Short Scale / Small Body (Dred guy)

[Dothraki]

Figured I’d make a new thread instead of a reply to my other one. After many years playing guitar, I recently started checking out OTHER guitars that aren’t dreadnaughts. I can’t believe I’ve never even given it a thought.


Soo… I have a Kala laminate tenor ukulele from, not a nice solid wood or even a solid top, just a cheaper run of the mill laminate uke, and it always blows me away by how loud and resonant it is every time I play it. The tone is amazing and I swear it’s as loud as my D28 lol. There’s definitely something special about smaller bodies and shorter scale length. I’ve been listening to a lot of parlor guitars, tripple-aughts, 00’s, single 0’s etc…and to my ears there is a general trend that the smaller the better. I feel like the less it takes to move the top, the more you can hear the tone-woods and all the characteristics of the guitar build. Sure a big ol dred will always be booming, loud and have awesome sound erupting out of it…but those smaller guitars seem to have more character, more refined, more depth to the tone. I find myself reaching for the ukulele saying “****, I wish there were two more strings on this”. Because it’s so awesome and woody sounding…and isn’t even solid wood. I started a search for smaller bodied short scales, partly for more flexibility bending and fingerthumping to get a less stiff sound, and found that the tone and overall sound of a lot of them are just melting me away. So good.

I will always have a dreadnaught… you just can’t deny the power…but, I think it will be the short scale small body that I will end up reaching for 90% of the time while chilling on the couch writing tunes and recording fingerstyle singer-songwriter type music. I’ve been thinking about it quite a bit and just can’t get it out of my head now, some of those SS small bodies sound f@#$ng incredible!

I just wanted to put this perspective out there in case there’s anyone like me, who hasn’t given it much thought until 25 years of playing has passed lol. I wish I ventured down this path earlier.

I can’t wait to play some and bring one home in the near future.

[donlyn]

Short Scale / Small Body (Dred guy)

Dothraki,

Here's my reply to your other thread:

I have a Taylor 412e-R spruce/rosewood Grand Concert. Smallish body, but big enough to get the job done, including noticeable bass. My only short scale guitar. Definite 'keeper'.

I fiingerpick all my instruments using my nails as picks.

I've played large body acoustic guitars since the sixties. Settled on Jumboes. Just because. Big 17" Jumboes. Got my first small body acoustic about 10 years ago, a used Taylor 512ce all mahogany Grand Concert. 15" width lower bout, with a small Jumbo body design.
Great guitar, but with a standard scale length.

Liked it so much, I later got a used Taylor 412e-R short scale spruce/rosewood Grand Concert. Even better guitar. Spruce/rosewood seems to be the woods I like the best. Wonderful tone on this one. Only drawback on small body guitars is the possibility of over-driving them, but when played a bit more on the gentle side, they produce amazing tones. It's my only short scale. Strung with Elixir PB HD Lights {.013 - .053}. Basically Medium gauge trebles with Light gauge bass strings. Use this gauge on a lot of my six string guitars. Helps to balance the overall sound.

I also have a few Ukuleles, including a Kala STG tenor, spruce over laminate mahogany. My first Ukulele, bought on a recommendation from an experienced uke player. My favorite ukulele is a 5 string Kala APT5 tenor with a cedar top over an acacia body. Instrument sounds amazing, and with a high/low 'gG' top course I preserve the 're-entrant' treble top string ukulele sound, backed up by a low 'G' for a fuller overall sound.

I love playing 12 string guitar too. For almost everything; all songs are 12 string guitar songs as long as you are playing a 12 string guitar. My 12 string guitar body shapes number three Jumboes and a Grand Orchestra (a big Jumbo with a wider waist).

So know you are not alone in the roads you travel.
Mayna naysa.

Be well and play well,

Don
.

[Daddyo]

I love my Taylor 312CE 12 fret and they also make a 14 fret which would be a bit closer tonally to a dread.

[jaymarsch]

Hi Dothraki,
I haven’t owned a dread in years due to a quirky shoulder injury. I own a few smaller guitars, both short and long scale, and they each bring their own tonal characteristics depending on the builder. A couple of my smaller guitars (a grand concert and a 00) are deeper bodied. This is also another factor that can give a small body guitar some tonal depth in my experience.
And just a friendly reminder, masked profanity is against forum rules so you might want to edit the end of your third paragraph and save our fabulous moderators from the extra work!
Good luck in finding a small guitar that you love playing on the couch.
Best,
Jayne

[Marshall]

Gibson slope dreads (J45 and others) are short scale dread-like instruments. Many mfrs make clones as well from affordable to high-end.

[SRL]

I find myself reaching for the ukulele saying “****, I wish there were two more strings on this”.

Time for a guitalele haha. I rotate through my guitars a lot, some big some small, and I stay pretty fit so I don't have issues with my belly pushing the guitar farther away, which IMO is the main reason why dreadnoughts and jumbos become uncomfortable as people age (and gain weight.)

Reagrding small guitars, some really don't have the bass of the larger instruments — but, others actually get pretty close. For me, I really like my Breedlove Concertinas (I have 2) which have a lot of bass, especially for a 00/000 12 fretter. I think the 12 fret bridge placement helps with that, and also the heavily scalloped bracing with only one tonebar.

So, if you're looking for one, I'd recommend trying out a lot of small guitars, you might find some where the you don't have to sacrifice the bass for the comfort and portability.

[Zaam]

Funny that many of us who grew up playing dreads took a while to discover the joys of smaller bodied guitars. There was a good video posted here a while back on shapes and sizes —
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2dLy7nKPn8

[lowrider]

The Martin 00-18 and 00-28 have been getting a lot of love around here lately.

[generalliamsayn]

As a fan of old-school, resonant, woody guitar tones (and a spruce/mahogany junkie), my pick for a small guitar is the Gibson L-00 or LG-2.

Though I think the LG-2 is the more versatile - and better for strumming, as a guy that does more fingerpicking I lean towards the L-00.