I'll preface this by saying that I do not have this guitar yet. BUT. Everything you just said is basically my story. I ended up choosing the 00-15M Custom Gloss from Ted at LA Guitar Sales. It'll be delivered next week. While my opinion might not be as justified as someone who has spent lots of time with the guitar I still thought it I would share. I was determined to make a very solid choice the first time too and my specs were:
0, 00, 000 sizes
1 3/4 Nut
Probably all Mahogany but open minded
Didn't have to be Martin but you know...
Don't live where I could try Ted's guitars out
Budget between $1000 and $1500
I even seriously considered the Taylor GC3 (liked it, didn't love it, missing "flavor")
Love the blues, folk and fingerpicking but strum occasionally
So as you can tell, pretty much the same exact story. I've spent months making this decision, ask Ted. My journey, while fairly obvious, was this:
After I ruled out the other contenders due to price and specs I knew it was going to be a 15 Series with a 1 3/4 nut. So I just tried the other features and sizes out via other guitars. I found shops that had each body size, only asking myself which felt most comfortable as these were sometimes $5k guitars I wouldn't end up with. But again, just focused on body size. It came down to 0 and 00. Aside from tonal differences, which couldn't practically be known by me without flying to LA, I set out to play several long and short scales. Ted's 0 is a short and the 00 is a long scale. Personally, I found the differences in reach and string tension to be a non-issue for me. There is the sound differences but again, couldn't solve that 3,000 miles away. The 00 just fit like a glove. Either would have been just fine I'm sure but I had to decide somehow. Most people say 00's are more versatile sound-wise anyway and alternate tunings are easiest with full scale, apparently. Would have been much easier to sit with each option for about 10 minutes but unfortunately that was never an option. So a big thanks to everyone on this wonderful forum who assisted including of course Ted. Time will tell but I think I made the best decision I could with the hand I was dealt. Wish you the best of luck and let us know what you end up with!
Wes
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