Smaller body acoustic with full scale length?

goldtop · October 2022

Ms GT has a friend who wants to play acoustic - strum-along pop, etc. She's quite petite and struggled when I dug out my Sigma SG45. Fingerboard/scale was fine, but the body too bulky to comfortably get her right arm around.

So we're looking at smaller acoustics - Little Martin, Big Baby. Maybe GS Mini.

Any thoughts? Wondering if it's better to stick to full scale length, too.

WBT2079 · October 2022

If I remember rightly the Tanglewood mini Koa is full scale length and is a similar size to the GSMini. Plays well, sounds great and looks lovely.

enjo · October 2022

I'm a smaller guy and struggle with anything bigger than an OM.
Little Martin & big baby sound really boxy to me although some like that sound.
GS Mini sounded much more like a larger bodied guitar and I loved my mahogany version. I made the mistake of selling for a bigger body guitar which didn't last long and I now have a Martin 0-15 which I love, but if I didn't the Martin... It'd be a GS Mini. Easy to play, sounded great and the gig bag they come in is really nice too.

thecolourbox · October 2022

I have a Taylor Big Baby and it's an adequate sounding instrument, I don't think anybody world ever say it sounded nice but it doesn't sound terrible. For just strumming in sure it's fine

ICBM · October 2022

The Vintage V300MH is 00-size and 25.5” scale.

Absolutely amazing guitar for the money.

earwighoney · October 2022

Recording King have a number of small bodied guitars with full 25.5" scales, they have an all solid one for about £300 and others starting from about £150. Maks Guitars in Central London have a few models in stock right now.

Jez6345789 · October 2022

If money is no object I love my GS mini and to be honest I see no problem with the shorter scale or the need to instil full scale length on a petit person.

If you want the total but usable budget option like 99 quid option grab one of the thoman travel guitars mahogany. It’s a mm accurate replica of the Taylor GS mini and no worse in playability or tone out the box and if the new hobby does not stick then you have lost minimal money

DavidR · October 2022

ICBM said:

The Vintage V300MH is 00-size and 25.5” scale.

Absolutely amazing guitar for the money.

I would second that. I bought one on impulse in York in April because the shop owner played it at me and I just fell in luurv on the spot! £220 well spent. Nicely made, unblingy, beautiful mahogany instrument with great tone and (after adjustment) excellent playability. Just put a pickguard on it and replaced the bridge pins as only mods. I was looking for a parlour but this is more OO size really.

Here's the guts of a NGD thread I did......

"Firstly, the tone and sustain from this guitar, even before I fiddled with the action, were very impressive. For £220 its really very good. The action was high at the nut and the bridge and the neck relief was overly tight and I have made initial adjustments to all three and swapped the cheap plastic bridge pins for some Martin white plastic ones. I think the initial strings are phosphor bronze. The Vintage website doesn't specify.

The top and sides are solid mahogany. Again impressive at this price range. There's no inlays, purfling or rosette to speak of. In fact I suspect the rosette may be a (herring bone pattern) transfer, but I can't be sure. I don't care. You don't particularly notice the lack of purfling etc on an instrument where the body (and neck) are all of the same wood. The bridge and fingerboard are both mahogany too. The nut is narrow, 43mm when I measured it c.f. 44mm on my FG5 and OM28, but the neck is full and definitely feels more of a handful than the other smaller instruments I have tried. I was going off the idea of getting a parlour altogether because of the small necks before I played this.

There are no quiet notes or wolf notes anywhere up to the 5th fret on any of the strings, and that's unusual on any instrument! Beyond the 5th fret all seems well too. Strangely on an instrument with good sustain, harmonics are quite quiet. Perhaps that's just small guitars. I've never had one before. The tone is woody and rounded. Not at all bright but nice. It doesn't need to be made any more woody with ebony pins IMO. Eventually I will try Monel MM12s on it but I have no idea how they will sound. I may change the bridge pins to bone too. The nut has 'Nubone' stamped on it. This is a slightly softer version of Tusq from Graph Tec.

Siting on my sofa, it's very comfortable to play, which is what I wanted. It's slightly bigger than a typical parlour. I compared it with my classical and its very similar, just a little narrower in the upper bout. The machine heads are closed chrome generic ones and are of intermediate quality but seem quite steady and smooth. The head is a pleasant Martinoid shape and there is a very nice pearloid 'Vintage' inlay. All quite understated and pleasant."

