Closest thing to a Martin 00-18??

[caperrob]

I've been reading a bit on here about the trend towards smaller body sizes. I play a Martin GPCPA4 rosewood and am finding the lower bout to be a bit cumbersome so I have gas for a 00-18.

Is there a guitar on the market that can compare to the 00-18 that isn't in the same ballpark pricewise?

[Kerbie]

The 00 is a great size. Maybe an Eastman... or Blue Ridge?

[caperrob]

I'll have to do some listening on you tube to check out their tones. Thanks for the input.

[bsman]

Perhaps I'm unique, but I find the 000, 00, and OM sizes almost indistinquishable from an ergonomic perspective (I'm a fan of smaller-bodied acoustics due to the somewhat short set of arms with which I am equipped.) I've had and played all three sizes, and find that in terms of comfort, they are fairly interchangable. I find that (to me) the difference between the 0/parlor size and the three I mentioned above and the difference between those three and a jumbo/dreadnaught size are far more noticeable than the difference between the three sizes I tend to gravitate towards.

[caperrob]

I appreciate your thoughts on this as I always wondered how much different a 00 body is from a 000. Thanks.

[kde1974]

Comparable models to the 00-18 are a bit more difficult to find than the 000-18.
If you are looking for a low-budget, but very cool copy, you could try to find an old 'lawsuit-era' Takamine F307S. Solid spruce top, with laminated mahogany b/s. A structurally sound F307S (or all-lam F307) that has been played in should sound pretty good and project well, without breaking the budget or providing worries about banging it around a bit.

[lt20dbl]

Originally Posted by caperrob

I appreciate your thoughts on this as I always wondered how much different a 00 body is from a 000. Thanks.

about a half inch on each side.

[caperrob]

Cool!! I'll look that model up as well.

[Nctom]

A year or two I bought a used Larrivee 00-09 that has been an exceptional guitar. It differs from a Martin in a couple of ways, as a 12-fret rosewood model, but sounds a lot like my CEO-7. Although it was a custom build, I imagine the quality of build and tone would continue in the current Larrivee offerings at very attractive prices.

[Steadfastly]

This may help. There is no 00-18 but there is an 0M-18V.

https://www.maurysmusic.com/blueridge_vs__martin

[jazzguy]

I own a 2016 00-18 and IMO is one of the best guitars around. If you like an 00-18, my advice is to save your pennies and buy that. I spent years and a lot of guitars /$ trying to get close.

[SalFromChatham]

Try a Gibson LG2-American Eagle.

[MrDB]

Eastman E10ooSS and E20ooSS are both very nice. Give both a try. the 10 is mahogany and the 20 is rosewood.

[AgentKooper]

Originally Posted by MrDB

Eastman E10ooSS and E20ooSS are both very nice. Give both a try. the 10 is mahogany and the 20 is rosewood.

These are slope shoulders and, I think, considerably smaller than a Martin 00.

[AgentKooper]

Originally Posted by bsman

Perhaps I'm unique, but I find the 000, 00, and OM sizes almost indistinquishable from an ergonomic perspective (I'm a fan of smaller-bodied acoustics due to the somewhat short set of arms with which I am equipped.) I've had and played all three sizes, and find that in terms of comfort, they are fairly interchangable. I find that (to me) the difference between the 0/parlor size and the three I mentioned above and the difference between those three and a jumbo/dreadnaught size are far more noticeable than the difference between the three sizes I tend to gravitate towards.

Martin 000 and OM bodies are the same. The only difference in the modern versions is the length of the neck. I agree there's not a huge difference between an 000/OM and an 00. But after playing an 00-18 pretty much exclusively for the past year, I definitely notice the size difference when I go back to my OM style Blueridge.