Recommend me a really FAT sounding acoustic

[Mike McLenison]

Martin HD-35 - It's bracing is thinner than most other Martin dreadnoughts by 1/16" so resonates more with greater volume in the bottom end. I have one and have had other Martins (D-28's) to compare it with.

[rokdog49]

I don’t know about the others but my J45 Standard has a fat round tone.

[TiffanyGuitar]

I am sort of a Gibson guy - +1 on the J-45.

[LakewoodM32Fan]

Originally Posted by fts06

I'm looking for an acoustic with a deep bass and a really thick/dry/rounder tone. NOT bright. In fact, a bit dark. It can be a dreadnought or even a big jumbo.

I'm open to any suggestions.

I know two people rarely agree on the exact definition of “fat” or “dark”. But I was looking for a more vintage sounding dread with deep yet articulate bass that was on the other end of the spectrum from my Lakewood (which is very Taylor in tone). I auditioned 8 or so dreads from Collings, bourgeois, scgc and H&D and the one I bought in my signature ticked off all those boxes in spades!

[hubcapsc]

J45/J50/Southern Jumbo

Martin HD 28

I was on the couch at the guitar store yesterday playing
my 57 Country Western (it belongs up there on the J45 line)
and a 2013 HD-28... They seemed very different to me...

-Mike

[Coop47]

Originally Posted by Mike McLenison

Martin HD-35 - It's bracing is thinner than most other Martin dreadnoughts by 1/16" so resonates more with greater volume in the bottom end. I have one and have had other Martins (D-28's) to compare it with.

The HD-35 is the most bass-heavy guitar I've ever encountered, but can also have that bright shimmer the OP is looking to avoid. Same for the J40 and Guild F55 (both of which I own and love). For warm and round and slightly dark, I think the Gibson types might be the way to go (even though I'm not a big fan of that type of tone).

[Rosewood99]

Originally Posted by fts06

Thanks. Since you have both j15 and j45... Does j45 sound fatter than the 15?

Absolutely, and the rosewood J45 takes it up a notch.

[J Patrick]

It may be that specific examples of certain models may be the way to approach acquiring a fat sounding guitar. I have had a few guitars that I have thought of as fat sounding. One was a 58 D-18...another was 1998 Santa Cruz 000...mahogany/German spruce....another was an all Sycamore Santa Cruz H-13...another was a 71 D-28S....kinda all over the place...

....that said I would start my search with 12 fret Dreadnoughts....

[blindboyjimi]

Originally Posted by Goat Mick

I believe the Southern Jumbo is a long scale like the Advanced Jumbo. The J-45 / J-50 are both short scale.

The SJ is short scale. The AJ is long scale. The Country Western is the plain top SJ as the J50 is the plain top J45.

Originally Posted by min7b5

Some kind of 12-fret Indian rosewood guitar with forward shifted bracing, and sitka top is my first thought.

There are tons of suggestions here and this is THE only one I’d agree with. Deep, thick, fat bass and round tone is all about a Sitka/Rosewood short scale 12 fret design. The Martin suggestions will give scooped mids and the J35/45/etc are (to me) bright and midrangy. If it had to be a dread I’d go for a Roy Smeck 12-fret in the Gibson camp and the same in the Martin camp but some sort of 12 fret Rosewood dread. If not, the J-40 suggestion would be a great guitar if you needed volume.

But if you want balance you’re talking a 00/000 Sitka/Rosewood 12 fret short scale. My McAlister 000-12 fret, 100 year old Sitka over Brazilian is exactly that. The fattest, warmest, roundest toned guitar I’ve ever played. I describe it as hot chocolate, on a fluffy couch, in front of a fireplace. Thick, warm, big bass with rich overtones and big, fat round trebles yet very balanced.
Good luck with the search.

[Rick Jones]

IMO you're describing an Irish Jumbo, like a Lowden, Avalon or McIlroy.

Compared to my Gibson J-185 my Avalon has got 'rounder' and bigger, fatter notes up the neck on the G, B and high E strings –– largely due to the amount of overtones and resonances it produces from everywhere... in fact, especially if you lightly damp it with your palm, it 'fattens' up the bottom end and throws out big gobs of 'thump' across the whole string array.

My Japanese-built Takamine TNV360 dread (amazing guitars) had as much bass on the low strings but lacked the fatness on the treble side and was very contrastingly bright up the neck.

Before I got this, I had fallen in love with a battered, used Lowden 032 in London's Denmark St, that I remember being even more 'thick' sounding than my own guitar, but I didn't raise the money fast enough and it was gone.

Definitely try and audition one of the Lowden type jumbos!

[BlueStarfish]

How about an all-mahogany dread? Like maybe a Martin D15M?

[6L6]

If you can afford one, a Martin '37 D-28AA can't be beaten.

[fts06]

Originally Posted by BlueStarfish

How about an all-mahogany dread? Like maybe a Martin D15M?

I love the look of those guitars. But my current acoustic is a martin d18 which is also a mahogany martin dread. And I'd consider it as a bright and kind of a thin sounding guitar(not in a bad way).

I should try one though. And a guild d20.

[fts06]

Anyone played a guild d55?

[Coop47]

Originally Posted by fts06

Anyone played a guild d55?

I own a D50 which is essentially the same thing without the bling (I think - Guild nomenclature is all over the place). It's definitely warmer and rounder than a Martin, but with more of a scoop and sparkle than most Gibsons I've played.