Dreadnought vs. Grand Auditorium?

[SkipII]

There are no real standards around guitar body styles, despite some efforts on this thread to specify such. Generally—[I]generally[I]—dreads tend to have a deeper tone, and a larger lower bout. GAs often come available with a cutaway.

As much culture as practicality, dreads are often the di regueur for bluegrass and strumming, while many fingerstyle players prefer a GA or smaller.

Only you can choose what is best for you by playing several of both styles. Therein will you discover the answer.

[RP]

Originally Posted by SkipII

There are no real standards around guitar body styles, despite some efforts on this thread to specify such...

I waited and hoped that someone would say this. Since this thread was initiated 13 years ago, I have to wonder if the OOP (original original poster) was referring specifically to Taylors. Although that wasn't mentioned, I'm thinking that in 2008 the Grand Auditorium was largely associated with Taylors. If so, the easy answer is that Taylor's GA was pretty much a dread with a more tightly pinched waist....

Originally Posted by Herb Hunter

A grand auditorium guitar, at least the way Taylor makes them, is as large as a dreadnought but with a tighter waist.

From Taylor's web site:

Grand Auditorium
Body Width...........16 Inches
Body Depth............4 5/8 Inches
Body Length.........20 Inches
Overall Length......41 Inches

Dreadnought
Body Width...........16 Inches
Body Depth............4 5/8 Inches
Body Length.........20 Inches
Overall Length......41 Inches

[InsertNameHere]

In my humble opinion, the dreadnaught is the king of all steel-stringed acoustics, so that should tell you where my preferences lie. Dreads seem to have a bit more mids and bass, but exceptions abound. I've never owned a grand auditorium but that'll probably change some day.

[whvick]

Others have explained the difference.
Years ago I knew I needed a D-28 and my wife and kids chipped in to help me get one. I started shopping and discovered I played more finger style and a Taylor was better. I bought a 414.
But you never get the desire for that Martin boom to go away!!!
My wife bought me a D—15 and it was great , but I still like the Wider necks more. My son asked for it and off it went to MN.
So I am still looking for the boom and the easy playing neck.
I have an orpheum (Tacoma import) that is a deep body auditorium that seems to be the best of both worlds, but I still have my eye out for a good dred...maybe a 12 fret.
Play a lot and see what is best for you.

[LakewoodM32Fan]

While I agree there are no absolutes, there are general laws of physics in terms of surface area, moving amounts of air required to achieve certain frequencies, etc.

For example, I have a very lightly built, highly resonant SCGC OM adi/EIR. It actually shamed a 914ce I traded in for it in terms of projection.

When recording, I generally have the meters roughly the same between that OM and my GAs and Ds. However, there's just a low frequency, especially when low notes are palm muted, that a D, and to some extent a GA, can present that is essentially not available in any of my OMs.

It's like speakers and their driver size. There are many things that impact speaker performance. So you can put the same 100RMS amp to a 6" speaker and an 18" speaker. For most of the human-audible frequency spectrum they can hit roughly the same SPL...but for the lowest frequencies the 18" is going to do things the 6" can't do. Now that's an extreme example, as an OM vs. a D is not as drastic as a 6" vs 18" cone, but it's also not an insignificant difference when you factor in topwood square inch surface area and the added depth of over 1/2 to 3/4" depending on the OM and D.

Now GAs tend to be much closer to D than OMs are. But I will say my two Ds still represent the lower frequencies a little better than my GAs. But I'd definitely say the GA is closer to the D than the OM, at least in my limited experience.

[Guitarplayer_PR]

Originally Posted by Erethon

Hello ladies and gents! Another newbie with another question here. I was hoping I could be informed as to what the differences are between dreadnoughts and grand auditoriums. More specifically, how do they typically differ tone wise, playability, etc.? Is one usually meant for one type of playing and the other another? Thank you!

Given the fact that Grand Auditorium is from Taylor ballpark, I'll assume that you're talking about something similar, Taylor or not.

