Small Body Guitars

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Comment by Acoustic Pickers on May 15, 2013 at 8:09pm

Check out the Larivée P-01 from the International Space Station!

http://acousticpickers.blogspot.com/2013/05/space-oddity-larrivee-p...

Comment by Edward Sparks on May 12, 2013 at 8:39pm

Greg, I have seen pics of your little guitars before and would love to again! Have you ever seen the small acoustics by California luthier Danny Ferrington? They are amazing!

Comment by Steve Frank on May 12, 2013 at 7:38pm

Cool Greg!! Is there a way to have the string spacing a little wider?? My problems is of course trying to play chords that are bunched up, but on the other hand, those crazy jazz chords my buddy plays stretched across 6 frets are a breeze now!! I would love to have the nut width increased even a 1/4 inch....1/2 would be better, but how much do you have to do with length if anything? Not being a builder, I don't know a thing about the engineering side and whether increasing one, you need to increase the other......a full sized neck on the guitalele would be hilarious.....LOL!! If you can, please post some photos of your little guitars!! Thanks!! Steve

Comment by GNuck on May 12, 2013 at 5:33am

Thanks Greg, Michael & Steve for the info & pictures on all of these instruments. I've thought about buying a Ukulele at some point,  a friend of mine has one and loves his, along with his KOA Taylor 6 string guitar. (go figure)

;-)

I try to pick at the Banjo, I have a Deering 5 string Banjo, and a low end Mandolin. I play neither very well.

Comment by Greg Brandt / Maker of Guitars on May 12, 2013 at 2:36am

Steve and all,

I'm sure I've said this before....but I've been building small guitars like your Yamaha for many years now, a bit fancier ...and more expensive ;-) but about the same size and tuned to A's in both nylon and steel string. Small guitars like these are a blast to play (it's my "go to" guitar) and the steel string versions sound great when high strung (Nashville tuned). I have clients who use an "octave set" of nylon strings that allow them to tune up an octave from a regular guitar. All in all.....a surprisingly versatile instrument.

G

Comment by Steve Frank on May 11, 2013 at 8:29pm

Different, but in a way the same with guitar, and definitely in the "small body" group!!!! I purchased a guitalele 15 months or so back, and it may be attractive to guitar players who want to try ukes, but it is actually a pretty cool miniature classical guitar, tuned as a guitar, but up a 4th, A to A. I really like it for single note stuff and songs like "has anybody seen my gal", but the fretboard is so small that there are a lot of chords you have to play in an odd way, and as a friend said, "great for developing bad habits"...next to a short scale goya G-10..Yamaha makes the little guy, and for a hundred bucks, it is definitely something to keep around for me. Travels well, but I had it at the waterfront one evening and when the local cops were making the rounds, thankfully they were used to seeing me with a guitar...I asked them to spread the word that if any of the others see the "guitar guy" and he had a bag that looks like it is holding a "Tommy Gun", it's a little guitar....don't want to get shot reaching for a guitar!!!

Comment by Michael S. Jackson on May 11, 2013 at 10:20am

G: These 6-string banjos (guit-bos, aka banjitars) are made specifically for steel guitar strings. The theory behind them is they allow a guitarist to get a sort of banjo sound without having to learn a new instrument. While that sound ends up not being very much like a banjo, because of totally different fingering patterns and no drone string, it does give you a different sound. More percussive with less sustain. Classical music sounds especially good on these, sort of like a harpsichord. I suspect this particular guit-bo would sound very dull and plunky as opposed to the bright ringing tone (and more sustain) of a higher end model. This one appears to have an aluminum pot assembly with (I suspect) a wood tone ring and soft wood rim. Higher end models (as with the better banjos) will have a brass (might be gold or nickel plated) pot with a brass/bronze bell tone ring and maple 3 or 5 ply rim. But then, this one doesn't cost 2 to 8 thousand dollars...
m

Comment by GNuck on May 11, 2013 at 10:09am

Hmmm, looks like a banjo, sounds like a guitar.

I wonder how the neck would hold up with guitar strings on it, that is if the strings are true wound guitar strings. Looks like it from the photos at their site.

:-)

Comment by FloridaGull on May 11, 2013 at 8:52am

Wasn't sure where to put this without joining another group - and it does have a small body...

A Dean Backwoods 6 Banjo (strung and tuned like a guitar) on Goodwill:

http://www.shopgoodwill.com/auctions/Dean-Backwoods-6-String-Banjo-...

Currently $53 - 6 days left - $42 shipping...

Enjoy!

Comment by mike ivison on April 28, 2013 at 8:35pm

just bought an art & lutherie godin parlor, Ami Spruce Burgundy. payed $150. i think it goes for about $350. its in very good condition. makes me want to look into more A&L guitars.

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