Parlor guitar for blues

[AndrewG]

Faith Mercury 'Classic Burst'. All solid, Red cedar over mahogany, mahogany neck, Macassar ebony fretboard, bridge and pins. Comes with a good hard case too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d90eS-WpOy0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAaLYTzTELo

[generalliamsayn]

Originally Posted by Fatfinger McGee

If you're looking for a classic blues box tone, check out Recording King.

I agree but keep in mind they vary quite a bit. I played 3 identical RK models at GC about a year ago, one sounded and played great - lively and room-filling for its small body size. The second one sounded dull by comparison (it wasn't the strings) and the third sounded good but had a bit of a twist in its neck.

I think QC might be an issue with RK, but when they're good, they're really good, especially for the $, but there are dogs in there.

[Fatfinger McGee]

Originally Posted by generalliamsayn

I agree but keep in mind they vary quite a bit. I played 3 identical RK models at GC about a year ago, one sounded and played great - lively and room-filling for its small body size. The second one sounded dull by comparison (it wasn't the strings) and the third sounded good but had a bit of a twist in its neck.



I think QC might be an issue with RK, but when they're good, they're really good, especially for the $, but there are dogs in there.

I had an almost identical experience with them at two different stores and agree. But what I liked about all of them, even the duds, is they sounded cheap in the best possible way. A guitar built for entry level no fuss good times.

[redir]

Originally Posted by GroovyException

You don't need a parlour guitar to play blues. The early blues guys played them because they were readily available and easy to carry around. But I've seen photos of John Lee Hooker with a Goya dread, R L Burnside with a 00018, Robert Belfour with a Cort jumbo etc.

FWIW, I have an Eastman "parlour" (0 body size) and an old 1930's Stella (concert size). I prefer the latter for country blues because of its loud, dry, ladder braced tone and the wider board and string spacing. It sounds far better with a slide too.

Waterloos may be beyond your budget, but you could consider a used Guild M20 if you don't object to a 14 fretter. All mahogany, short scale, 1 3/4" nut and it's a Guild so it's instantly cooler than pretty much anything else.

If you're looking for something vintage you could look here:

http://vintageparlorguitars.com/inventory.html

and maybe here:

https://www.vintagebluesguitars.com/inventory/

+1 on the ladder braced guitars for blues playing. There is just something about that bracing style that nails it. Punchy, unfocused, loud and even brash tone. Perfect for jump jiving blues.

[leew3]

Larrivee makes some exceptional parlor size guitars that are loud, responsive, well built with high quality wood and workmanship and won't break the bank.

[mawmow]

+1 for Alvarez parlor, as I also own an AP66ESB (all Mahogany)

The AP70 is Spruce/Mahogany.

[DukeX]

I'd have a chat with this fellow:
http://vintageparlorguitars.com/

[tnvolfan5]

Gretsch Jim Dandy. I used mine at the last two local Blues Challenges and both times several other Blues musicians complimented on how good it sounded.

[Realbluesman]

Originally Posted by mawmow

+1 for Alvarez parlor, as I also own an AP66ESB (all Mahogany)

The AP70 is Spruce/Mahogany.

Minor correction: AP70 is spruce/rosewood.

[bloozeman]

Originally Posted by tnvolfan5

Gretsch Jim Dandy. I used mine at the last two local Blues Challenges and both times several other Blues musicians complimented on how good it sounded.

The jim dandy is extremely cheap but surprisingly has a decent blues tone to it. I've been looking at them.

[zombywoof]

Despite what marketing teams will tell you, the best thing about the blues is no special gear required. Just find a guitar that you like the feel and sound of. If you have what Rev. Davis once called a sportin' right hand it will all come together.

Not even close to a parlor but here is one of my favorites - an Oscar Schmidt-made Galiano. A nice dose of raw power with notes that just leap off the strings.

[Bain]

In my lack of experience in guitar playing opinion I have two guitars the Furch g crc and a Martin dread junior , I am learning the blues very slowly but out of the two guitars I have the Martin jnr sounds really bluesy to me , I dont suppose you could br classed as a parlor guitar but it is small bodied "..............

[pegleghowell]

Most modern parlor guitars that I have played don`t seem to have the projection and bark of the 1920`s/30`s examples I have played.If I were after a parlor I`d look to see what 1k would get me in a vintage guitar...not much perhaps nowadays?!!.

[Silly Moustache]

Originally Posted by bloozeman

Thinking of possibly getting a parlor guitar for playing blues. What is a decent guitar to check out that won't break the bank? Say 1k budget?

Its ironic isn't it. amongst us are peple who wil psend thousands to get the finest possible tones from guitars made of exotic woods from all over the planet, and then there is the blues player (note: I'm not looking down on anyone because I include myself).

So we want to get an "authentic" sound for acoustic blues.

Those blues heroes were largely itinerant entertainers who payed anything they could get hold of, ad many of the were the mail order stuff by Stella/Harmony bought from pawn shops.

Yes of course there were exceptions - Broonzy played a Martin as did Josh white , despite his promo deal with Ovation. Gary Davis played an SJ200!

Those who played what we call "parlour" guitars, simply because those were more readily available until he '30s.

Many of those great recordings were made on cheap guitars, so now we want to buy cheap sounding guitars, but they should be perfect playable.

I'm laughing at myself as I bought my Waterloo WL12 in 2016 - a relatively expensive guitar built to look and sound like a Kalamazoo or some such .... and I love it.

It isn't a -parlour as it is pretty much the same body size as a Martin 00 ... or Gibson l-00 I guess.

So what do we get in a smaller guitar? My WL12 has a maple back and sides and so, like an archtop it has an immediacy and the tone is , I think, uncoloured by the back. you hear the tone of the top , which is simple but acceptable sitka, and that's it: simple, direct, honest. No subtle nuances or complexity that one might get from a rosewood guitar.

Ironically many blues player, now prefer the sound and design of the Martin OM - a guitar built exactly NOT for subtle fingerstyles but , equipped with a long thin fretboard for chopping our tenor banjo chords. (didn't work for that either)

Although there is no evidence to say the Robert Johnson ever played a Gibson L-0 or L-1, I'm surprised that Gibson never had Epiphone knock out a few in that design. They surely be the obvious choice for cheap funky blues playing.

I have to say that whether it is my overactive imagination or not but I have played some pre-war Gibsons which have screamed "blues tone" and feel to me.

Current Gibsons? No.