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I really would like to see a lesson or discussion where Neil talks about different guitar styles and what situations one is better than another. I play basically drednaughts because I play a lot of bluegrass, but needless to say, they over power a lot of folk songs. Auditorium styles seem to be nice for practicing and small spaces. Just some basic information, I am not looking for manufacturers.

Also some info on strings. I play the John Pearse bluegrass set and just love them for what I do, its an 80/20 bronze phosph with heavy bass strings. I recently ordered some silk wound to try to see if I can get a mellower tone out of the big boxes I have.

Just some basic info on what works in what situaitons and which is best for song styles. I am not looking for endorsements of any brand, I can figure that out myself.

thanks

dan

Dan- I was watching a show last night about folk singers and 99% of them, thru the folk era until now, played dreadnaughts. The only exception seemed to be performers like Joan Baez who used a smaller, 000 or parlor sized Martin.

I don't own a dreadnaught anymore. I have an L-shaped Larrivee, a jumbo Taylor and Grand Auditorium-sized Taylor. But I've owned several dreadnaughts and have used them in every acoustic situation, including some bluegrass (don't tell anyone I secretly love bluegrass!). Yes, the dreads have a lot of punch and power but I've never been in a situation where I overpowered other guitarists.

The current rage seems to be the Grand Auditorium shape. This has a dread lower bout and a smaller cutaway upper bout. They are great for accessing the higher frets and seem to have really nice balance. I love mine.

Your question about strings has been a frequent topic on this forum. I even started a couple of polls on them that you may be able find by doing a search. The bottom line, if I can summarize, is people are overwhelmingly using Elixir Nano coated strings. D'Addario phosphur bronze are the clear choice for non-coated strings. I believe this is what Neil uses and he replaces them weekly. The majority of us replace our strings monthly for non-coated and every two months or so for coated.

Very few people seem to be using the bluegrass sets with the heavier bass strings. Maybe we just aren't that serious or players aren't aware they exist. My local Guitar Center has few options on bluegrass sets but they can be ordered.

Lights are the preferred guage (.011 to .012"). Neil uses heavier medium (.013") strings.

These are all great questions and after you peruse the past threads if your questions aren't anwered just restart a thread or start a new one. Strings and guitar shapes will always get a million opinions!

Hopes this helps a little!

Cheers! :cheer:

I have never tried coated strings. What I have read has been mixed, so I never tried them. I flatpick almost everything and love the heavier bluegrass set strings for what I do.

That being said, some stuff just doesn't sound right with a base dominant set. Especially on my D-35 which has a really loud bass to begin with.

One reason I asked about guitars is the one that Neil plays is a shallow body cutaway. I love the mellow sound, but could never reproduce that on either of my dredboxes. I play mostly a D-28 knockoff built 40 years ago by a small custom guitar company. Needless to say, a 40 year old guitar has gotten better sounding, but it is still loud. When practicing, I am concerned about the loudness. No one likes to be realy loud when practicing.

I am thinking a mellow auditorium or 00 style might be good. Just need to research what would work for me.

Dan,

I think if I were a bluegrass player, often playing with other people, I'd likely play a dreadnought. But I'm not, and I don't. Before I bought my guitar, I tried to imagine where, how, and what I'd be playing, and as time passed, I discovered I was mostly correct in my guesswork. I mostly play sitting on my couch or in a chair, which makes a dreadnought-sized guitar a little uncomfortable. Next, I tend to play fingerstyle songs with occasional strumming and flatpicking. Again, a dreadnought didn't seem to be the ideal guitar for my style. Finally, I don't play bluegrass with or without other musicians, so, again, no need for a dreadnought.

While you asked in your post for responders to not advocate specific brands, I'm going to mention Taylor only because I use their terminology for guitar sizes, and not because I think you should necessarily consider the brand.

Taylor makes several sizes of guitars, depending on your preference and playing style. (I'm not including parlor or travel guitars in this discussion.) In order of smallest to largest are Grand Concert, Grand Auditorium, Grand Symphony, dreadnought, and jumbo. After playing all of them (and noticing that each larger body size produced louder -- not better -- sound), I chose a Grand Auditorium because it perfectly fits the where, how, and what criteria mentioned above. Anything larger just didn't feel as comfortable to me. Also to be considered, anything larger than a Grand Auditorium uses medium-weight strings, while the GA uses lights -- perfect for what I do.

The one factor you didn't mention is the type of wood which, almost more than anything else, impacts the sound of the guitar. My personal preference is rosewood because it delivers a very nice bass punch and shimmering highs, both of which I find attractive in a guitar (see the tone chart below for how various woods impact sound). Other people swear by mahogany, koa, maple, ovangkol, or sapele. Wood choice is a very personal thing.

Anyway, I hope this, in addition to what Bear wrote previously, helps.

Thx Dennisg, I really liked the part about the wood. Interesting the different freq ranges. My beater is a Mahogany D-25, while my jewel is a Rosewood D-35. You really can hear the differenc in the woods. Cocobolo looks interesting, I might have to try one out next time I am looking for a guitar.

I see Neil put out a quick lesson on guitar styles, and between his great advice and the outstanding responses I have gotten here, I have a good understanding of what to look for next.

thanks all