Introduction

[Ken Hundley]

You know, have you tried playing anything else than a dread? I am amazed at how many people change to an OM or even a jumbo after playing dreads for so long, simply because they never tried it. I'll build one for anyone, but never for me. I played a dread for a short time, then picked up a jumbo and was hooked. Larger body but narrower waist, and it sits lower in your lap then. Much more comfortable to play. Then I built my first OM for someone....even better fit. If you haven't played other sizes, try it before you decide. You may change your mind, and other sizes are no different to build than a dread....a little more curved in the waste if you are bending your own wood, but otherwise no different in complexity. Cutaways, once you understand the geometry differences, are not too much more complicated.

I never saw the need for a cutaway when I first started building, I never played out of "home". Then I stared moving up the neck, and learned the beauty and versatility of the pentatonic scale, and had to have one. Love em now, and still don't have one of my own!





Dream away about the first one, we'll help you through it.

[jstream]

@ Ken,

We have two Grand Concert sized acoustics at home (I guess somewhere between a 000 and a dred?)... My Applause (cheap ovation) and my wife's Alvarez. Size and shape are nearly identical. But the Applause is a bit thinner front to back and actually very comfortable. I like the shape of both in general, and the sound's not too bad either. But I miss several old guitars, all of them dreds. And should I ever decide to play over at the neighbors with one of their get-togethers, a dred should have the guts to be heard. I also feel that, for me, the larger body size gives me a little more working room for my tired old eyes and hands :)

I would certainly look at the Grand Concert or the 000 or OM (can anyone explain the actual differences between the three to me please? for a future build.

Edit: Looking at them some more in these pics, I kind of like the thicker waist of the Applause... It's just a slightly nicer shape to my eyes. The cutaway looks perfect to me on both however.

[jstream]

In fact, looking at them side by side for awhile, I definately prefer the shape of the Applause. To my eye, it's just plain prettier. But also, it sits far better for me and helps position both hands in a very comfortable way.

My all time favorite? The D-45 Authentic 1942. $60,000? Problably wouldn't happen even if I won the lottery.

I very much like the looks of the Martin D's... they're everything I want in the shape dept.. I think at this point right now, if I could find a OM/000 with a D-28 shape, I would be in heaven. All of the OM/000's I've seen so far have a too-narrow waist. I don't suppose anyone out there has something like that in kit form (that in basic form is as affordable as the StewMac kit)... I'm guessing that, like many other things out there, they can't simply be scaled down from the D series.

[David L]

It's ironic that you mention a cross-breed D-style/OM, I was fantasizing earlier today about that very thing. I also like the dread style but they are so large so I was thinking about a combination dread-O something style, it would be called a dread ought (haha). I know it's probably crazy thinking and at some time someone may have even tried doing something like that and it probably didn't work and that's why nobody makes anything like that (that I'm aware of). It's because I know very little about guitars that I'm able to think of crazy things like that.

David L

[jstream]

Okay David, so let's make it official...

Anyone out there have any ideas for us? A D-28 style OM sized guitar?

[jstream]

I'm more just looking for that shape in an OM size. 14 fret for me, others might want a 12. The idea of shimming a mould won't work, you'd just end up with a submarine :) And it would be way too big top to back. I think that would look truly odd. MY pics above of the two acoustics would be a good reference. Nobody ever answered my question about the relative size of the Grand Concert to the OM/000, but if you look at the Avarez compared to the Applause, the Applause has a "smoother", thicker waist that I really like the look of. Excluding the cutaway, the shape of the applause is closer to a dred, the alvarez is closer to what I've seen in the OM/000 market. I'm looking for an OM/000 that looks more like the applause. Does this make sense?

[David L]

OK, let's see if I can be more specific but first a disclaimer. Warning: The following post contains graphic descriptions of perfectly normal guitar designs being disrespectfully dismembered and reassembled in what may be an offensive manner, viewer discretion is advised. Now with that out of the way here goes, I was thinking of taking the lower bout of a 7/8 dread and somehow marrying it to the upper bout of a 14-fret OO or maybe a 14 fret O. I think a OOO 14 fret woluld be too big as the upper bout would be wider than the lower bout and it would look like the neck was mounted at the wrong end. Some imaginative artistic finnesse may be required at the waist area where they meet because they might not line up or if they do line up it might not look right without some tinkering. I'm not so good at imagining what it would look like so the thing to do would be to trace the lower bout dread and the upper bout OO and O on some poster board and physically start trying to put the proverbally square peg in the round hole. I know this probably sounds like the ravings of a mad man so please don't chastise me too terribly for my lunacy. I currently have no plans to do something like this as there are plenty of proven designs out there that I would like to build to keep me busy for the next 20 or 30 years (at the rate I build). Perhaps after I have built a hundred+ guitars and have gotten bored with the standard designs I might try something like that but doing the math I'd have to live to be...

David L

[jstream]

I like the disclaimer :D I'm not sure if what I'm really looking for is a 3/4 dred, or a OM/000 with just a wider, thicker waist. I'm really leaning towards the latter. The body depth of an OM/000, just less of an hourglass shape.

[David L]

Yeah J, I feel the same way about the waist of the OM/OOO, that's why that particular model is way down on my to do list.

David L

[jstream]

Here's the best representation of what I'm looking at. Mainly the difference in width at the red line. The first (D-28) is the shape that I desire. The third (000) would be the size that I'm looking for. In between is the 0M, which appears, if Martins picture scaling is consistent, longer overall Headstock-end of body than the dred. Interestingly, they all use the same bracing (style?) according to Martin. So in therory this could be done?

Top Pic is the one I meant to attach.