Parlor Guitar Question

[wildbill1962]

Howdy everyone. Back again for your great wisdom and advice. Dont have a good music shop local, would have to drive 1 1/2 hour, so will be ordering online.

Want to pick up a small acoustic, 400 or less and was wondering what your options are in that price range. I mainly strum on classic country (cowboy chords)

Looking forward in hearing your advice

Thanks
Bill

[TBman]

I have two smaller guitars, one an Alvarez AP66SB which is I guess a 00 size. It was $360 without a case (I later got a hardshell case as a gift). It has a nut width of 1.75" and a scale of 24"

The other is a Seagull Coastline Cedar Folk which is a bit bigger, more like a classical sized guitar. It has a solid cedar top, laminate cherry back and sides. It has a larger nut of 1.8" though and a scale of 24.8". It was under $400 when I bought it about 10 years ago.

I don't strum, but the Seagull has a bigger voice than the Alvarez. I'm not sure if anything smaller than a dread is a good idea for a strummer though.

[zombywoof]

Make the drive. 1 1/2 hours is nothing. I used to schlep twice that far just to get to my repair guy in the middle of Nowhere Missouri. Make a day of it and have lunch.

[wildbill1962]

Thanks for the replies ! I was looking at the Seagull earlier on MF.

I might have to make the drive and see what GC has in stock.

Thanks again
Bill

[L20A]

The word Parlor is open to interpretation.
It can be a 000/OM or smaller.

If you are not looking to go real small, GC has several good choices in your price range.
Alvarez, Washburn, Seagull, Martin, Taylor, Yamaha and Epiphone all make smaller guitars that are carried by GC.

I suggest that you go on line and look at what they have to offer.
Now if you see some that you like, call them to see if your store has them in stock.
If they don't, you can have them bring one in for you to try.
You are not obligated to buy it.

A lot of small guitars loose depth/bass.
Be sure that you try the guitars out to see how they sound to you.

Enjoy the journey.

[wildbill1962]

Originally Posted by L20A

The word Parlor is open to interpretation.
It can be a 000/OM or smaller.

If you are not looking to go real small, GC has several good choices in your price range.
Alvarez, Washburn, Seagull, Martin, Taylor, Yamaha and Epiphone all make smaller guitars that are carried by GC.

I suggest that you go on line and look at what they have to offer.
Now if you see some that you like, call them to see if your store has them in stock.
If they don't, you can have them bring one in for you to try.
You are not obligated to buy it.

A lot of small guitars loose depth/bass.
Be sure that you try the guitars out to see how they sound to you.

Enjoy the journey.

Thank you for the great advice. I have not been into a GC in years, so I will take your advice.

[Steadfastly]

Originally Posted by wildbill1962

Thanks for the replies ! I was looking at the Seagull earlier on MF.

I might have to make the drive and see what GC has in stock.

Thanks again
Bill

I have played the Seagull. It doesn't compare to the Alvarez AP70 which I just bought for a friend and it is the best parlour I have played. I am sure there are some very high end ones that are better but this is like new and I mean like new. There is not a mark on it. I paid $199.00 USD + $40.00 shipping. You can likely get 10% off at MF if you are wanting one not previously owned.

[RRuskin]

Originally Posted by L20A

The word Parlor is open to interpretation.
It can be a 000/OM or smaller.

If you are not looking to go real small, GC has several good choices in your price range.
Alvarez, Washburn, Seagull, Martin, Taylor, Yamaha and Epiphone all make smaller guitars that are carried by GC.

I suggest that you go on line and look at what they have to offer.
Now if you see some that you like, call them to see if your store has them in stock.
If they don't, you can have them bring one in for you to try.
You are not obligated to buy it.

A lot of small guitars loose depth/bass.
Be sure that you try the guitars out to see how they sound to you.

Enjoy the journey.

In Martin parlance, anything smaller than a single-O size is considered parlor-size.

