Members darksun Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 im thinking about buying a guitar spacifically for fingerstyle blues, as some of you may know im currently taking classical lessons- this is to improve my fingerpicking-but my ultimate aim is to play blues, after 6 months of lessons im beginning to fall in love with classical so my blues ambitions may change, i'll probably end up playing a combination of both, anyhoo, i know very little about fingerstyle guitars is there a spacific body shape? does the action have to be a certain height (would shimming the saddle to raise action on ANY guitar suffice) ? a friend suggested seagull guitars (but couldnt remember spacific model) as being good for fingerpicking, any suggestions? as many suggestions as possible please some brands are not easily available here, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Queequeg Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 hey darksun-the field is wide open to you. just about any ol' thang works for blues. lots of folks like a mahogany top, like a 15 series Martin. many go for a small-bodied guitar, such as an 00. But people play blues on all guitars. OMs are nice. In your part of the world, all the Canadian makers should be readily available; A & L, Larrivee, Seagull. Pick your budget and run with it!Now, I know there's some Taylor-haters here, but I'm not one of them. I have one and I like it pretty well, but I believe it is too bright for the blues. I prefer a Martin or a Larrivee with a more traditional look, feel & sound for the blues which fits into that frame better.Of course resonators are all about the blues. Don't overlook those in your quest.happy hunting, darksun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cripes Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 Get a used Yamaha FG75. LB suggested this guitar to me a while back. He nuts into the blues and he says this guitar makes for a great blues box. He also said they could be had in decent condition for around 75-100.00 US on ChEat-Bay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cripes Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 LB - Little Brother - offers blues lessons at his site with samples of his lessons. I'm not hawking his site but if you are interested it will serve to give you an idea of the blues he plays.www.littlebrotherblues.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 Darksun,You got some great advice so far. String height is a matter of personal preference. I prefer low action for fingerstyle and medium-low action for strumming / flatpicking. Small body guitars tend to be prefered for fingerstyle guitar. They produce strong, clear mids. In other words, individual notes of chords / arpeggios ring out clearly without being drown out by over powering bass tones (like a typical dred). That's not to say that small body guitars lack basss, they are just more balanced. I got a Larrivee OM-03 last week. It sounds great for a variety of styles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members quackzed Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 for fingerstyle you might look at a guitar with a wide fingerboard, for easier finger picking, and more 'room' between the strings.Also you might want a flat neck radius(how flat or rounded the fingerboard and frets are) as classical guitar fingerboards are wide and flat compared with regular acoustics and electrics. might be more comfortable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members darksun Posted January 31, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 thanks guys,great replies, lots to work with there, funny you should mention dreads hud, thats what i have at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members darksun Posted January 31, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 for fingerstyle you might look at a guitar with a wide fingerboard, for easier finger picking, and more 'room' between the strings.Also you might want a flat neck radius(how flat or rounded the fingerboard and frets are) as classical guitar fingerboards are wide and flat compared with regular acoustics and electrics. might be more comfortable. ya, thats something i forgot to mention, i prefer the wide neck on my classical Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Terry Allan Hall Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 If you want to go "authentic", get a Harmony or a Kay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hudman Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 thanks guys,great replies, lots to work with there, funny you should mention dreads hud, thats what i have at the moment. Some people prefer to play fingerstyle on a dred. There is no "right" answer. I hate to limit my choices in anything in life by always sticking with tradtional methods. I feel it limits my choices and hurts my creativity. Another factor mentioned by quackzed is the width of the nut and radius of the fretboard. Many small body guitars tend to have a 1 3/4" nut and a fairly flat radius. The wider nut normally translates to wider string spacing at the saddle, therefore allowing the player a bit more room to use their fingers between the strings better. It is another reason fingerstyle players tend to prefer a wider nut. Most dreds have a 1 11/16" nut. That keeps the strings closer together at the saddle, therefore making strumming and platpicking a bit easier. Again, it is a matter of personal taste. Your dred may be fine for fingerstyle blues, but I'm positive a new guitar would motivate you more. With that said, I've been using my new OM for fingerstyle AND strumming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 All really good advice - in reality you can play the blues on almost anything (except maybe a Taylor LOL). Lets look at what some old (and new) players have used RJ - Gibson L1 MJH - Martin OM of some sort (in some pictures at least) Rev GD - Gibson SJ-200 Heddy Ledbetter, Barbeque