A small dreadnought?

Is there such a thing as a "small" or "baby size" dreadnought, that has the same shape, same big sound projection, but just shrunk down a notch or two so that it would be more comfortable for a smaller person to play?

I've seen Paul Simon, who is definitely a smaller sized human (barely taller than me), play a dreadnought, but the ones I've tried were just too large and made my right shoulder sore very quickly.

The gears in my mind are turning this morning on the question of how to maximize sound produced with bare fingers on steel strings without amplification.

Just a thought... And probably a passing one. No rush to reply. I'll be noodling on this topic for a while. Thx.

[jacot23]

Martin's D-16 is Dreadnought size but 000 depth and very comfortable to play; can get them(or could) with either Rosewood or Mahogany b/s.

Martin also has a junior size Dreadnought that's 3/4 size and still sounds pretty loud.

[reeve21]

https://www.martinguitar.com/guitars...series-guitars

[redwards]

There's the Martin dreadnought junior but maybe that's going too small?

[rollypolly]

If it has to be a dread, it's the Martin Dread Jr. , Taylor Big Baby, maybe a D-16e or Gibson J-45 studio which are both thinner but still pretty full size. I had the Big Baby and it was definitely more comfortable than a full size dread. I bet a quick search on Guitar Center website could turn up another 10-12 options from companies like Yamaha, Alvarez, etc.

[Lillis]

My Larrivee SD40 fits that description. Check them out on their website which there is a link to on the AGF homepage. They have a nice comparison tool so you can see all the differences in dimensions between body sizes side by side.

[llew]

Check out Larrivee's "L" body shape guitars.

[davenumber2]

The Gibson Songwriter was designed by Ren Ferguson and is slightly smaller than a standard dread.

[JackB1]

many options for you....
Gibson's studio guitars are dread sized but thinner. But why not just go for a 000 guitar?

[jmjohnson]

Maybe a Grand-auditorium size - like a taylor x14 or martin GPC?

Or a Martin M-36?

Both take lights strings, and are closer to the dread size than a OM/000.

[UncleJesse]

The ultimate in small dreads:

https://thenorthamericanguitar.com/p...ruce-pre-owned

[llew]

Originally Posted by UncleJesse

The ultimate in small dreads:

https://thenorthamericanguitar.com/p...ruce-pre-owned

Yeah...that is a very nice version of a smaller dread. Always been intrigued with Caleb's builds.

[JackB1]

The OP is talking about the angle of the right arm over the top of the guitar. I don't see how anything will do what he/she wants unless that angle is reduced.

[bufflehead]

The Big Baby Taylor is a 15/16 size dreadnought, with a much more narrow body at 4 inches. Makes for a great travel guitar, fun to play, but it doesn't come near the tone or volume of an actual dread.

[dnf777]

I will always sing praises for my Martin Dred-jr. Plays and *almost* sounds like a full dred. Nice neck feel even for my larger hands, and you can "get on it" when needed, for some respectable volume.