Do you own a 00?

[Dominick]

Here's my pair...I'll give em up when they cover me with dirt.

[Rudy4]

Originally Posted by KevinH

Lately I've been on a hunt for the elusive Larrivee 00. I think I might have more luck searching for Bigfoot.

But it made me wonder if Larrivee 00 guitars are either wildly popular, and so are snatched up quick, or maybe Larrivee finds that body size to be so unpopular that they don't make many. Right now, there are quite a few smaller (parlor/travel) and larger (OM, L, D) Larrivees on Reverb, but only two 00, both of which are unusual models, costing $5K and $6K. I've systematically gone through Larrivee's list of 129 dealers in the US and have found only two 00s, whose availability I haven't actually confirmed yet (many that show up online are actually sold already).

Rather than limit this to Larrivee owners, I'm curious if you own any brand of roughly 00-size guitar. Something about the size of Martin's 00, Taylors GC bodies, Breedlove's Concertina, etc, with a lower bout somewhere in the range of 14-15".

I think there are a lot of players who are looking to "larger than parlor / smaller than OM" size guitars.

First, go back to mikiekimi's post and take a look at that Guild M-20 that's hanging up in the photo. Consider it.

When I was delving deeply in the same general direction you are looking toward I decided I'd build a smaller body mahogany 14 fret slot head. I went with just slightly bigger than a size 0, but with slightly deeper overall depth. I wanted to use some of the logic that resulted in Santa Cruz's H series of guitars, so that figured in to my final choice, too. I was very particular about the shape, and there are super-imposed profiles at the topic link that show the body profiles and sizes. My eye is drawn to the proportion of upper bout to waist, and the standard shapes seemed odd to me, so I wanted to change that perspective a bit. (That's one of the reasons I like the Guild M-20...)

I posted information about my new guitar, photos, and build details here:

https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/...d.php?t=579732

I'm not suggesting you take up guitar building, but just wanted to say that size 0 and other choices such as the Guild M-20 might really appeal to you once you try them.

Larravee makes great guitars (I recently sold my L-05) but the size 00 Larrivees may prove too difficult to find.

[TRose]

I have a Martin 00-28VS and Pono 00-40VS. They are both great sounding and comfortable to play. I don’t gig but just play around the house. I find smaller guitars work best for me. I have a few classical that are also smaller bodied and love them.

[hermithollow]

Double Os are my second favorite size to build. I like the 12 fret longer body type. I usually make them long scale (25.4") I think the longer soundboard and bridge placement make a better sounding instrument. They are about the same size as a classical, which I am also fond of.

[Fatfinger McGee]

I’m a convert to OO body size, feels perfect for solo play.

I recently bought a OO-03R off the wall at one of the stores in my area, and it had hung there for 6 months. No idea why, it’s a really nice guitar. It smells so good too, it’s like guitar potpourri. I wasn’t looking for one, just a happy accident.

I also got a cedar/mahogany short scale Pono OO just last week. Better action out of the box than the Larrivee with a setup, nice dry tone with more bass. Pretty nice guitar for the money, if they have any more in stock.

That said, if anyone wants to trade either of them for a Martin 00-18 Authentic, I’m in .

[KevinH]

Originally Posted by Rudy4

I think there are a lot of players who are looking to "larger than parlor / smaller than OM" size guitars.

First, go back to mikiekimi's post and take a look at that Guild M-20 that's hanging up in the photo. Consider it.
.....
I posted information about my new guitar, photos, and build details here:

Thanks Rudy. I'll take a look at it. That's a beautiful guitar you built!

[welshruss]

Originally Posted by pagedr

I own multiple, it's my absolute favorite acoustic body size. For me there's nothing better than a 00.

Same here all 4 of my guitars are 12 fret 00’s.

[min7b5]

[dhalbert]

Cheapy: An Alvarez AP70 12-fret is my main guitar (out of two).

One thing about 00's for me: I find the neck is too low if I hold it horizontally. It really bothers my fretting wrist. I really have to use a NeckUp (or a strap).

[bufflehead]

Zero. I keep wanting one, but every time I A/B an 00 with an 000, I the bigger guitar just sounds better.

[Cool555]

I love guitars with lower bouts in the 14-15” range. The first 4 guitars in my signature all fall within that range.

[mercy]

The Eric Skye is the only -00 guitar Id like to own other than and more so than a Pono but are too expensive to do so and there he has 2.

[howthewestwas1]

The 00 size is my absolute favorite size guitar. I've been through several (Martin 00-18s from the 40s and 50s, Gibson L-00 from the 30's were a few notables) but have settled on my ideal acoustic, which remains my sole acoustic. A Collings 00-1 14-fret Traditional. It is pure magic.

[MHC]

I own one, and it's such a great guitar.

Martin CS-00-21. Simple, fun and the rosewood makes this beauty sound bigger and richer than it looks.

[Wade Hampton]

I own two, but it depends on how strictly you define the Double O nomenclature.

My "official" Double O is a Martin 12 fret 00-21 that I ordered from the Martin Custom Shop with a slimmer modern profile neck (hooray!) a 1 3/4" nut instead of the original model's 1 7/8" nut (huzzah!) and - most important of all so far as I'm concerned - a solid headstock instead of the original's slotted headstock that I came to loathe when I owned a stock 1974 00-21 (hip hip HOORAY!!!)

My Custom Shop 00-21 is comfortable to play, looks cool with the Ambertone top I ordered, and sounds amazing, probably due at least in part to the Swiss (European) spruce top I ordered for it.

