CEO-7 love it, but want something else...
 

Hi,
I'm a newbie looking for some "sound" advice! I currently own the CEO-7 and really really love the look and tone. However, I am finding that my average sized hands are not a great fit for the v-neck and wide spacing of the strings. It really feels like I'm playing closer to a classical guitar than a steel string.

Anyhoo, I want something with equal (or better?) tone but a smaller neck. I do really like the 000 sized bodies and have a few guitars I'm glancing at over at Reverb. One is a Bourgeois 00 country boy, and the other a Collings OM2h. Both are under 3K and used but it good shape. Being school teacher limits my spending!

Am I on the right track or am I leaving out something in that price range that would fit my needs.

As an aside, I have a Silver Creek OM in my classroom that is really easy for me to play, but tone-wise it doesn't come close to the Martin.

Thanks in advance!!
Scott

When I bought my Martin 000-18 I also tested a CEO-7 for to compare them. The CEO-7 seems actually overrated to me... it is such a praised guitar here in this forum, while the one I played -for my taste- sounded very dry, quite boxy and somehow dull. I could picture it for blues, but for everything else it would not be my favourite guitar.
The 000-18 could fit your hands better. The profile of the neck is rather low/slim. I have very small hands, and I like to play on this neck. The sound of the 000-18 is much bigger, much more open and you find more sustain than with the CEO-7. Maybe one could say, that the 000-18 sounds more modern all in all.
If you WANT the sound of the CEO-7 but you want another neck profile, you could have a look at the 17-series. The 00-17 and 000-17 have that dry and bluesy sound of the CEO-7 but the same low/slim neck profile like the 000-18. But I think the value for the money is better at the 18-Series than at the 17-Series. Finish, neck-joint, fingerboard material... Especially the ebony fingerboard at the 000-18 vs the rosewood fingerboard at the 000-17 made a huge difference for me.

just an fyi..
Got a new Gibson Humming Bird Pro..
its really a Gibson Songwriter body, smaller,,with Mahogany and spruce top..
beautiful gibson sunburst finish, with cutaway and electronics...

neck is 1 11/16......nut, really is very easy to play and sounds great

is a winner in my book.

Gibson LG2 AE
Martin 00-18

^my thoughts^

Have fun :guitar:

madhat.

Not sure of your price range, but I have a Collings OM2H that I adore. I played the CEO-7 a bunch and really liked it, but in the end I decided it just wasn't as versatile tone wise as my OM2H. I also think the OM2H has a better neck profile that might work for you, even though it's still a pretty wide nut at 1 3/4. The tone is still somewhat dry, but it is also bright and loud. Great for blues, country, fingerpicking, etc. Worth a play if you can stomach the price tag.

As the years have gone by, I have decided that an instrument's ergonomics, particularly the neck, is the most important aspect of owning a guitar.

Since the CEO-7 does not quite work for you ergonomically, find a guitar that meets both your ergonomic needs and your sonic and behavioral desires. There are plenty of them out there.

Thanks for the suggestions!

I do like the 000-18 and the Collings OM2h. Looking for something in the mid-2000's as far as price goes.

Eyes wide open!
Scott

This D-18 Custom Shop sure looks nice.
Quilted Mahogany/ Italian Alpine Spruce top.
Rosewood binding.
1 3/4" nut.... too big?
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Martin-D-...19.m1438.l2649

I certainly agree with you on the CEO-7 neck. There's so much to like about that model, but my left hand never warmed up to the modified V.

I had the opposite result. Purchased the 000-18 with the new high performance neck, and didn't like the tight string spacing. The CEO7 was better for me. Maybe the new neck profile Martin is putting on just about everything will work for you.. Good luck with your search!

I had a Martin CEO-7 and traded it in on something else. I recently auditioned a good-condition, used Gibson Keb' Mo' Bluesmaster and thought it sounded great and played well.

Take a look at the Martin 000-16gte. You get the Martin tone in a 000 body with a 1 11/16 nut and a high performance taper neck. I like 1 3/4 or I would have got one already.

Could be just what you're looking for.

This guitar does not really fit in, since all the guitars recommended and discussed yet are short scale. The 000-16GT however has a 25.4 scale, so it should actually rather be named OM than 000...

I really loved everything about the CEO-7 except that darned v neck.

Maybe something like the custom 00-18 Adirondack at MFG? I'm not sure if you're looking for a narrower nut, though. Also the custom 00-18 at LAGS, which again has the 1-3/4 nut and only slightly narrower string spacing than the CEO-7, but no v neck.

Or - if you're not in a hurry - you could get a custom CEO-7 built with your choice of neck and string spacing. ;)

I can offer a long-winded pitch for the idea that you try a bunch of things, given the issues you are having now.

Somewhere around 2.5 covers many new guitars -- at street price, certainly -- but many more used guitars. I love a good OM, but cannot say whether it's what you want. 1 3/4" spacing at the nut is common among OMs, although not universal. A Collings OM2H, at least in the standard version, has rosewood back & sides (as does my SCGC OM), not that you wouldn't like it, or even love it, but it's probably fairly different from your CEO-7. I also noticed a Huss & Dalton 00 with mahogany back and sides for sale here recently -- maybe still wider spacing at the nut than you want, but probably an interesting guitar. Santa Cruz, H&D, Collings, Bourgeois all offer guitars around 4k new that might be 2.5 used, give or take, in very good condition. Many of these have top-to-bottom thinner necks (fretboard to back) than the CEO-7, even if the spacing at the nut is comparable -- OTOH, they offer various neck carves, and SC at least will do custom, so there's always the question what a particular instance of a model will provide. Martin makes both a 000-18 and a 00-18 -- both within your range brand new. I think they both have 1 3/4" spacing at the nut, at least in standard version, but the necks might be different from the one that seems too big to you on the CEO-7. Some of the sponsors here carry Martin (Jon at MFG, Maury, Ted at LA), including some built to their own specs (maybe Jon in particular), and a call to one of them might produce other ideas. Larrivee makes mahogany bodied guitars in 000/OM sizing -- there are even some established custom builders within your price range, if not all that many (or easy to sample). I'm sure I'm failing to mention many options.

If it's just about string spacing, you can read the specs for spacing at the nut and at the bridge. But if you are having problems with a neck already -- and are selling a guitar you like in all ways, but for the feel of the neck and the string spacing -- it might really pay to try a bunch of options to see what feels right when you sit down and play for a while (ideally, not just a few minutes).