The Acoustic Guitar Forum

Go Back   The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > General Acoustic Guitar Discussion

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 12-21-2014, 04:31 PM
rssfrncs rssfrncs is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: england
Posts: 6
Default My neck dilema - Brook Torridge

Hi guys, first post here.

I've had a Brook Torridge for around two years, which I adore. However i just got a road worn telecaster for my birthday and have been playing it non-stop as i'm getting into artists like Blake Mills.

After a couple of weeks of playing the tele exclusively my once easy to play Brook Torridge feels slightly alien and the neck a little cramped...

I'm now wondering if i should trade my Brook in for a cheaper Martin (00 15m perhaps?). I guess the Martin neck will be closer to that of the tele.

What do you guys think?
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 12-21-2014, 09:58 PM
David M123 David M123 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 933
Default

I think if the Brook Torridge was just fine for you before you played the Tele exclusively for a couple of weeks, then you should try switching between the two more regularly. Play each some every day. Chances are you can adjust just fine to both. You probably don't play the same things on them.

I have never zeroed in on any particular nut width or neck profile and I find that I can play pretty much any guitar without a lot of trouble. Perhaps if I only played 1 3/4" nuts with a specific neck profile I might be a little more precise with some things, but then again, I think there's something to be said for flexibility.

By the way, I assume the Brook Torridge, as an acoustic has a wider nut than the Tele. If so, how is it that it now feels cramped compared to the Tele?

Dave
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 12-21-2014, 10:44 PM
Wade Hampton Wade Hampton is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: Chugiak, Alaska
Posts: 31,164
Default

I agree with David: the simplest, easiest, best and cheapest solution is to just start reacquainting yourself with the Brook.

When I was in the UK I fell in love with Brook guitars, and know for a fact that if I lived in the Mother Country I'd own three or four of them by now. They're superb instruments or - let me qualify that - each of the twenty or so Brook guitars I've had my hands are have been superb guitars.

I have no reason to suspect that the one you own is any less impressive.

So as the novelty fades a bit with the Telecaster, I suspect the allure of the Brook will return.

Quite honestly, I think jettisoning it in favor of a Martin that MIGHT be closer in neck profile to the Telecaster would be a serious mistake: even if the neck profiles of the Tele and this proposed Martin were identical, there would be so many other practical differences between playing the acoustic and playing the electric that any similarities in neck profile would be largely irrelevant.

So abide a while with the Brook, and start returning to it as the mood strikes. Pretty soon the differences between it and the Tele will seem like no big deal. You have to shift your right hand attack when going between an electric and an acoustic, anyway, so shifting your left hand positioning should become just as automatic with practice.

One more thought: a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Don't abandon an acoustic guitar you already know is great for the ephemeral promise of one that might be easier. Getting used to two different neck profiles is simply a matter of practice and repetition.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 12-21-2014, 11:03 PM
TBman's Avatar
TBman TBman is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: New Jersey
Posts: 35,829
Default

I had a similar thing happen tonight. I have been playing my folk just about exclusively for the last month or so (1.8" nut) and now my Martin feels cramped and almost unplayable. So I just have to play it everyday for a while to get used to it. Your brain adapts quickly.
__________________
Barry

Sad Moments {Marianne Vedral cover}:


My SoundCloud page

Some steel strings, some nylon.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 12-21-2014, 11:13 PM
Guest 728
Guest
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I've owned quite a few Teles and three Martins. As comfortable as the Martin necks are, they're not Fenders.

Keep what you've got and get re-acclimated.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 12-22-2014, 03:31 AM
RodB's Avatar
RodB RodB is offline
Charter Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: SW France.
Posts: 1,649
Default

FWIW I agree with the above posts - not to abandon the Brook - normally, the more you go back and forth between the guitars, the less evident will be any issues of adjustment.
__________________
Rod,

My music Website or Soundcloud
Some videos on Youtube
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 12-22-2014, 04:05 AM
pieterh pieterh is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Near Stockholm, Sweden
Posts: 3,921
Default My neck dilema - Brook Torridge

I will also urge the OP to switch between the two regularly and get used to the differences. For goodness' sake, it's a Brooks Torridge, I'd never want to get rid of one of them if I owned one!

I recently bought a used Classic 60s Telecaster and apart from switching the original bridge for a vintage 6-saddle (MUCH better sound and intonation by the way) have left it stock. It is probably the cheapest guitar we have in the house but it feels so right it tends to be my go-to guitar at the moment - I used it at its first gig on Saturday. But when I do play my Taylor (which I did on one song on Saturday) I am so used to that guitar that, although it is different to the Tele, it still feels familiar and comfortable. When I switch to my Strat that is close enough to the Tele to also feel good (and I've had it for 22 years so it would be surprising otherwise..). The only guitar that can feel "odd" by comparison is my old Guild. But that guitar was my dad's and I've had it for ca 30 years so it's never leaving the family...

