Would you recommend Dreadnought For fingerstyle solo?

[wisedennis]

Would you recommend Dreadnought* For fingerstyle solo?

Or OM? or GA? Concert? And why?


Thanks!

Dennis

[RP]

Any of those will work fine. The important thing is with which the player feels most comfortable...

[Parlorman]

I love 12 fret single and double O guitars for finger style playing. IMHO they provide much better balance and nuanced tone than larger guitars.

I played solo finger style on a Martin D28 for a couple of decades before discovering the wonder of smaller guitars. I’ll never go back.

[Matts67]

You can, but my OM and 000 sized guitars are far more responsive and comfortable to play than a dread. I like a slightly narrower string spacing on my dreads, and I like them strung with medium strings. On my smaller guitars, I prefer a wider bridge spacing and light strings - those two things alone make a huge difference.

[SColumbusSt]

Any guitar is good for finger style. Hedges, Kottke, and Fahey all played Dreds among other guitars.

Keith

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by RP

Any of those will work fine. The important thing is with which the player feels most comfortable...

Absolutely correct.
When Pete Townshend plays his Gibson SJ-200 on stage he doesn't stop and change guitars in the middle of a song for the fingerstyle solo. (at 2.25.)

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by wisedennis

Would you recommend Dreadnought* For fingerstyle solo?

Or OM? or GA? Concert? And why?


Thanks!

Dennis

From sonic and behavioral standpoints, Dreads can work fine for fingerstyle. Ergonomic compatibility depends on the player.

[sloar]

I play fingerstyle solo on my GS Mini and my Taylor 320 dread and I like them both just fine. I find it easier on the Mini though.

[tnvol]

I play fingerstyle on all my guitars. Sometimes my HD-28 has me feeling a tad cramped. I just play my mandolin for a while and then go back to the HD-28 and smile..

[llew]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

Absolutely correct.
When Pete Townshend plays his Gibson SJ-200 on stage he doesn't stop and change guitars in the middle of a song for the fingerstyle solo. (at 2.25.)

Just sent one of those off to be consigned. Found out I'm just a dread guy at heart.

[Brucebubs]

Originally Posted by llew

Just sent one of those off to be consigned. Found out I'm just a dread guy at heart.

uh no! ... I have a new 2020 Custom Shop Historic Series 1957 SJ-200 in Vintage Sunburst on order ... wonder if I'll get it this year!

[DukeX]

Well, I play fingerstyle on all guitars. But a Dread wouldn't be my first choice. In fact, I let a nice Larrivee D-05 go over 20 years ago for that very reason (as I got further and further into fingerstyle). I replaced it with a Webber OM that I still own and play regularly. But to each his/her own.

I also play fingerstyle on a GA and 000 slope.

[darylcrisp]

Bill Mize, Ed Gerhard, if the size fits you they sound great

Bill did have the fretboard changed on his old Martin, thinking 1 3/4" nut not sure the saddle string spacing(if memory serves its from the 60's)

https://www.billmize.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCt4K0caApM


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn6A0QpgEIU



Ed Gerhard
https://virtuerecords.com/

Ed uses a dread built by Jason Bowerman when Jason worked at 2OH(Breedlove). its a quilted sapele, sounds and plays wonderful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYxdTh25bEg


here's Ed talking about his guitar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4mikPAHqWY

[wisedennis]

Originally Posted by darylcrisp

Bill Mize, Ed Gerhard, if the size fits you they sound great

Bill did have the fretboard changed on his old Martin, thinking 1 3/4" nut not sure the saddle string spacing(if memory serves its from the 60's)

https://www.billmize.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCt4K0caApM


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fn6A0QpgEIU


Ed Gerhard
https://virtuerecords.com/

Ed uses a dread built by Jason Bowerman when Jason worked at 2OH(Breedlove). its a quilted sapele, sounds and plays wonderful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYxdTh25bEg


here's Ed talking about his guitar
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4mikPAHqWY

Nice guitars and amazing skill! it sounded so well live

[Glennwillow]

I think it depends on the dreadnought.

I play fingerstyle on all my guitars, and I have two dreadnoughts, a 1967 D-35 and a 2018 D-45.

The D-35 has non-scalloped 1/4" top bracing and so it's more responsive than the non-scalloped 5/16" top bracing on a D-18 or D-28. My D-45 has 5/16" bracing but the bracing is heavily scalloped and forward shifted, making it more responsive to finger picking.

I like the bigger sound and bass of a good dreadnought, but a stiff dreadnought, good for Bluegrass playing, is not my idea of a good finger picking guitar. I like the 1 11/16" nut width on the older dreadnoughts, and I never have cared what the string spacing is at the bridge.

This is my '67 D-35 on Paul Simon's "The Boxer:"



I also have some OM and GA guitars and a very nice Gibson Advanced Jumbo. All these make good fingerstyle guitars.

- Glenn