DavidRees · October 2022

an idea. capo at 2nd fret instantly makes any acoustic guitar more playable in root position. standing up to play rather than sitting down helps too.

drofluf · October 2022

How about a Faith Neptune? Although the Vintage is a good call as well.

thomasross20 · October 2022

GS Mini is good but the neck width, I wish they'd do 1.75". Nice gig bag, easy to carry around. Moved mine on as boxy compared to bigger guitars but maybe should have kept as just so damn portable.

guitarjack66 · October 2022

DavidRees said:

an idea. capo at 2nd fret instantly makes any acoustic guitar more playable in root position. standing up to play rather than sitting down helps too.

This is how I play my guitars.

thecolourbox · October 2022

Yes i often do the Capo thing as well as it does sound better on the Big Baby - could be that the nut isn't very good?

bertie · October 2022

DavidRees said:

standing up to play rather than sitting down helps too.

hmmm subjective. - it d oesnt for me, I really struggle to play acoustic standing.

I do play with capo's pretty much all the time, up and down the fretboard more than a proverbial whatsit and it does help with both reach, wrist comfort and a high-ish nut

Soupman · October 2022

@bertie said:

hmmm subjective. - it d oesnt for me, I really struggle to play acoustic standing.

Good to hear I'm not the only one!

bertie · October 2022

Soupman said:

@bertie said:
hmmm subjective. - it d oesnt for me, I really struggle to play acoustic standing.
Good to hear I'm not the only one!

and Im the opposite on electric !!

BigPaulie · October 2022

Yamaha LS guitars are amazing.

I think there's a bargain AC3 in the classifieds that looks brilliant.

goldtop · October 2022

Wow - loads of great suggestions here. Lots I've hardly heard about. I need to do some research tomorrow.

She definitely is a sit-n-play guitarist, so it's the body size that's the No1 issue. I suppose a shorter scale may help - I can let her try a Fender Mini Squier Strat, which I think is a couple of inches shorter than standard. I'd always assumed it's harder to adjust.

guitarjack66 · October 2022

thecolourbox said:

Yes i often do the Capo thing as well as it does sound better on the Big Baby - could be that the nut isn't very good?

That nut suggestion is a fair one given I play lower end guitars myself.

goldtop · October 2022

@ICBM and @DavidR - are the recommendations for the V300 specific to the MH mahogany model (warmer and less lively, I guess) or for the V300 model in general? I have found a used V300N for a decent price locally.

(Seems her budget does not extend to a GS Mini, unfortunately, and from the thoughts above the Baby and Big Baby are not as well liked.)

Kittyfrisk · October 2022

goldtop said:

@ICBM and @DavidR - are the recommendations for the V300 specific to the MH mahogany model (warmer and less lively, I guess) or for the V300 model in general? I have found a used V300N for a decent price locally.

(Seems her budget does not extend to a GS Mini, unfortunately, and from the thoughts above the Baby and Big Baby are not as well liked.)

I had the V300 spruce top, nice guitar, great value.
Then I got a bargain V300MH. Still got the MH, the spruce was sold.
A/B'd it against a mahogany Martin, was very surprised at just how fractionally better the Martin was, compared to how exponentially better value for money the Vintage was.

ICBM · October 2022

goldtop said:

@ICBM and @DavidR - are the recommendations for the V300 specific to the MH mahogany model (warmer and less lively, I guess) or for the V300 model in general? I have found a used V300N for a decent price locally.

The spruce one is perfectly OK, but I don't find it as characterful or as much 'out of its price range' as the mahogany one - it's nice enough, but not special in the same way. That said, I've only played one of each.

goldtop · October 2022

Interesting - thanks. We'll go try the spruce one and then see.

Saw that Richtone has a used VEC350 (which I think is the same guitar but with piezo + preamp + cutaway) at £129. That might be Plan B if we like the V300N, but don't like the condition.

DavidR · October 2022

goldtop said:

@ICBM and @DavidR - are the recommendations for the V300 specific to the MH mahogany model (warmer and less lively, I guess) or for the V300 model in general? I have found a used V300N for a decent price locally.

(Seems her budget does not extend to a GS Mini, unfortunately, and from the thoughts above the Baby and Big Baby are not as well liked.)

I only have experience of the V300MH @goldtop ;

goldtop · October 2022

Thanks all - we bought the local V300N tonight. It's way better than we expected for the £80 paid.

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Smaller body acoustic with full scale length?

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