[lowrider]

Martin Dread Jr. With the 15% coupon from MF, you can get it for about $425 and then you'll get about $40 in MF credit. You'll get a lot better tone than from most of the other small guitars. 1 3/4 nut.

Second place if you like 1 11/16 nut; Yamaha fs 800 series, a little bigger.

[TokyoNeko]

Originally Posted by L20A

The word Parlor is open to interpretation.
It can be a 000/OM or smaller.

I'm sorry, but putting a 000/OM in the "parlor" category is like calling a midsize sedan (like a Honda Accord) an "economy" car. That's too loose for an interpretation IMHO.

As for the OP's inquiry, the Yamaha CSF series (3M or 1M) may be worth exploring.

[steve223]

I have a Recording King RP 06 single 0 that's a nice sounding guitar 1 3\4 at the nut. solid top 12 fret slot head. When I bought mine i think it was right at 400 with a gator hard case...I have seen them lately for around 200 bucks without a case. I think mine was well worth the 400 bucks I paid for it there's a bunch of videos of them being played on YouTube .

[gr81dorn]

Art & Lutherie Americana series parlors are hard to beat in the price point. $399 with electronics and gig bag and they look, play and sound fantastic.

[fazool]

Ibanez Artwood AC-240. It's a concert size so a little bigger that a parlor guitar, but it is a short scale guitar. Incredible value . My favorite recommendation for a sub-$400 guitar.

And for cowboy chords this all mahogany option would be great, I think!

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by TokyoNeko

I'm sorry, but putting a 000/OM in the "parlor" category is like calling a midsize sedan (like a Honda Accord) an "economy" car. That's too loose for an interpretation IMHO.

As for the OP's inquiry, the Yamaha CSF series (3M or 1M) may be worth exploring.

Yup.

The 000 12 fret was the largest possible Martin guitar until 1931.
the OM (Orchestra Model) was a 14 fret version with skinny neck intended for us in "Orchestras" (there a clue in the name) but the Gibson L-5 and similar archtops got the gig. The OM was introduced in 1929 and discontinued in 1933.

Dreadnoughts came out (under the Martin brand) in 1931, and was turned into a rhythm guitar (also called OM) in 1934.

The 000 was designed and designated as an Auditorium, the 00 Grand concert, and the size 0 a "concert".

The rare size 1 is a "Standard, and the size 2 designated "amateur" and described in the Martin catalogues "a small handy size for general knockabout use".

The dreadnought was originally a Hawaiian model with a changeable nut if playing in Spanish style was necessary.

Gibsons introduced the L-0 in 1926 which was similr in size to the Size 0, and the L-1 became a similar size to the 00 in 1930. the L-00 turned up around 1932, with a similar body size to the Martin 00.
Gibson brought out lots of very similar models with many different designations, between the late 20s and '40s and the "Jumbo" came out in 1934 - obviously to compete with the dreadnought.
there is no such thing as "parlour" or kitchen, lounge or bathroom guitar but most deemed adequate for playing at a soiree in your house were no larger than a 00 or l-00. In other words about the same size as a European classical or "Spanish" guitar (368 m/m - or 14.5" lower bout).

[Guitarplayer_PR]

Originally Posted by L20A

The word Parlor is open to interpretation.
It can be a 000/OM or smaller.

If you are not looking to go real small, GC has several good choices in your price range.
Alvarez, Washburn, Seagull, Martin, Taylor, Yamaha and Epiphone all make smaller guitars that are carried by GC.

I suggest that you go on line and look at what they have to offer.
Now if you see some that you like, call them to see if your store has them in stock.
If they don't, you can have them bring one in for you to try.
You are not obligated to buy it.

A lot of small guitars loose depth/bass.
Be sure that you try the guitars out to see how they sound to you.

Enjoy the journey.

A 000 or an OM is usually noticeably bigger than what we usually identify as parlor.