What is the attraction to dreadnoughts?

[loco gringo]

These were reasons enough for me.

[donlyn]

What is the attraction to dreadnoughts?


None whatsoever.

But Johnny Cash always gets a free pass from me.

Don
.

[djcarolino]

This is the best thread in a while. I love both small and dread sized guitars. Some days I wanna fingerpick my OM/O's and other days strum the heck outta my dreads/slopes. Some days I wanna fingerpick my dreads and other days strum the heck outta my OM/O's. Music is limitless.

[Cheezeweggie]

Dreads fill in the void when there is no bass player.

[Gatorwampus]

Originally Posted by Wild Bill Jones

“Who really wants to play something as nuanced as a cannon? Loud and bassy”
Me!
I like the way they sound.

Me too. Sometimes when I play with friends, it may be a couple of guitars, a banjo, or two, a mandolin, or a resonator guitar, or two, and maybe a harmonica, and a kid playing rhythm on a hollow log, with drumstick. Okay, maybe not all the above, but you never know. My Eastman dread is exactly the right guitar for this venue.

[Guitarplayer_PR]

Today, I went back to Dreadnoughtville and got me a Taylor DN3e. Then I realized how much I love dreadnoughts

[Glennwillow]

Hi Mc1,

Nice stirring-the-pot thread!

I started out with a dread, a Martin D-35 back in 1969 and still love that guitar. Then I bought other size guitars 45 years later. Big ones, little ones, medium ones.

After a while, I really got to hunkering for that dread sound more and more until I finally went and bought a D-45 in 2018.

Yes, they are big and not as nicely shaped as an OM or small jumbo, but they really have got the sound -- at least for me.

- Glenn

[brijas99]

Excellent post to get things going !

"Who really wants to play something as nuanced as a cannon? Loud and bassy isn't my cup of tea."

I absolutely do, and love everything about dreadnoughts, it's my cup of tea, and I'll drink that tea up all day long. Dreads are the best. I love um, love um, love um.

And that's all I have to say about that !

[jpricewood]

Because nothing else sounds like this:

[Song]

The dreadnought is the quintessential guitar imo

[Lee Callicutt]

My ears are in my chest?

[Spineycat]

The attraction to dreadnoughts- Neil Young.

[The Bard Rocks]

I too have always been puzzled when I go into a store and see dread after dread, but little else. I suspect they are they because people buy them. And I suspect people buy them because that's what they have to choose from (I am talking beginner guitarists here). And what you see on TV are - mostly dreads. So beginners do not even think of alternatives until they are better schooled and ready to change.

[seannx]

Some reasons...

Compensation for lack of skill and finesse. Simple chords will boom out at maximum volume, and create an impressive effect.

If one tires of the sound, or simply wants to sell, they can say "great guitar but unfortunately have to let it go because of age related shoulder problems."

Kill banjos.

Fit in with the bluegrass crowd, but for that it’s best to have a Martin.

Will let you dominate the mix. No need to be concerned about a smaller guitar's ability to "cut through the mix."

[mc1]

Originally Posted by jpricewood

Because nothing else sounds like this:

Ok, I'm a Sturgill Simpson fan, more so for his songwriting than his guitar tone, but I have to say that isn't too convincing. To be fair, I think it's the recording and not the guitar.

Here's a nice npr concert with Sturgill: