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| Moderated by: Tony Provencher, Richard Hefner |
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| Guitar Size for Fingerpicking | Rate Topic |
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| Posted: Mon May 31st, 2004 11:29 pm |
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1st Post |
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Homer Approved 
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I was just wondering what people thought was a good guitar size for finger-picking. I have been using a jumbo for a long time, but, I'm now considering something smaller, with a wider neck, maybe 1 3/4" or more. There would be a change in overall tone with a smaller guitar, and I was wondering what other people might recommend. Homer.
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| Posted: Tue Jun 1st, 2004 03:19 pm |
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2nd Post |
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banjo brad Super Moderator 
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Homer- For fingerpicking, you really need to play some instruments and see what they sound like for your style. The tone of fingers can really change from guitar to guitar. What you might look at, for the fingerboard width you suggest, are classical guitars. This would mean going to nylon strings, but what the hay, that's what I learned on, and still play. Look at the old folk groups like the Limelighters and Bud and Travis and Peter, Paul and Mary, they all played nylon strings. My classical is a 1960's Goya G-10, and it still sounds great!  keep on pickin'brad
____________________ ezFolk Help Brad Prickly Pear Music Banjo Brad's ezFolk page TOTMC |
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| Posted: Thu Dec 16th, 2004 12:32 am |
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3rd Post |
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jerrymorgan Approved
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I fingerpick a guitar also. I played a Martin D-28 back in the 60s but I wasn't the original owner and when the neck needed resetting, I couldn't afford it so I sold it. Wound up with a Guild D-55, then a D-45, etc. Finally, after all these years, I found a guitar that I really do like for fingerpicking. I have a Tacoma JM-9. It does have a 1 3/4 nut width and it is reasonably priced. It is a jumbo body size, and if I had to do it all over, I probably would get the small jumbo body size--easier for gigs. Mine does have a great tone, though, especially for a mahogany guitar. Since then, I've come across several incredible guitars that would be perfect for fingerpicking if you're willing to pay really top dollar. They include a custom Gibson with a sort of OM body style, a Larrivee OM body style with rosewood back and sides, a upper-end Taylor with a sort of OM body style and a satin finish (my Tacoma has a satin finish) but I don't remember the model number. I also played a slope shoulder Bergouis that was incredible as far as tone, accuracy up the neck and playability, and a Larrivee slope shoulder with slotted headstock--only problem with that one was it was a 12-fret neck, so capoing on the 7th fret would be a problem. That was the only problem, though. My favorite of all of them was the custom Gibson, but it was a 5000 dollar guitar, out of my league. Anyway, I think that good fingerpicking guitars have body styles with a waist--that is, not a dreadnought. A somewhat wider nut width helps also, but if it gets too wide, one might have to think about lighter guage strings to hit the stretches and more difficult bar chords. I use "medium" DR strings on my Tacoma (12-54). Sometimes I use "light" DRs which go from 11 to 50, but I can't hit it very hard then. Anyway, I ramble. Hope you find something good. If my thoughts are helpful, I'm glad. Jerry Morgan 
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| Posted: Thu Dec 16th, 2004 02:27 am |
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4th Post |
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gbu Approved 
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The top fingerpicking recommendations I usually hear on the net are OM-style guitars (which usually have 1 3/4" necks) and Parlors. Larrivee and Seagull are both known for finger-picking friendly necks, with Seagull being cheaper. If I had any money I'd probably try to buy one of the now-discontinued Larrivee Rosewood Parlors. Tried one of the new O-9 Larrivee RW Parlors recently, and it was awesome, but expensive. The Seagull Grand is often recommended as a fingerpicking parlor-size guitar. I played one of their "Folk" series recently, though, and found it a bit on the quiet side. Larrivee themselves, by the way, recommend their L- series over the OM- series for fingerpicking, stating that the L- series is best for fingerpicking and the OM- series is good for both fingerpicking and strumming, but I had heard the opposite. I have to admit I use a classical (well, really a flamenco) and a dreadnaught (Takamine GS330S) for my fingerpicking, even though dreadnaughts are not well suited usually. That's just because I am poor and have no space for more guitars .
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