Quote:
Originally Posted by steelvibe
I agree that the OF660 excels more as a fingerstyle guitar than a strummer. While I can't really point you to a CF replacement (because I've not played any for a decent length of time outside of the Shorty or the OF660) I can at least give you some food for thought- especially since it sounds like you and I hybrid players.
In my view a good strummer must not be anything less than 24.875" in scale. So that rules out the Cargo and the stock X7- and almost the OF660 (more on that later). I say that because part of what really drives a great strummer, or even just a good one (at least in my opinion), is scale length. I'm convinced that physics play a role here. The greater the scale, the greater the tension to drives the top= more power and more projection.
I don't know what strings you have on the OF660 but I've been finding that I need to use a 13 and 17 for the plain steels. I've found this to be true on the Shorty as well- beefing up the treble strings makes for a better strummed sound and really rounds out the top end of a CF guitar, and makes the trebles much more musical. It also makes the melody lines of fingerstyle work sounds sweeter without sacrificing playability in the process. Some strings that are effective in doing this are John Pearse New Mediums (in either 80/20 or PB), D'addario NB Balanced Tension, D'addario EJ24s, LJ's Choice Retros, and Elixir HD lights.
have personal experience with the LJ's Choice and currently have my Martin D Jr. 2 strung up with John Pearse New Medium 80/20. Those 2 sets have become my go-to on that guitar, which is 24" scale. No problem at all with strumming. I'm still on a search for the best pairing for the Journey. I've been playing the Journey a lot lately debating whether or not it's a keeper. I've yet to come to the conclusion to sell it.
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Meh... I'm a strummer/flat-picker with a room full of guitars, and my Cargo does just fine. Does it compare to my dreads/jumbos, etc? Nope. But it is a pleasure to play and sounds very good for such a small body and short scale. I chose it over the Rainsong and Emerald guitars that I tried out. Actually... I bought two Cargos. Anyways... the Cargo was superior to most other guitars for travel, which is why I chose it. As with all guitars... it's best to try before buying.