Iāve been playing my trusty Yamaha APX 500 for over 20 years, in fact it was my first guitar when I got back into playing at 18 and has served me well.
But it was bought mainly to be used plugged in and these days I almost exclusively play unplugged - in my house, the garden, etc.
Iām not a fan of a huge bulky dreadnought body though I know thatās traditionally how you get better natural sound and volume.
Are there any guitars or types of guitar which manage to give a good sound while still being more compact? My friend used to have a carbon fibre guitar - maybe an Ovation (?it had several small holes not one larger sound hole) - and this always seemed to make a ābigā sound despite being very shallow.
Additionally I have small hands so something slim-neckedā¦ I had always considered a Martin as my āgetting a good guitarā option but that was again when I used to play on stage, wired.
I started learning on a Yamaha dreadnought that felt too large for my smallish frame and hands. Last November I bought an Alvarez AF60 acoustic-electric that immediately made playing easier and more fruitful. This is a folk/OM model that I think is larger than a Taylor GS Mini; maybe similar in size to the Taylor AD. Itās priced on par with the GS and much less than the AD. I mostly play unplugged in my small home, and the Alvarez produces the best sound among several guitars I tried in that size and price range. Worth checking out.
I have the Sheeran by Lowden W05, so the smallest body size that Lowden produces, and although it does have a LR baggs pickup, I have never plugged it in. It does produce a beautiful sound and plenty loud enough for a small bodied guitar. They do a slightly larger body size (S) in the range. The W01 or S01 are pure acoustic models.
This video is quite good to watch as it has 3 smaller bodied guitars including the model that I own. I will put the time slots below as itās quite a long video so you can scroll to 13.40 minutes and then the other two follow on.
I am a fan of smaller guitars and I think they can sound great. Parlors, the smallest, got an undeserved reputation for plainly sounds. Maybe a bunch of poorly made small guitars, but more likely expectations.
You may not get the bass punch of a dread, but it more than makes up for it in balanced tone and if the guitar is good, better articulation.
Sizes vary by manufacturer, but I have a Pono 00 size. I think the lower bout is about 14ā? Roughly, maybe 14.5ā. Just a little smaller than a classical. Anyway, much better size for my shoulders and it is a short scale 12th fret to the body, so the neck is shorter, too.
You naturally need to go and try out a bunch of different size guitars and see what feel good and sounds good to you, but the smaller guitars are becoming more popular and it is not because the sound is deficient. (Probably because more players are getting oldā¦)
Does the APX 500 not sound good unplugged? I have no experience (my 1 acoustic guitar has no pickup), but I believe Iāve heard that acoustic guitars generally sound better unplugged than they do amplified. Maybe the APX 500 is the exception to the rule? Or maybe there isnāt any such rule and I am thinking about it wrong.
Minor point here, AD in the Taylor catalog is a range/series not a model. Itās their American Dream range, which represents the lowest price Taylor that is built in America from solid wood as opposed to laminate. They lack the fancy bindings and inlays of more expensive guitars. The numbers after the AD tell you whether itās made from a hard or soft wood, is 6 or 12 strings and the final digit relates to body shape. In the case of my AD11e the first 1 denotes that it has 6 strings and is made from a soft wood, and the second 1 shows itās the grand theater body shape. As an example with an AD17, the 7 shows itās a grand pacific body, quite a lot bigger than mine.
Hi John @Mr_Boy, There was a similar conversation earlier this year on choosing a smaller acoustic guitar. Have a peek over here for lots more input. A very quick summary of my experience: many folks love the playability of the Taylor neck, but I just couldnāt bond with it; I loved the Guild M-20 in my hands, but the all-mahogany body wasnāt the sound I was looking forā¦bummer; and while I still wish I had been able to find a Larivee to play, I ended up with a Martin 00 body size and couldnāt be happier! Oh - the 000 body size is also pretty compact, and I think there are more options in that size, so you might check those out as well if youāre interested in a Martin.
I have a ~20yrs old Yamaha dread that was my first guitar that sounded decent. But as Iāve been playing more the past several months, Iāve come to dislike the size for my usual sitting and playing.
I have an Enya Nova Go as well as a Taylor GS Mini. The Enya is great for being compact and easy to hold/play. I bought it in particular as a guitar to take outside camping and having less desirable weather. This is the one that sold me on smaller body sizes. Iāve taken it out backpacking where it poured rain on it. And it was totally fine. The sound isnāt great, but itās not terrible, either. Itās also cheap enough that Iām willing to beat on it some.
But that lead me to wanting a smaller body size guitar I could play every day. I gravitated towards the Taylor GS Mini and I got one of the 50th Anniversary ones that has some little details like different fretboard inlays as well as the nicer pickup system. Iām not going to play it plugged in much, but I wanted the option just in case. I really like the tone of it. Yeah, itās not as boomy as my dread, but oftentimes, that boominess is not what Iām after. Iām also finding that the shorter scale length is a nice steppingstone to working on chords that require more stretching. Iāve been working on a lot of fingerpicking lately, and I particularly like its tone for that.
I donāt have a smaller guitar, (well, not totally true. I have an Enya Nova Go that I hardly ever touch. I keep forgetting I even have it.) but I have tried a couple. There have already been several mentions of the Taylor GS Mini. I liked it when I tried it. I also found a PRS parlor guitar to be very comfortable and it sounded great. Worth a look.
I agree with Matt. I bought a Taylor mini for my 12 year old daughter and find myself playing all the time due to great sound and easy on the hands to fret the notes. This one is a koa wood style. I love the full size Martin and would be down to buy a mini Martin too.
These are the different sizes of Martins compaired to each other. It helped me get a visual with them at least. Does anyone know where the taylor mini would fit into this?
I was having a little Google on this and get the impression the answer isnāt straightforward because it depends on what you measure! A Taylor forum post had this (I have to assume it to be accurate)ā¦
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So here is a comparison of sizes between the GS mini and Martin 0 and 00ās
Martin Size 0 (14 fret): Body Depth at deepest - 4 1/4" Body Width at widest - 13 1/2" Body Length - 18 3/8"
Martin Size 00 (14 fret): Body Depth at deepest - 4 1/8" Body Width at widest - 14 5/16" Body Length - 18 7/8"
Taylor GS mini: Body Depth at deepest - 4 7/16" Body Width at widest - 14 3/8" Body Length - 17 5/8"
Of course the scale length of the Martins is longer at 24.9", while the mini is 23.5", but I have a 00-18 Martin and it is nowhere near as loud as my mini mahogany, so it doesnāt seem to suffer for that 1.4".
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So the above would suggest that in the body at least the GS Mini might be slightly bigger than the smallest Martins but itās still definitely at the small end of the spectrum no matter how you look at it. My AD11 is a smidge bigger than a GS Mini but itās definitely still a small guitar (in a good way). The scale length is important because it makes them easy to play
