Cutaways, Where do You Stand?

[ewalling]

I don't like the look of them at all except on classicals and dreads, and I certainly don't have any need of the extra frets they are designed to free up on 14-fret guitars. On a 12-fret classical, it's a different matter.

[Fatstrat]

If you need to play that far up neck, you gotta have it. I rarely have the need so I prefer a traditional body.

[Kettil]

Love them.

If you have it and don't need it, no big deal, but if you need that access and don't have it, the guitar is deficient ... so I would prefer cutaway on all my guitars.

[lmacmil]

Originally Posted by Wasper

I used to love cutaways for their look , but never really needed one. So it was always a cosmetic thing for me. Now, though, I find that they no longer appeal to me. It's to the point where it is quite opposite to my old view.

I too prefer the non-cutaway look and don't need one for my style of playing. OTOH, if a guitar I really wanted came only as a cutaway model, I would buy it anyway.

[hoyadoc]

I too don't like the aesthetic of most cutaways, particularly the "hook" as mentioned previously, but I absolutely love and need the neck access.

Slightly off topic, but I've been seriously interested in a novel electric "parlour" guitar seen in the video below. I am concerned that, especially electric, that neck access will be an issue, but I just adore the D-style look and sound. If Robert Johnson played an electric, this might be the one:

[Mickey_C]

But.. you just can't get that Strunz & Farrah look without that cutaway classical & flamenco man!

[mc1]

[boombox]

I only have a cutaway on one of my 5 acoustics, but that's not any conscious choice - it's just the guitars which came my way: I'd be happy enough if they all had them. They make minimal tonal difference, despite what stuffy stuck in their ways traditionalists want to think (search previous threads where respected luthiers have agreed this), but they make it easier when capoing higher up the neck and open up a whole range of opportunities to utilise the full sonic range of the guitar, especially in open tunings.

oops, I mentioned non standard tuning - prepare the fire blanket!

[TheElipse]

I have found cutaways only useful sometimes. I do like to play up the neck, but many times the joint is much to thick for the cutaway to be very efficient, I have found in most cases that the cutaways are nothing like a fender Stratocaster. This makes me not a fan in general, but having the need to to play that far up sometimes makes me wonder if I should look into a cutaway on my next guitar.

[specialk55]

On electrics, I need a cutaway, or better yet, a double cutaway.
On acoustics, never! Ug-lee, to me anyway.

[Dreadful]

Since 6 of my 8 guitars are traditional 12 fret, I don't have any cutaways. I actually play above 14 frets, just not that often. I don't mind the appearance of cutaways, but the vintage and vintage-build guitars that I like don't have them.

[stratplexi]

I love them....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[baimo]

I have one cutaway so it is easier to play the intro I like best to Maggie May! The other six are more traditional except for a 12 fretter

[suntired]

I guess I am in the minority here. I much prefer the look of and upper access of cutaway-equipped acoustics.

It may sound strange, but when I'm playing an acoustic without a cutaway, it feels like I only have half of a guitar to play. With a cutaway I feel like I have access to the entire fingerboard. YMMV.

[Bruce Sexauer]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

I've owned one guitar that had a cutaway, a custom made archtop built by luthier Mark Stanley to be his personal instrument. I had always assumed that once I got a cutaway guitar my playing would expand further up the neck, but once I had that access I discovered I didn't care much for the tone up there.

That guitar got traded off and I've never owned another cutaway instrument since.

As for the visual aesthetics of cutaways, it's not a big issue for me. I honestly don't care either way. They can look a bit clunky on dreadnoughts, but on most other body forms they look just fine, so far as I'm concerned.

To me it has more to do with the use the player's going put the guitar to than what I happen to think about how the guitar looks. I've known some players who have dreadnoughts with cutaways and the way those guys get every possible note out of the guitar it's hard to imagine them playing anything else.

In other words, they're a good match for each other, and in those players' hands, cutaways on dreadnoughts look beautiful.

Hope that makes sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

Having a cutaway does not mean you have to use it! But not having a cutaway means you can't as easily get to that region. If you ever wanted to. Solo players are probably best advised to stay at or near the first position, but ensemble players have no need to be so constrained. I am an ensemble player only recently learning how to use a guitar as a one man band. When I have no cutaway I simply don't go there, but when I first considered having such a guitar it did seem like a potential compromise. Tools tend to get used for what they will do eventually, and not used for what they won't do, hopefully.