ShortScale.org

Alas it is dezb who lives in Glasgow. My local doesn't stock them so I might hightail to Dawsons in Reading to have a play.

sonicboom wrote:

dezb1 wrote:

sonicboom wrote: I had the natural finish one for about five years until I gave it to my son. Absolutely brilliant guitar for the money.

Looks like I've just found my next guitar

George, go to Merchant City Music and buy one tomorrow.

I urge everyone NOT to buy anything from Merchant city music, as they are most un-helpful, and on one ccasion when my wife was trying to buy me a bass as a surprise for my birthday down right rude.

Ah, my mistake George. Confused.
Dezb, I'm surprised - I've always found the people at MCM helpful and reasonable. Well, that's where I got my V300 anyway.

I've not had that many dealings with them, and since the time they upset my wife I've had no time for them at all.

have a Kay hummingbird copy. probably play it more than any of my electrics. looking for a smaller acoustic that's more like my busted harmony parlor guitar.

I play acoustics 10x more than I play electric. Currently I have a Takamine 3f340scn which is a satin finished cedar topped dread with cutaway/electronics as well as a Great Divide songsmith which is a bit smaller (concert size) acoustic with cutaway and electronics. The takamine is my go to hands down. I use the Great Divide as a back up at gigs or for an occasional alt tuned song. Eventually I want to get a mahogany martin cutaway w/electonics and a decent 12 string (maybe one of hte old martin lawsuit takamines) and put a pick up in it....

Fair bit of love for the acoustic cutaway too here - I dunno, maybe I'm a bit set in me ways, but I've never been drawn to the shape. I just kind of like the uh...fuller figure.
Access to the upper frets maybe...altho that's not a place visited that regularly, not by me. My Crafter (the one at the top of the thread) is 12 to body too - I guess 14 to body + cutaway gives pretty good reach if you do go up there.
Are they built differently - bracing and so on?

it's all just playability. I don't even play lead and it is still more comfortable to play a cutaway. You loose a tiny bit of tone I think (nothing that a good PA nd EQ does not account for though), but to me it just makes it easier to play.

With classical I think you really need the cutaway - otherwise the french heel on the neck has you running aground at the 10th fret. Unless you're sticking strictly to only the oldest guitar pieces, it's a must.

On steel string I never found it as crucial - most SSs don't have much response that high up the neck anyway.

My friend's 1957 (ish) Airline acoustic.
26 inch string length, brass frets, faux-flame maple on the sides and the back of the neck. Sounds like the gypsy jazz acoustic guitars of old'n times. Soon it will have a self-wound electric pick-up and a tobacco tortoise floating pickguard.