantages.

dean111music said:

Seems so far 00 are looking popular!

What’s the sound like going between 00 and 000 ?

Mahogany and spruce?

I have a 00-12 and OM in spruce and mahogany and they are almost impossible to compare, they are two very different guitars.

All my guitars are spruce and mahogany aside from the 00-14, but they are all very different in character. I think the bracing is the most important aspect to it all.

ICBM · July 2021

Wow... not one single other person so far?

Dreadnought, for me. They just sound better.

If it matters I'm 5'6", skinny and with small hands too...

VimFuego · July 2021

ICBM said:

Wow... not one single other person so far?

Dreadnought, for me. They just sound better.

If it matters I'm 5'6", skinny and with small hands too...

the best guitar I've ever heard (but not played) was a 12 fret, round shouldered dread. It had everything. If I ever win the lottery I reckon I'd be hunting down something like that.

brojangles · July 2021

Dread for me. I like to listen to the bass go boom. Or at least have some bass in the sound. I use mine for strummy stuff, fingerstyle stuff, pop songs, efforts at jazz, whatever. I prefer the look of OMs and slope shoulder dreadnoughts but usually find the sound disappointing. The long neck and small body on OMs seems weird to me too, I'd prefer a shorter scale on that body size.

malcolmkindness · July 2021

VimFuego said:

ICBM said:

Wow... not one single other person so far?

Dreadnought, for me. They just sound better.

If it matters I'm 5'6", skinny and with small hands too...

the best guitar I've ever heard (but not played) was a 12 fret, round shouldered dread. It had everything. If I ever win the lottery I reckon I'd be hunting down something like that.

I have a 12 fret Martin Ditson 111 and it is indeed wonderful, but the best all round size would be a 000 or an OM. Surely this is why most of us have several guitars?

ICBM · July 2021

malcolmkindness said:

Surely this is why most of us have several guitars?

I have two main guitars... a Gibson Dreadnought, and a Martin 12-string 12-fret Dreadnought

.

(And a Vintage 00-000 size, but one day I will replace that with a Gibson or Epiphone J-160E electric round-shoulder Dreadnought

.)

Andy79 · July 2021

00 Nick Lucas depth in Maple. Many have come and gone but that combination is really really Really good

Fishboy7 · July 2021

ICBM said:

Wow... not one single other person so far?

Dreadnought, for me. They just sound better.

If it matters I'm 5'6", skinny and with small hands too...

I'm inclined to agree. All the smaller bodied acoustics I've owned sounded kind of lane. But my hd28vs and d18 sounded louder, richer and way more dynamic

dean111music · July 2021

I think that having a selection of acoustics is nice

any excuse to buy more guitars.

My stage guitar is my Maton and not many guitars sound better to my ears at a gig. But acoustically they are not the most resonant or dynamic guitars. Tightly built.

if a guitar sounds huge acoustically, (lots of bass) that can be a guitar that is hard to amplify. Lowdens, as
an example are the opposite to Maton, lightly
built and sounds amazing unplugged but in a live situation take a lot of tweaking as they
are too boomy.

So i guess I’ll be looking next for something that I can play at home to record that Is inspiring to play,
balanced and comfortable.

Tannin · July 2021

Put me down as a fan of the shape of many names: 808, 00, 000, OM, auditorium, traditional, grand auditorium, orchestra .... they all mean much the same thing in a general way, and you can't rely on any given manufacturer using the same term to mean the same thing as any other manufacturer.

I guess I like parlours the least (probably because I've only played a handful and they were all tinny little things - people tell me a good one can be great) and I'm not a big fan of dreadnoughts, though I love a good jumbo.

So in order:
* OM (AKA 808 AKA Grand auditorium AKA all those other names for the same thing)
* Jumbo
* Dreadnought
* Parlour

Having said that, two of my five guitars are dreadnoughts, though I've nearly decided to sell one of them in favour of another 808.

Tannin · July 2021

dean111music said:

I think that having a selection of acoustics is nice any excuse to buy more guitars.

My stage guitar is my Maton

Absolutely!

Which Maton is that, Dean?

dean111music · July 2021

Tannin said:

dean111music said:

I think that having a selection of acoustics is nice any excuse to buy more guitars.

My stage guitar is my Maton

Absolutely!

Which Maton is that, Dean?

It’s a Maton EBG808 Artist. Great pick up!

Tannin · July 2021

Ahh! The very one I have my eye on.

I have a custom SRS60 with a cedar top and a Messiah 808. A few months ago I tried an Artist out side-by-side with my Messiah and it was not one bit outclassed. A different sound for sure, but just as good in its different way. I want one but I'm trying to decide between the Artist and two other spruce and Blackwood 808s, the Vera May, and the Diamond Edition 75th Anniversary model (which is actually a "Traditional" body - similar to an 808 but slightly larger).

I went into Hobart (my capital city) on Thursday to make enquiries about them. The tricky bit is that I haven't been able to play any example other than the Artist (in a different shop at the other end of the state) and I'd like to have a better idea before I order one. I'll probably have to go to Melbourne for that - it's a four hour drive and a $500 overnight ferry ride, but 25 times the size of Hobart (lots more shops), and also Maton's home town. You used to be able to make an appointment to go into Maton 's factory showroom and try stuff out, which you could then purchase through your Maton dealer, but in these Covid times I imagine that factory visits are off the radar.

stickyfiddle · July 2021

I'm expecting to keep my HD-28 for the rest of my life. I'll get to used to almost any weird ergonomics for the right sound.

rustneversleeps · July 2021

My answer is to have both.I find it’s nice to switch between my D28 and my 12 fret 000 mahogany.
The difference between the two makes it interesting.

DannyP · July 2021

I have a dread and an 000.

000 is comfier and the string spacing seems to work well for folky picking.

Dread is the clear winner for strumming and sheer oomf. It's not so comfy for me while seated, but standing up I don't notice the difference so much.

Aesthetically, I prefer the 000, though, as I like a guitar to have more of a 'waist'

CloudNine · July 2021

ICBM said:

Wow... not one single other person so far?

Dreadnought, for me. They just sound better.

If it matters I'm 5'6", skinny and with small hands too...

Blimey... I was always impressed with ICBM's knowledge of amps. Now I find out he is my perfect woman as well...

guitarjack66 · July 2021

As companies tend to not all have standard sizes,or call them other names,I would say anything other than Jumbo and Dreadnought are fine by me. Parlour guitars are fun but I haven't heard one personally that isn't similar to a ukulele more than a full body.

Gandalph · July 2021

ICBM said:

Wow... not one single other person so far?

Dreadnought, for me. They just sound better.

If it matters I'm 5'6", skinny and with small hands too...

They worked for Etta Bake. I'm pretty sure she favoured Dreadnoughts and she was tiny.

I'm a similar build to you by the sounds of it, I wish I could get on with them but I just find them too big and cumbersome.

oldhorsemurphy · July 2021

Dreadnoughts for me too. I've tried 000 and OM style guitars and while they sit in my lap more comfortably they just don't sound right or "feel" right to me.

There's nothing like playing a Dreadnought and feeling the back of it vibrate right through you. I've got a gorgeous Martin D-18 that's my main squeeze but I've owned a few J-45's before and would love to have one again some day, even if it's just to look at the thing.

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Whats you preferred body size and why?

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