I've owned both GA's and dreadnoughts (curiously, the only Martin I've owned was not a dreadnought). Dreadnoughts are built for power, GAs are built for versatility. Of course, any good guitar can do whatever you want it to do; but a dreadnought is at its best with people who want power and more bass, basically strummers and flatpickers. Grand Auditorium guitars are the perfect type of guitar for people who do different stuff, not just ONE style. For me, as a musician at church, they're the best guitar for church music, which covers many styles and variations of them.

[StrumChi]

Just my opinion: if dreadnoughts are comfortable for you, stick with that. Grand auditoriums have a bit less tone, but to me are way more comfortable. Plus they make excellent couch playing guitars.

[GuitarDrummer]

Again...great to read all the viewpoints here. I posted a thread on Taylor v Martin a few weeks ago. This topic is the next one. I've learned a lot. I came to the conclusion that if the Martin gave me a little deeper, broader tone...I could do a GC Martin and get the best of both worlds...so to speak. I'm more of a strummer (hey, I'm a drummer) but want a sound that's full yet crisp/defined on the high end.

Thanks guys... (your drummer)

[Guitarplayer_PR]

Originally Posted by StrumChi

Just my opinion: if dreadnoughts are comfortable for you, stick with that. Grand auditoriums have a bit less tone, but to me are way more comfortable. Plus they make excellent couch playing guitars.

Less tone or less volume? There's no such thing as "less tone." Tone is not quantifiable

[Glennwillow]

It's interesting to see this ancient thread revived. The difference between dreads and GA body designs, I think, makes for an interesting discussion even if it has been hashed over more than a few times.

In 2008 I would have certainly identified the GA design with Taylor. I own a 2002 Taylor 514CE, a 1967 Martin D-35, and a 2018 Martin D-45. So I have some feel for those differences between a dread and a GA.

However, I bought a used handmade Gerald Sheppard GA guitar from an AGF friend a few years ago and it's a very different species from a Taylor GA. Today the use of the GA body design by other builders really changes this discussion, at least in my mind. My Sheppard GA doesn't sound like a dread, but it also sounds dramatically different from any Taylor I have ever played. More bass but still a balanced guitar, a more delicate, articulate tone, more volume, way more responsive.

So we can generalize to some extent but we also need to be aware of exceptions.

- Glenn

[donlyn]

Dreadnought vs. Grand Auditorium?


First off, each guitar must be judged on it's own merits, not necessarily by the name of the brand or name of the model/design.

Bouncing off something Glenn wrote,

In 2008 I would have certainly identified the GA design with Taylor.

I feel that on the whole, a Jumbo shape provides the best overall balance for a fingerpicker (me). Many of the guitar shapes in the Taylor line-up are derivative of, or are related to, a jumbo shape, including their Grand Concerts, Grand Auditoriums, Grand Symphonys, Jumboes (discontinued), and Grand Orchestras (which replaced their jumboes in the line-up). They all have that larger lower bout, pinched waist, and narrower upper bout.

This is why the Taylor Grand Auditorium (supposedly their original design) is different from most other company's GA designs, even if in the same-sized ballpark. I think the Taylor GA is more comparable to some medium sized jumboes. And I blame marketing people for making 'jumbo' more than just a size (definition of 'jumbo' is 'large'), but also a shape which comes in different sizes.

And as far as needing Mediums for a guitar, I use the hybrid Elixir HD Light gauge (.013 - .053) on most of my 6 stringers. This includes my GCs, -J-200 Jumboes, and Grand Orchestra. This HD gauge helps the overall balance, especially because the larger body guitars don't really need heavy bass strings, and the smaller body guitars get a 'bump' from the medium treble strings. And more balance is better for fingerpickers. At least for this fingerpicker.

Don
.

[boneuphtoner]

As several others have pointed out, although most people think of Taylor when the hear Grand Auditorium, there are plenty of other manufacturers who make variations on essentially the same theme - guitars with the same depth and lower bout width as a dread, but with a tighter waist. Most dreads will give you a more bass heavy tone, but that is just a generalization.