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Narrow neck for a thirteen year-old


slodge

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My 13 year-old daughter is learning to play. She's been using a sparkly silver Daisy Rock acoustic, but is starting to feel that she's outgrown it.

 

I have a mid-80s Ovation Celebrity with a narrow neck and curved back that she likes, but:

 

A) she doesn't like the color

B) she's looking for a new guitar, not a hand me down.

C) I've had that guitar since the mid-80s, and while it's not my main guitar, I'm not looking to give it away.

 

Any recommendations for an acoustic or acoustic electric that has a similar neck and /or body?

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Hello & Welcome

 

If she likes your Ovation Celebrity why not get one of the same or similar for her? The Ovation Applause is a good quality budget guitar and they come up used for sale quite often

 

HST, more or less any modern guitar with a 42 / 43mm width neck will have a good slim neck profile. Perhaps a small bodied model like an "Orchestra" or "GA"?

 

There are so very many excellent quality and very reasonably priced PacRim-made guitars available these days that it's getting hard to go wrong.

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Thanks for offering your thoughts.

 

My Ovation is a Dread body, full depth, but with the rounded back.

 

Her Daisy Rock also has the rounded back, but a narrower, smaller body.

 

Her issue with, say, my Martin is not so much the body size, (though she does like the rounded back) but the neck size.

 

I thought about looking at the Ovation Applauses, and will do so, but was also curious about other options.

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Slodge, if I read the Ovation specs correctly, their necks are 1-11/16 wide at the nut (which is pretty common) but they have a 10 inch radius fretboard (which is more like an electric than most acoustics, which are typically 16 inch radius). I can't think of too many other guitars with necks like that. The other issue is the size and curvature of the back of the neck - guitar like your Martin tend to be fairly chunky. Some of the PacRim acoustic/electrics (Cort, Carvin, etc) might have neck profiles that she would prefer.

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This has a little smaller body, solid cedar top sound decent for the size too. Feels on the small side to me for a 1-11/16" nut has 12" radius. Guitar Center carries them also.

 

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/takamine-g-series-gn20-nex-acoustic-guitar

 

This is new I haven't played one it has a spruce laminate top would hold up better than cedar for a teen's use...

 

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guita...lectric-guitar

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My 13 year-old daughter is learning to play. She's been using a sparkly silver Daisy Rock acoustic, but is starting to feel that she's outgrown it.

 

I have a mid-80s Ovation Celebrity with a narrow neck and curved back that she likes, but:

 

A) she doesn't like the color

B) she's looking for a new guitar, not a hand me down.

C) I've had that guitar since the mid-80s, and while it's not my main guitar, I'm not looking to give it away.

 

Any recommendations for an acoustic or acoustic electric that has a similar neck and /or body?

 

How about something like a Taylor GS Mini? They have a shorter scale length (23.5") and are very comfortable for players with smaller hands, but still sound like a "real guitar" - especially when compared to some smaller "parlor" or travel sized guitars.

 

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guitars/taylor-gs-mini-acoustic-guitar/h79621

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Thanks for the recommendations, all.

 

I thought about the Mini and others like it. She and I are planning to go try some soon to see what feels and sounds good to her, and I'll get her to try some of the smaller ones.

 

However, the Daisy Rock is a smaller guitar, and she hears the difference between that and the Dreads in our house - even the Ovation with its smaller cavity.

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A friend has a Norman B20 that has a very skinny (front to rear) neck. It's so thin my Shubb capo won't work on it and it works on my Strat. I checked your profile and I see you're in New Jersey. 8th Street Music in Pennsaukin carries Norman https://8thstreet.com/Search?q=norman among other brands and they have the model B18 for $329. I's a dreadnaught if that makes a difference. No idea how far that is for you though.

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Thanks, DeepEnd! That's a little bit of a trek for me, but I have family in that area so I'm there on occasion - I'll look into those Normans in any event.

 

Was looking at some of the Ovation Celebritys on ebay and craigslist earlier. There are some good deals to be had on those.

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Thanks' date=' DeepEnd! That's a little bit of a trek for me, but I have family in that area so I'm there on occasion - I'll look into those Normans in any event. . . .[/quote']

Here's a link to their US dealer locator in case there's something closer. I see one in New York and four in Pennsylvania but I'd have to guess they're even further away for you. Too bad: http://www.normanguitars.com/dealersus.html.

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Thanks for the recommendations, all.

 

I thought about the Mini and others like it. She and I are planning to go try some soon to see what feels and sounds good to her, and I'll get her to try some of the smaller ones.

 

However, the Daisy Rock is a smaller guitar, and she hears the difference between that and the Dreads in our house - even the Ovation with its smaller cavity.

 

There's really no comparison between the GS Minis and the small-bodied Daisy Rocks. I think you'll be surprised by just how big and full the GS Mini sounds. I played Ovations for years, and frankly, I think the Mini sounds more like a "real" acoustic than the high-end USA Elite I used to play. YMMV - but they're definitely worth auditioning. :)

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Yeah, I know that the Mini and the Daisy are miles apart, but I don't know that SHE grasps that. Part of it is the size (she wants a "real" guitar, not a "kids" guitar, and doesn't necessarily understand about different shapes.

 

I'll put one in her hands, though, and see what she thinks.

 

Ovations are odd ducks - I got mine way back when dinosaurs roamed the earth primarily because, at the time, they were the among the best in terms of getting a good amplified sound without feedback. And I have to say, I've been very happy with it in that regard.

 

However, I've always found it unsatisfying to play acoustically, I think because the curved, composite back affects the way the sound surrounds the player. I'm told, though, that it projects really well from the front.

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I have a mahogany GS mini. I tried both woods and chose the mahogany over the rosewood. I actually love this guitar for tooling around, and I have even brought it to song writing circles. I need to find a pick up for it, as I didn't care for the ES Go pick up. Phil's right about the pretty big sound, for it's size.

 

One of the narrowest necks I have on an electric is on a Rickenbacker 620. It takes a bit to get used to, but it's a pretty cool lil beast.

 

Down the road when this gets serious, look at the 620, or even a 350

 

 

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I have a mahogany GS mini. I tried both woods and chose the mahogany over the rosewood. I actually love this guitar for tooling around, and I have even brought it to song writing circles. I need to find a pick up for it, as I didn't care for the ES Go pick up. Phil's right about the pretty big sound, for it's size.

 

One of the narrowest necks I have on an electric is on a Rickenbacker 620. It takes a bit to get used to, but it's a pretty cool lil beast.

 

Down the road when this gets serious, look at the 620, or even a 350

Most electrics have fairly thin necks and Rickenbackers are out of the question for most casual players. Even the 350 is well over $1400 new. As for a pickup for your GS Mini, folks hereabouts like the K&K Pure Western and the comparable but much cheaper Artist Prestige 330. The Baggs M1 Active also gets a fair amount of love.

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Don't be fooled. Ovations don't project well acoustically. I got mine more than a decade before you got yours, had it 3 months and decided I wanted to play an acoustic guitar that was sonically in the same room with me while I played it. That does not describe an Ovation and AFAIK, it hasn't changed.

 

Breedlove makes a small neck if you apply the area rule. They're thin enough for small hands. I've been out of the gear game for quite a while now but I do remember that Taylor and Breedlove were noted for thinner necks. I bought a Yamaha NTX-series nylon string guitar that has a narrow nut and smallish cross section neck. The body is thin and acoustically it's slightly better than an Ovation. That's saying something for a nylon string guitar. But, I bought it to play plugged and it does that very well. My 15 y/o son confiscated it for high school guitar classes and he loves the thing.

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