What Small-Bodied (0-000) Acoustic Am I Looking For?

[jpd]

Gibson L-130..............if you can find one to try, it will astound you. A gem that's been pretty much unknown to most . And I am partial to the way it looks. short scale, 14 fret, bubinga b/s(Fabulous tone wood), AA sitka top, Gibson mustache bridge, abalone rosette, mop markers, and the Gibson "growl". Terrific! J.D.

[guitarlifestyle]

Thanks so much for the continued responses and input so far! I don't have time right now to respond to all of them, but I'll attempt to respond to several below:

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

Hi GLS,

I have a Taylor 12-Fret, which is a GC8 with a 12-fret neck and the bridge moved on the top to the center of the bass bout. This is a great little guitar, but I don't think it's quite the same as the Martin 000-28EC. The 12-Fret Taylor has a little warmer sound compared to the standard 14-fret GC8. Both nice guitars.

If you like the GC8, our sponsors here on the AGF, if you contact them, can give you very good discount pricing. I am thinking of Ted at LA Guitar Sales, MFG, and Guitar Rodeo -- all class act sellers and super reliable. Taylors are so consistent, if you know that's what you want, you can buy one long distance. Or buy one locally and support one of your local shops. There are a lot of good guitar stores in Nashville.

- Glenn

PS: Regarding what you play blues on -- it can be anything.

Thanks for your input Glenn. I'll definitely contact one of the sponsors if/when I finally make my decision. I've wondered about the Taylor 12-frets as they sound like it could be something I'd be interested in.

I am coming to the realization that I either need to adjust my expectations for a sub-$1500 guitar or commit to spending more.

Originally Posted by HHP

So, is the $1000 maybe stretch to $1500 budget now gone? Serious dollar creep in a few short posts.

If I have to spend more to get what I want, I can sell off a couple of my electrics that get less playing time and stretch the budget. However, my initial goal remains the same: find a high-quality, small-bodied, American-made guitar (new or used) for less than $1500. I'm finding that there are some really nice guitars that can be found in that range. But, there are some REALLY nice guitars to be found if I spend a little more.

Originally Posted by 000-18GE

Just wait until he gets to about 20 posts....he's only at 9 now

My wife may have to intervene before 20 posts if my current track record of price/post continues!

Originally Posted by Dotneck

Is that really true? Your signature shows you are in Nashville...that's Nashville Tennessee, right?

How about Cotten Music, or Artisan Guitars, or....Gruhns. Does Guitar Center really have more selection than everybody else around there?

Yes, Nashville, TN. In my experience, GC does in fact have a wider variety of acoustics to choose from. We have one of the largest GCs that I've ever been in here. Gruhns may have a larger selection of Martins, but I've never had a positive experience shopping at Gruhns so I tend to stay away from there. Cotten, the last time I was in there, was fairly small in comparison to the other shops in town. It has been a while since I stepped in there, though.

I visited Artisan a little over a week ago. One of my favorite stores in town with extremely nice folks. Also, they currently have one of the coolest Marshall JTM 45s I've ever seen, but I guess that's a post for a different forum!

If I do end up stretching my budget, Artisan is definitely my first choice of dealer. Their selection of Santa Cruz's, Collings', and Huss & Dalton is fantastic. I believe they also carry Bourgeois now. Unfortunately, their selection of sub-$3000 guitars is fairly limited.

Originally Posted by Left of Sam

I have two thoughts for you:
1) if at all thinking about the 3k price range then maybe you should try out the huss and dalton crossroads-a Gibson L-00 style that gets rave reviews. And maybe a Santa Cruz 1929? If you do this I want a thorough eval!
2) do you happen to sing and play or wish to do so? If so, I have found for my voice that, as nice and rich as rosewood sounds, it's overtones interfere with my voice. However, mahogany be it B/S or all hog, actually motivates me to sing and accompanies my voice way better. Not a rule by any means but most singer/sonwriter/guitarists I like (usually with some blues slant) seem to have hog in their guitars. This is not something one usually notices in a guitar store because most don't bust out singing in there.

Ok looking forward to the next steps. Sam

Hi Sam, thanks for your thoughts. I don't sing and I'm just a hobbyist player, so I'm not too worried about matching my voice to a particular combination of woods. I'm just looking for something that sounds pleasing to me when I'm playing.

---

I still would really like to see how a 00 size feels. That's something that I haven't been able to really tell over these past few days of trying out acoustics. I know that Artisan had several 00-sized guitars in stock, so I may try some of those out just to see how they feel.

Even though I've found that I really like the sound of spruce/rosewood, I'm still curious about how the 00-15ms play and sound. The GC has a 000-15m so I guess I can get somewhat of an idea of what it will sound like, but not what it will feel like.

This whole journey this past weekend actually started when I went to World Music here locally to play a 00-15m that their website said they had in stock. Unfortunately, when I got there, they didn't have it anymore.

[guitarlifestyle]

Anyone else have a suggestion or recommendation?

[Sam VanLaningham]

Are you going to go to Artisan etc or do you not want to even tempt yourself around those high prices?

Maybe you should give a quick summary of where you've gravitated towards (if its changed any) so that folks can offer insights with even more focus?

Cool. Sam

[guitarlifestyle]

I may go to Artisan this weekend and check out the Collings and Santa Cruz 00 sized guitars. Ideally, though, I'm looking for more of an entry-level all solid wood American-made guitar. I'm not opposed to selling a few things and getting a higher-end guitar if I find something that really strikes me.

So, to summarize:

- I'm looking for a small-bodied (0, 00, or 000) American-made all solid wood guitar for less than $1500. I will be playing mostly blues, but would like to have some flexibility for other types of music.