¥¥¥¥¥



Joni Mitchell & Her Martin 00-21

My stock 1974 Martin 00-21 looked a lot like Joni Mitchell's guitar here. My hair used to be as blond and almost as long as hers, too, but that's been awhile now. (I never wore the dresses, either...)

The Swiss top was only about a $150 upgrade, and was suggested to me by former AGF regular Todd Yates when I told him about what sort of tone I wanted from the guitar.

Good call, Todd.

My other "unofficial" Double O I own is a Seagull Folk model, which is about the size of a Gibson LG-0 and all the student grade guitars Gibson made during the 1950's and 60's like the LG-1:

1950 Gibson LG-1




Seagull Folk Model

So the Seagull Folk model is quite similar to the various Gibson LG models, as you can see.

I ran across it in a kind of funny way; in the early autumn of 2016 I drove my new Subaru from Kansas City, where I bought it and then loaded it with some bulkier and heavier items that my wife wanted me to retrieve from my late father's estate, like a pair of wing chairs that would have been much cheaper in terms of total expenses if we bought them locally here in Anchorage rather than bringing them all the way up from KC.

It didn't matter; she wanted those wing chairs, so I went and got them for her.

"Yes, dear."

Since the ferry ride from Bellingham, Washington to Whittier, Alaska was going to take five or six days (it ended up being seven, due to heavy seas,) I wanted to buy an inexpensive but good-sounding Seagull to play while I was on the ship. Vancouver is a great place to find used and new Seagulls and Simon & Patrick guitars, so I asked my friend Fred "J-185-4me" who lives in the Vancouver area to keep an eye out for one of their Mini Jumbo's like this one:

Seagull Mini Jumbo

Fred told me he'd found one advertised on the Vancouver Craigslist, and it was at a pawnshop that had one whole side of the business, in a locked storefront right next door to the main pawnshop. So we went to check it out and one of the Armenian brothers who ran the store opened up that side for us.

The guitar was absolutely beautiful, in near mint condition, with that same gorgeous red-brown sunburst you see in the photo. But when I picked it up to play it, if I described it as sounding as though it was stuffed with athletic tube socks it would be an insult to the socks. It was and remains the one and only really awful-sounding Seagull I've ever played.

And no, it wasn't the strings, the strings on it were fairly fresh.

It was just a complete dog, which every guitar factory turns out on occasion. It was just my first truly lousy-sounding Seagull.

Hey, I wasn't traumatized....I'm getting over it.

Someday, perhaps....

But sitting in a stand right next to it on the floor was the most disreputable-looking little Folk model I'd ever seen. The soft cedar tops on Seagull's best-sounding guitars (to my ears) are significantly softer than spruce, and seeing some scratches on used ones is to be expected.

But the top on this guitar was so scarred up it looked like the No Man's Land between the trenches in World War I:

It Looked Just Like This (Except For The Doughboy Picking His Way Through The Muck!)

Anyway, the guitar hadn't yet been priced, so the Armenian-brother-in-charge and I had a friendly little haggle and we struck an agreement for $225 CDN, which by the exchange rate that day was well under $200 US.

It's the dandiest under-$200 guitar I've ever owned, so it's part of my permanent collection. It usually lives out on a stand in either my music/computer room or the living room. It's such a comfortable little guitar that I probably do more informal playing on it rather than on my Martin 00-21, because the Martin is kept protected in its case most of the time and is mainly taken out to rehearse and perform.

As it happened, on that same day Fred took me by the workshop of a friend of his, Jay Duncan of the DuncanAfrican Society & Guitar Co., which is a cool cooperative guitar-building venture with artisans in Uganda building guitars in collaboration with other artisans in Vancouver.

You can read about it here:

https://duncanafrica.com/

https://duncanafrica.com/foundation/

Some DuncanAfrican Guitars

Although I had bought the Seagull Folk model guitar knowing full well that I would need to get a pickguard (it had come without one) on the area right by the soundhole in order to cover up and protect the guitar where the most extensive damage from bomb blasts, artillery craters and buried landmines had occurred.

Later, while we were talking with one of Jay's higher-ranking employees, he told us about the visit they'd had recently from a sales rep who was trying to sell them pre-made pickguards, and who had left some samples.

One was completely plain, so I don't remember much about it, but there was a Martin-shape teardrop pickguard that had a skull with a long tongue coming out of its mouth printed on it, and a Taylor-shape pickguard that was black with silver flames licking upwards. "Whoa, those are pretty goofy-looking, man," I said.

"You want 'em?" he said. "You can have 'em. We are never, EVER going to use these. I told the guy that and he left them anyway, so if you want one or all of them you're welcome to them."

"Well, thanks!"

I don't recall whether Fred nabbed the plain one, but I got the silver flames pickguard and the skull with a tongue pickguard, which I brought back to Anchorage as a present for a dear friend who's a total purist when it comes to guitars

He was NOT enthused - so far I haven't managed to convince him to put the pickguard on any of his guitars....funny how that works...

As for the black pickguard with the silver flames, it was the perfect size for the Seagull Folk model, and that evening, once I'd used mild soap and warm water to clean all the gunk and accumulated grime off the little Seagull, I put it in place over the worst of the top damage.

It really looks like it might have been put on at the factory, given that it's the perfect size and style for the guitar, silver flames and all.

Seagull's management team might beg to differ, though!


Wade Hampton Miller