TOPIC: Size Does Matter!

I got to play a friend's guitar last night and found out really quickly that size does matter. I have a Martin John Mayer guitar which is quite small...it sits great on my lap and my fingers go around the neck really well but the one I played last night felt like I was trying to hold an elephant. I believe this one was a dreadnought and it was a lot "fatter" than mine. The sound was great when others played it but for me it was just way too big. I felt like I was wrestling with it just to hold on to it and I couldn't see the frets very well as it stuck out way too much for me...I'm sticking to my little Martin!

Your little martin sounds GREAT when I hear it.

I played a Takamine mini dreadnought (a $450 instrument)at a local guitar shop and was amazed at how it sounded. I could feel it thumping in my chest as i played it. The sound just came out big. Fretting the notes was easier, and i noticed the action was alot lower than mine. In talking to other more experienced guitarists, i found that it is a desireable modification to make it easier on the fingers. Mine could stand to be lowered an 1/8" or so. I guess they file down the bridge spacer. I'll see about dong it next time i re-string it. I also noticed cutaways sound different than full bodied guitars.

One of my favorite Martins was the New Yorker. It has a fretboard that was really wide like a classical guitar and was excellent for finger picking. It was a small bodied guitar but it had a pretty good fat martin sound for a little box. I guess they must be 1 gazillion dollars now because they haven't made them in years.

My new guitar is a dreadnot. HD28. It really does take alot to wrap your arms around it but the projection, I think, is well worth it. Once I figure out how to hit all the notes without staring at the frett board (I really don't think they were designed to be played that way), it will get alot better. My wife's guitar is smaller, like the OM's. I really like that size. Almost baught the OMJM too. It's more comfortable to play for sure. I keep it in alternate tunings and have much fun making up stuff. Did I say it was my wife's guitar? Size doesn't matter. Playing does. Enjoy!

It seems the "feel" of a guitar is very, very personal....it's not "one size fits all". The one I played the other night, size wise was better than mine, but the action was very different. It felt much "tighter" (I don't really know if that's the right term) than mine, and the sound seemed more muffled. I think there are more appropriate terms than these, but I don't really know how else to describe how it felt to me. It was interesting to pick up another guitar and actually try to play it in the same way I play mine. I've never really done that before.