Bob - Stella 12 string Bukka White and so many others - National style 0 Bonnie Raitt (early days) - National style 0, (I remember a tricone too) Rory Block - OM-28RB, OM-28V (interestingly, Rory says that both she and Raitt had Stellas as their first guitars) EC - 000-28EC (and others), old Dobro on "Unplugged" Doc Watson (I guess Deep River Blues is the blues) - Gallagher dread If I were setting out to buy a blues only acoustic guitar today I personally would want a small body, wide neck and bridge, probably mahogany (maybe all hog), 12 fret slothead ('cause they've got that mojo) - mmmm, sounds a bit like the 000-15S. Then I would take it down to the Crossroads and start dealin' with old Guy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bsman Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 If you can find one, a Tacoma parlor might be your best bet for fingerstyle blues - the body size is based on the Gibson Nick Lucas model, and it has a 25.5" scale and 1.75" width at the nut. Seems to me to be the obvious choice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Howard Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 lots of blues player's instrument choices herehttp://www.earlyblues.com/blues_singers.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cripes Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 I bought a Seagull dread cutaway. It has the wide board. The factory action was okay but I like mine pretty close so it's at the repair tech getting lowered - hope to pick it up tonight. I'm learning to use a flatpick but I prefer to play fingerstyle and the Seagull is great for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 lots of blues player's instrument choices herehttp://www.earlyblues.com/blues_singers.htm holy moly, Howard, what a great site. I bookmarked it immediately. There are quite a few dreads listed in there, aren't there? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Whalebot Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 000-15S Dark, and don't look back! I love mine. (But I've been known to be a bit fickle) Oh, and only string it up during a waxing gibbous moon...don't ask. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rjoxyz Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 000-15S Dark, and don't look back! I love mine. (But I've been known to be a bit fickle) Oh, and only string it up during a waxing gibbous moon...don't ask. +1. Makes you want to go down to the Crossroads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members darksun Posted January 31, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 i need to do some research on body types because i dont know what 00-OOO or OM mean,what im looking for is a steel string with the body type (whatever it is) of a classical, plus as close as possible to the nut width, martins are not easily found here so im thinking SEAGULL folk size, anyone have anything good or bad to say about them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Queequeg Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 here's link to some Martin body specifications. But specs can vary from one maker to another so these aren't hard and fast, but generally pretty true... and here's a graphical representation of those body shapes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members triumphant_gleam Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 15 series MartinI just bought one of these (a 000-15) for this exact style and I can't get over how good it is Definitely at least try one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted January 31, 2007 Members Share Posted January 31, 2007 here is another look at body sizes and shapesor here, OM on left, dread on right (the fact that they are both 12 strings is immaterial Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cripes Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 i need to do some research on body types because i dont know what 00-OOO or OM mean,what im looking for is a steel string with the body type (whatever it is) of a classical, plus as close as possible to the nut width, martins are not easily found here so im thinking SEAGULL folk size, anyone have anything good or bad to say about them? Take a clean towel and throw it inside the guitar as a resonance damper and voila, instant plucky blues snap. Or, invest in a soundhole type. There's a lot you can do to harmlessly experiment with adjusting the sound of your guitar for pennies without buying a new one. If nothing works, then at least you've tried. Me? I replace all of my guitars when just one gets me bugged. Just thought I'd admit to that before someone else here noted I don't take my own advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fortunecookie Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 My vote would be a mahogany topped OM of some sort or that slot head 15 series Martin mentioned earlier in the thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members darksun Posted February 1, 2007 Author Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 lots of blues player's instrument choices here http://www.earlyblues.com/blues_singers.htm howard's link got me thinking about early blues players and how they made do with whatever guitar was available to them, and did pretty well you must agree, makes me wonder if GAS is impeading our progress, if we cant get what we want from a guitar we ditch it and get another when often the problem is not the guitar but our ability, a lot of those guys made great music on what would today be considered low end beginner guitars, are we looking for easy options and avoiding the 99% perspiration talent is supposedly made of? oh the other hand is'nt GAS great? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Queequeg Posted February 1, 2007 Members Share Posted February 1, 2007 very astute, Grasshopper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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