Comfortable enough for a woman, strong enough for a man--any tips on size?

[Matthew Lau]

Dear MIMF,

I'm thinking of building a guitar for my Christian fellowship group.
There are tiny asian ladies and a few ex-military types.

The guys are clamoring for a Dreadnaught.
The ladies would probably not be physiologically suited for such a big instrument.

What do you guys recommend?
I'm thinking of possibly an OOOO/M and calling it a day.

-Matt

[Simon Magennis]

A dreadnaught is really for country pickin'. It is not a general purpose guitar. Something even smaller than the OOO would probably be better for a general purpose instrument. Think "parlor guitar". It of course depends on how accomplished the various players are. If you search you tube, you will see tiny kids playing full size guitars. Technique is what counts not really size.

[Alan Carruth]

IMO its hard to beat a 000/OM size guitar for all-around versatility in a steel string. A 00/Classical size box works well too, although it might be a tough sell for your big guys. Why not make an OM and 'wedge' it? It's actually not much harder to do than making a 'normal' box, the main issue being cutting the binding and purfling rabbets on the back. Even a small amount of taper, say, 1" difference between the treble and bass sides, makes a lot of difference in the comfort for a smaller person, without affecting the sound to speak of.

[Clay Schaeffer]

My vote would be for a 12 fret OO sized guitar with a wider fingerboard (1 7/8ths in. @ nut) They can be played comfortably by most people who play guitar, and offer a well balanced sound. Triple O's are also good and offer a 14 fret neck for those that prefer it.
What works for individual players can be hard to determine. Some diminutive ladies prefer large bodied guitars and some big men prefer parlor sizes. Muriel Anderson seems to have no problem handling a Harp guitar.

[Alan Carruth]

If guitar were an Olympic sport, Muriel would be the Women's Gold winner. As an athlete she's 'way out of most of our leagues...

[Randolph Rhett]

I have been chasing that dragon for several years now. Despite being a relatively large man, I have never understood the need for a jumbo guitar. I mostly practice by myself, and want the guitar to feel comfortable in my hands.

I have now settled on my own sized guitar (about 14" lower bout) and am very pleased with the size. The scale length is about 24", with 13 frets to the body (Martin scale cut one fret short). This has put the bridge in a sweet spot in the lower bout.

I have built four at this size, and have never had a complaint. They are rich, deep, and resonant --just not terribly loud. The only time I have noticed any problem with these smaller guitars is when I played in a bluegrass jam with two other guitars. I admit to having been completely drowned out. In the future, if I need more volume I will mic the guitar!

Here is a picture of one I built about two years ago next to a standard Martin Dreadnaught.

[Len McIntosh]

I Continue to learn, discover from mimf, latest discovery, thanks to utube, muriel anderson. If (like me) you never heard of her prepare to be impressed. Only one problem, now (for the first time) i want to build and play a harp guitar.

[Matthew Lau]

Now, I'm just trying to figure out: 25.4" scale or 24.7" scale?

All I know about Muriel Anderson is that apparently she's a good guitar player, and that she's pretty cute in Somogyi's book.

Regarding the harp guitar, I believe that GAL has plans for it.
For a true harp guitar, Al Carruth is the only guy I know who's built one.
For the soundboard, you can ask Old World Tonewood or Alaska Specialty Woods.
Personally, I'm gravitating towards good Euro spruce as my wood of choice.

-Matt

edit: I just youtubed her. Holy crap! She's one heck of a guitar player! I've never heard a classical guitar played like a whole bluegrass band. She's also aged amazingly well.

[Steven Smith]

Got a chance to see Murial play last summer - a real treat. She broke a tuner button during the show and asked for help so I went up and fixed it for her. Enjoyed the opportunity to do a little guitar talking with her while the glue dried. I'd highly recommend her if you get the chance to catch one of her concerts.

[Chuck Tweedy]

Okay ... you take glue with you to shows.
And I thought I had a problem!!

[Steven Smith]

Hide glue too - just kidding. It was CA and she had it in her kit for her nails I expect. It was a classical tuner on the low E string and the button stripped out on the square post. That tuner on the low E gets a real workout as she changes tunings. The fix was just some paper and CA along with a recommendation to get it to her luthier real soon. Only tool I had was my Leatherman micro but it got it done.

[Matthew Lau]

A quick update, I'd emailed her agent a nice kudos and I briefly mentioned about building a guitar.

This morning I got a nice email from her!
I may have another story for MIMF down the road.

-Matt

[Steven Smith]

She's a class act. The venue she was playing at was an old theater, the Palace in Maryville TN. She brought a bunch of treats that she baked that day to give out to the audience during intermission. I missed out cause I was messing with her guitar (poor me, huh?). She did sign a CD for me thanking me for the repair though

[Tim Allen]

Back for a minute to the question of the best all-around size for guitars: after playing a D-35 as my main guitar for 25 years, I got a 1933 0-17 (13.5" lower bout) about 8 years ago, and have been amazed at how versatile, good sounding, and fun to play it is. Especially in these days where amplification is relatively easy, I think that the idea of smaller guitars is worth revisiting. Before our noisy age, smaller guitars ruled. Last night, on Robert Corwin's great vintagemartins.com site, I ran across this appealing blurb from the 1898 Martin catalog, which made me smile,. I think it's a point of view worth adding to the current thread.

[For those not familiar with Models 2 1/2 – 1, all have lower bouts smaller than 13 inches.]

“The sizes are recommended as follows: No. 2 ½ for young beginners; Number 2 for ladies or wherever a clear, even tone of moderate loudness is wanted; Number 1, being strong and balanced, for general purposes; No. 0, for concert playing and club use; No. 00 for exceptional power. All these have stood the test of time; they have the proper proportions and are, each in its place, the best models known. No. 0 is the most favored one, combining with great brilliancy a clearness even to the last note which is the wonder and delight of all. Similarly No. 00 adds to a heavy bass the same rich treble, and becomes thereby, a rare thing in large guitars, as well suited for solo work as for accompaniment.”

[Steven Smith]

Sorry for the off-topic diversion, gotta chase the rabbits every once in a while.

As for guitar size, it's hard to beat the size 0 for small groups and it's definitely small enough for anyone to play.

[Matthew Lau]

Chasing rabbits are fine.
Now, what to do when you catch them.

On Thanksgiving, I had the chance to hear/try out a new body shape/bracing that I'd designed.
It completely blew me away--all the bass of a jumbo, with the clarity, balance, and string-to-string articulation of a good OM. It was loosely based on a mesh between the Fleta plantilla and the mimf OM. I'm calling it the "Caleb Auyoung special" in honor of the friend that got me started on this madcap adventure.

Special thanks to Gary Warren, who helped me build it when I was too busy learning about dental implants to build guitars.

Oh, and I'll try to post a video.

-Matt

ps. I'd contacted the lovely Ms. Anderson. It appears that I'll build her a flamenco blanca. Any tips?

[Doug Shaker]

On Thanksgiving, I had the chance to hear/try out a new body shape/bracing that I'd designed.
It completely blew me away--all the bass of a jumbo, with the clarity, balance, and string-to-string articulation of a good OM. It was loosely based on a mesh between the Fleta plantilla and the mimf OM. I'm calling it the "Caleb Auyoung special" in honor of the friend that got me started on this madcap adventure.

I'd love to see a photo/shape outline/dimensions/any of the above. I am contemplating how to build a baritone that isn't huge. I'm not convinced baritones have to be huge, though most seem to be. If you say you got some good bass out of a size that is appropriate for possible use by a small person, I'd sure like to see the shape.