My acoustic adventure today

[weltyj]

Today I travelled up to Dusty Strings in Seattle to sample a range of guitars. I am really impressed with the staff -- they let me sit in a semi-private booth so I could play the guitars away from the twanging and banging in the rest of the store. I can heartily recommend Dusty Strings based on my experience. The prices seem to be reasonable too.

I am in particular interested in short scale, and was able to make a straight on comparison which really helped me understand how much easier the short scale is. The most direct comparison was two Collings C10's, one a 25.5" scale and the other 24.875. The tops were both Sitka, but the short scale had EIR back/sides and the long scale had Mahogany, so there's no chance I could evaluate tonal differences to to scale length. They both have a 1 3/4" nut.

And, for me, at least the ease of playing the "long reach", barred on the 2nd fret, pinky up on the 7th fret was noticeable.

That question answered -- I played a Collings OM with Adirondack top, Webber OM, Goodall Standard, R. Taylor Style 1, Santa Cruze F model, Martin 000-18 and 000-18ge. About half were short scale guitars. I could always notice the easier playability of the short scales.

If I was going to take one home, it would've been the Webber or R. Taylor, both of those felt very natural to my hands, and had the Webber been a short scale ooooh I would have had a tough time walking away with out a tear or two

I think, given my budget (up to $3k) and ultimate desires, a cedar top Webber 00 would be a great fit for me.

Time for patience, me thinks

[Fred]

Yup, Dusty Strings is a great place. You might want to try a Huss & Dalton 00...small body, big volume, rich sound, short-scale. I'd think Dusty carries them.

[JStotes]

Dusty has some great stuff.
You can check out Huss & Dalton and Santa Cruz at A Sharp in Renton if you're looking to compare those brands as well.