Masters of the modern "parlor"?

[stephenT]

Originally Posted by Dotneck

He was popular on AGF a number of years ago. A kind of luthier flavor of the month. I considered ordering one but never pulled the trigger. They show up used every so often. Maybe try a WTB ad and see what shows up…

Gonna have to take issue w/ flavor of the month remark. I know John, he was active for quite a couple decades and his instruments, particularly his ladder braced are now legendary. Flavor o' the month is fairly dismissive of his skills.

Last time I tried a WTB post in the AGF, someone posted a link to a used unit and another lovely forum member bought it out on the sly while I was talking w/ the dealer.

[printer2]

Originally Posted by Deliberate1

That is surely a beauty. I do keep coming back to the vids of Bruce's Companion guitar. That is surely the kind of voice I associate with a well-designed and built smaller body guitar.

The more I think about a parlor guitar, and read and listen to descriptions, the one comment that leaves me a bit flat is the enthusiastic claim that "it sounds like a bigger guitar." Often an attribute touted as the guitar's greatest strength.

With respect, if I wanted a guitar that sounded like a "bigger guitar," I would just buy another bigger guitar. What I am looking for, and what many of the expertly made boxes in this thread demonstrate, is a unique personality that comes from a more compact platform. A guitar that does not sound like a small, bigger guitar, but one that uses its smaller size to create a unique voice that may not be possible in a bigger guitar. After all, when have you read that a Dread, or SJ or 000 is extolled for sounding like a "smaller guitar." Perhaps that is a missed opportunity to showcase the focus, note separation and clarity of a good small guitar but in a bigger body. But I think making that comparison, as positive as it may be, would be the kiss of death.

I am most grateful to everyone who has contributed to this thread, and brought to my attention, guitars that bring something small, and very big, to the table.
David

I am guessing that when people say it sounds like a bigger guitar they are trying to say it does not sound thin and boxy. The first guitar that I built had a 13" lower bout and I have built a few of this size. What I would rather say about them is they have had a delicate voice. They were not meant to compete with bigger guitars but to be enjoyed at a moderate level. They had been between 22"-24" scale so no high tension that is needed to produce a louder guitar. Maybe I will make one full scale and then change my mind but for now I like the shorter scale length on the smaller guitars, 24-24.5".