What's Your Favourite Guitar Body Style/Size? (Random Question I know!)

SlopeSoarer

I've been playing guitar for around 8 years I'd say and went for the body size that I'd heard of as my first choice... dreadnought, Faith Saturn Natural. I then decided I wanted to have something small and comfortable to use on the settee so in came a travel size guitar, a Faith Nomad Mini Saturn which has been played to death as it is so easy to pick up, the sound is clearly affected by the diminished size but I do tune in to it. 12 months ago I thought the perfect size would be something in between and was thinking about a parplour size guitar when I spotted a Taylor GT Urban Ash for sale on our forum which I bought and enjoy very much but I was still hankering after a parlour style so very bought Harley Benton CLP-15ME SolidWood.

I generally only play at home or occassionally at a mates house and I'm finding I rarely pick up the dreadnought, though when I do I really enjoy the sound overall I'd say it is the best sounding of the 4 but I don't enjoy the physical size.

Up until a few weeks ago playing was spread between the travel guitar and the Taylor, one up stairs and one down both really comfortable though the sound is so, so much better from the Taylor.

Then along came the disrupter, the parlour guitar, the cheapest of the lot. It is so comfortable and the sound is great to my ears, a quite different (fuller than I expected) sound to the Taylor. Basically the travel guitar has been usurped!

I may end up having two of my beloved adopted, which would break my heart in one sense, though in another I'd sooner them be used rather than gathering dust. There's no rush to move on and writing this is part of my therapy!

Have you gone through a similar process? How did it end for you? Any regerets?

What size if any did you settle on? Or have you not?

bertie

OM for sound and versatility  -  Parlor for comfort,  personally I think you need a 12 fretter for the tone but that can have its drawbacks - especially if using a capo

stickyfiddle

I don’t think you can beat a good Dread. 

Smaller stuff can be really nice - I adore my little Atkin LG47 - but there’s always something they can’t do as well

matt_sefton

Grand Concert for me. And no cutaways!

Kilgore

12 fret parlour, 00, 000 in that order. I don't get on with dreads these days.

bertie

stickyfiddle said:

I don’t think you can beat a good Dread. 

oh you can,  with a great big sledgehammer     

Tannin

808, Trad, grand auditorium. All three are pretty similar - around about 000 size for comfort and note separation but deeper like a dred for better tone. The perfect compromise!

But I like variety. I have two huge jumbos, a dred, two GAs, a Trad, an 808, and a 00. I don't have a parlour. I dare say I will one day, though they tend to be tinny little things - good-sounding parlours are quite uncommon. 

thomasross20

Would love to say 12 fret OO but haven't tried one. 

Have to say 14 fret OM for versatility. Sounds good fingerstyle and strummed. Just enough bass - not too much or too little. And very comfortable to play. 

tomjax

As a mainly finger picker, I tend to gravitate towards OM/000 size. Good tonal balance for what I play.

DavidR

OM.

00/parlour for the couch.

Dreads getting a bit large for me as I age and shoulder/neck ache limit playing time. Annoying! Used to always play a dread.

enjo

00 is my sweet spot.

0 starts to be too boxy to me.
OM/000 sound great but start to feel a bit ungainly.
Dreads are just too big (and too loud) to feel intimate enough for me.

drofluf

OO is my Goldilocks point too. 

Dreads I find too uncomfortable to play for any length of time. I love how a parlour just fits into my hands but of the few I've played I've never found a sound I really like.

Having said that I've just bought a triple O...

Shadow

OM is my main guitar, wouldn't go any bigger. I love the look and feel of OO though.

Soupman

I have a jumbo (Lowden O25). Sounds amazing so size doesn't come into it I'm afraid!

Devil#20

OM for me. Probably an inch or so smaller across the guitar than a dreadnought but more importantly smaller in body depth. I also like the GA single cut that Eastman do. 

BigPaulie

Dread

SlopeSoarer

Not that it makes a difference to what any of us prefer as it is an individual choice but on this snapshot it looks like OO/OMs are the favoured size/style, though as @Tannin highlights it is probably good to have variety

I do prefer the dreadnought sound from what I've played but in reality being comfortable as possibly more important to me, my overall sound improves the more I practice. 

Thanks for the insigt.

ICBM

I do like other types of guitar for specific things, but for me Dreadnoughts just sound the best for the widest variety of styles. I don't find them uncomfortable to play either, and I'm pretty small.

ElectricXII

Slope shoulder dreads for me!

razorbill

My only two flattops at the minute are SJs, but I wouldn't say no to an OM/000. A really enjoyable full and balanced sound. Great fingerstyle guitars imo

guitarjack66

Concert sized is my overall favourite but parlour comes a close second. Both very comfortable although I completely understand the love for jumbos but standing is needed if I were to play one regularly. As a mostly seated player a jumbo is great in smaller sessions but concert and parlour are ideal for my playing.