My experience is that being familiar and practised on all my guitars means that although they can feel different none of them feel wrong or difficult. Horses for courses too - the Taylor works for everything but especially fingerstyle, the Guild is not so good (for me) for fingerstyle but brilliant for strumming and flat picking.
__________________
Gibson ES-335 Studio 2016; Furch OM34sr 2015; Fender MiJ Geddy Lee Jazz bass, 2009; Taylor 414CE 2005; Guild D35 NT 1976; Fender MIM Classic 60s Tele 2008; Fender US Standard Strat 1992; G&L ASAT classic hollowbody 2005; Ibanez RG350MDX 2010(?); Ibanez Musician fretless, 1980s; Seymour Duncan Tube 84-40; Vox AC4TV;

Ex-pat Brit in Sweden
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 12-22-2014, 04:27 AM
BOOSE BOOSE is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Posts: 478
Default

Absolutely keep the Brook, they are wonderful guitars, I have a bari by Andy and Simon and its superb. What your experiencing is what happens to most people who play one guitar for months then get bored and switch to something totally different, you will soon love the Brook again, and in my experience selling great guitars leads to regret.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 12-22-2014, 04:39 AM
AndrewG AndrewG is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: Exeter, UK
Posts: 7,674
Default

Seems like a bit of a non-issue to me, frankly. I have owned guitars with loads of different neck profiles and it really doesn't take long to accustom yourself to them. At one time in my electric arsenal I had both a '51 Relic Nocaster with the biggest neck you can imagine, and a Les Paul Custom with a slim, 60s profile. Swapping between them was no problem whatsoever-even on the same gig.
__________________
Faith Mars FRMG
Faith Neptune FKN
Epiphone Masterbilt Texan
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 12-22-2014, 05:33 AM
bobster7 bobster7 is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Ye Olde England.
Posts: 1,629
Default

Keep the Brook they are fantastic guitars! The Martin 15 series are also great instruments at their price point and sound lovely but the Torridge is in a different league here IMHO. Like others have said just switch between them more often and you will adore both.

And if you love Blake maybe consider a little Gibson...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Pc5uZl-xWk
__________________
Huss & Dalton DS-12 Custom (Italian/Mahogany)
Collings 000-2H (Sitka/Rosewood)
Dave King L-00 (Adi/Mahogany)
Gibson J-45 JT project "1942 Banner" (Adi/Mahogany)
Eastman E20P (Adi/Rosewood)
Sigma-SDR-28MLE (Adi/Madagascan Rosewood)
Sigma SDR-45 (Sitka/Rosewood)
Sigma SDM-18 (European/Flamed Mahogany)
Freshman FA400D (Engelmann/Rosewood)
Freshman FA300 (Cedar/Hog)
Voyage Air VAD-06
Reply With Quote
  #11  
Old 12-23-2014, 10:07 AM
rssfrncs rssfrncs is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: england
Posts: 6
Default

Thanks for all the responses guys, definitely not going to rush into anything.

There is just something at the moment about vintage Martin 00 17m'...

Merry Xmas!
Reply With Quote
  #12  
Old 12-24-2014, 09:04 AM
Wooden Music Wooden Music is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Kent, England
Posts: 87
Default Give me the Brook!

Give me the Brook!

You will be able able to go and find a new "holy grail" guitar. And I will have a lovely guitar.

You will be glad that you did!

But seriously, if you really like the Brook (and who wouldn't?) don't let it go. Practice with both guitars and your hands will learn to adapt.
Reply With Quote
  #13  
Old 12-24-2014, 09:41 AM
Rosewood99 Rosewood99 is offline
Guest
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Hilton Head
Posts: 14,832
Default

I'll swap my Martin OMC-15e for your Brook!
Reply With Quote
  #14  
Old 12-24-2014, 09:47 AM
steveh steveh is offline
Registered User
 
Join Date: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,748
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by rssfrncs View Post
I'm now wondering if i should trade my Brook in for a cheaper Martin (00 15m perhaps?). I guess the Martin neck will be closer to that of the tele.
On average, Brooks have very slinky necks indeed compared to your average acoustic guitar (one of the reasons why I don't personally get on with them). Unless your Brook is a particularly "beefier" model, I'd be very surprised if the Martin were significantly less substantial.

Bottom line is that you're not really going to find an off-the-shelf acoustic that feels like a Tele.

I play electric, steel-string, and classical. Very different neck feels. Best thing to do is practice. You'll soon get to work around it.

Cheers,
Steve
Reply With Quote
Reply

  The Acoustic Guitar Forum > General Acoustic Guitar and Amplification Discussion > General Acoustic Guitar Discussion

Tags
brook, martin, neck, telecaster, torridge

Thread Tools





All times are GMT -6. The time now is 12:31 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Copyright ©2000 - 2022, The Acoustic Guitar Forum
vB Ad Management by =RedTyger=