- Initially, I was leaning towards a 00-15m or a 000-15m, but I'm not sure all mahogany is what I'm really looking for after all. I like the richness of tone that spruce tops provide, but I haven't been able to play a 00-15m yet to see what that size of all mahogany sounds like.

- None of the shops around me have lower-end 00 sized guitars, so I've only been able to play a few 0 sized and a number of 000 sized guitars. I love the 0 sized guitars, but feel like they may be a little more one dimensional than I'm looking for. I've owned a few 0 sized acoustics, and they've never lasted very long. The 000 sized guitars were fairly inconsistent, but a few gems really stood out including a Martin 000-28EC and a few Taylors (GC3 and GC8).

- Of the guitars I've been able to play so far, and given my initial price constraints, I would lean towards the GC3. (Pending a chance to play a 00-15). The GC3 sounded and played great. In fact, it was the best and easiest playing guitar that I played over the few days I've been looking so far. It didn't have the rich overtones of the Clapton, but is 1/3 the cost and sounded really good, especially for the price. The GC3 played as well as the GC8, although the GC8 had rosewood back and sides and had a few additional nice features, such as a slot head. Furthermore, the GC3 seems a little more versatile than the mahogany Martins, but the Martins seemed to have a more subdued, more vintage-style vibe to them.

- I'm open to hearing thoughts about other guitars I may have missed or may not know about.

[Sam VanLaningham]

Alright. Sounds good. I do wonder of there are other all hog guitars like this new Santa Cruz 1929 000 I just got that has a lot more richness than a typical all hog guitar?

Anyways, I just went to http://www.gbase.com/gear/
and narrowed the search to acoustics between $700-$1800 and I saw some great options.....65 guild M-20, A gibson advanced jumbo (if its good, that would be suhweeet), a slew of used Martins. And that was just the first page out of a zillion. That might increase your options simply by presenting some good used options in reputable stores across the country.

Good luck. I look forward to what you arrive at. Sam

[guitarlifestyle]

To give another update, I went and played a few more guitars yesterday. Although there's definitely a clear difference in tone between $1200 guitars and $3500+ guitars, I've decided for now to adhere to my original goal of spending around $1000 for an acoustic. Then, if I'm able to progress like I'd like to, I'll sell a few things and upgrade to a higher-end instrument next year. Incidentally, I played another Gibson 00, and I wasn't wowed. I want to really like the Keb Mo model, but I haven't been impressed by the Gibson's I've played so far, especially for the money.

I had my wife listen to a few guitars in my price range while I played yesterday, and her favorites were the Taylor GC3 and the Martin 000-15m. They both felt and sounded really good to me, so it was interesting to get her opinion. She thought the Taylor sounded just slightly better to her ears. She thought the Martin was a little bright sounding compared to the Taylor. I also thought the Taylor played a little better for fingerstyle, but it was the 1 11/16 nut size on the Martin, so that point may be moot if I go with one of LA Guitar Sales special run Martins.

Both guitars had a rich, full sound that was a little bit surprising in that price range. I played the GC8 again and had her listen, and she still liked the GC3 tone a little better. Could be that the GC8 had dead strings, as it was Guitar Center.

So, I think I've narrowed it down to the GC3 or the 000-15m. I'm waiting for another shop to get the 00-15m in stock again so that I can play it and compare it to the other two.

Someone pointed out the vintage parlor guitars website, which I peruse fairly often. I'd love to find a cool old parlor guitar, but I've never found a short-scale guitar (less than 24.5") that I've liked, and most of the vintage parlors run around 24" or 24 1/4" scale. That's also why I'm looking past the Larrivee parlors, as I really like the idea of them, but I've never found one that I enjoyed playing.

[jpd]

Its not the 1 11/16 nut on the 000-15m that makes it clumsy for fingerstyle...it's the 2 1/8 finger spacing that's uber tight. IMO it was what made me sell mine, because the sound, feel of the light construction, and the wonderful scent of that guitar were great. J.D.

[jgmaute]

Originally Posted by HHP

Sounds like the spec sheet for a Martin 000-15SM. I had a 000-15S for many years and it was outstanding.

I just played a 000-15SM at the Denver Folklore Center last week. I was really impressed with it, great feel, action and sound. Since you want to strum as well as finger pick/blues I think the 000 gives more sound for strumming but the mahogany keeps it a great blues box. I'm a big fan of slot heads (just got a '98 00-16DBR and my 00-21NY is a slot head) which this has and it was 1 3/4" . Have fun as you continue your journey. Last time I was in Nashville I spent hours at Artisan playing Collings, Santa Cruz, H&D, Bougoise, what a wonderful experience, the winner was a Santa Cruz 00 size with German top and rosewood sides and back but I just couldn't justify the money. Fortunately I found the 00-16 DBR (one of the limited edition Woman and Music Series) which I love for less than half of the Santa Cruz and am GASed out. Joan

[bohemian]

" artisan":

please define as diferentiated from small production. Emphasis on production.

[EBA]

Originally Posted by guitarlifestyle

Anyone else have a suggestion or recommendation?

One guitar that meets alot of what you're looking for, yet is under your budget that you should check out is the Loar LO16. Mahogany back and sides, spruce top, 1 3/4 nut. Rock solid and great sounding guitars. Seem to be designed after the old Kalamazoos. If you're open to a guitar like this I'd highly recommend it. Great finger style guitar. I believe Justin Townes Earle is now playing one of these on the road.

http://www.theloar.com/products/smal...-body-lo-16-bk

[EBA]

I also highly recommend the Woodland Pro Parlor Folk Burst from Simon and Patrick. Super high quality Canadian Made guitar from Quebec. I don't own one of these but really want one. I play it every time I go into Long and MacQuade. Another really reasonably priced guitar.

http://www.acguitar.com/article/defa...rticleid=27622