Downside of Parlour Guitars?

guitarjack66

MartinB said:

The downside for me is ergonomics. If I sit on an ordinary chair with a 000 or dread sized guitar, the neck and strings are at a comfortable height for my hands without doing much. With a parlour, I have to either hunch down around it or raise one leg with something like a classical player.

I play all my acoustics in a classical style as no guitar sits well on my right leg. I love my Parlour but my Concert size is probably the ideal size overall.

goldtop

My (limited) experience is that cheaper parlours sound boxy - Yamaha and Gretsch. But some videos by 'silly moustache' show that the ones made with better woods needn't have that problem, they sound great with just some bottom end restriction.

For now, I've got a Gretsch Gin Rickey parlour and a GS Mini koa, and the latter has a far better balance. If the GS wasn't on load to a friend, I'd sell the Gretsch.

(Of course, one guitarists's "too boxy" is another's "focussed", so YMMV.)

guitarjack66

The upsides trump the downsides if you want something small and versatile to play. If you are looking for something to play at a venue or gig then I'd imagine there are better options but I'm no authority on this.

MartinB

I have a lovely wee parlour guitar - my brother is a classical guitar builder and it's one of his early builds before he specialised in the classicals. It's a very small cedar/rosewood guitar based on one of the old numbered Martin sizes, so even smaller than most contemporary parlours. It sounds good, the bass rolls off higher than a larger body, but what's there is nicely balanced and it gets very sweet sounding higher up the range. It responds well to a light touch too, so you can use an almost classical right hand technique.

In terms of build quality it's undoubtedly the best guitar I own, but the proportions are so different from more standard steel strings that it's more of an occasional use instrument for me.

ToneControl

drofluf said:

I have a hankering for a parlour sized guitar. I prefer smaller bodies and 12 frets over 14.

Not concerned about the lack of volume as it’s for home use and it’ll be almost exclusively fingerstyle. 

So what are the downsides? 

erm.. almost all of them sound boxy and awful

Epsilon

ToneControl said:

drofluf said:

I have a hankering for a parlour sized guitar. I prefer smaller bodies and 12 frets over 14.

Not concerned about the lack of volume as it’s for home use and it’ll be almost exclusively fingerstyle. 

So what are the downsides? 

erm.. almost all of them sound boxy and awful

Don't agree with that, but in any case, it's all about application.

Boxy is its own thing and certain pieces call for it. You wouldn't criticise a jazz guitar because it doesn't sound good for playing Meshuggah.

rossi

I second the PRS SE 20  ,great for finger picking blues and jazzy stuff and just general practice ..I put 10 52 strings on it ..If I was still playing on stage I would use my Telecaster .

menamestom

Tannin said:

There is only one downside, which is the boxy tone. Some avoid that (my mate's Chinese cedar and rosewood one, the brand of which I can't remember at the moment is an example; it has full depth which he reckons makes the difference) but as to how you find the ones that do, I am out of clues. Short of traipsing all over the place and playing everything, of course. Which is undoubtedly the best answer.

Auden?

Having tried a few lately they definitely sound bigger than your average parlour.

SlopeSoarer

Epsilon said:

ToneControl said:

drofluf said:

I have a hankering for a parlour sized guitar. I prefer smaller bodies and 12 frets over 14.

Not concerned about the lack of volume as it’s for home use and it’ll be almost exclusively fingerstyle. 

So what are the downsides? 

erm.. almost all of them sound boxy and awful

Don't agree with that, but in any case, it's all about application.

Boxy is its own thing and certain pieces call for it. You wouldn't criticise a jazz guitar because it doesn't sound good for playing Meshuggah.

My Harley Benton CLP-15ME SolidWood, doesn't sound boxy, a great guitar (and not just for the money).

My Faith Nomad Mini Saturn does sound boxy but to me it sounds great for certain songs.

chickenbonejohn

Here's Catfish Keith with a parlour guitar..all acoustic, no mic or pickup.

Shadow

menamestom said:

Tannin said:

There is only one downside, which is the boxy tone. Some avoid that (my mate's Chinese cedar and rosewood one, the brand of which I can't remember at the moment is an example; it has full depth which he reckons makes the difference) but as to how you find the ones that do, I am out of clues. Short of traipsing all over the place and playing everything, of course. Which is undoubtedly the best answer.

Auden?

Having tried a few lately they definitely sound bigger than your average parlour.

I've got the Emily Rose and it doesn't sound at all boxy to me, and has a decent amount of bass. I had a Faith Mercury and that was very boxy.

menamestom

Shadow said:

menamestom said:

Tannin said:

There is only one downside, which is the boxy tone. Some avoid that (my mate's Chinese cedar and rosewood one, the brand of which I can't remember at the moment is an example; it has full depth which he reckons makes the difference) but as to how you find the ones that do, I am out of clues. Short of traipsing all over the place and playing everything, of course. Which is undoubtedly the best answer.

Auden?

Having tried a few lately they definitely sound bigger than your average parlour.

I've got the Emily Rose and it doesn't sound at all boxy to me, and has a decent amount of bass. I had a Faith Mercury and that was very boxy.

Yeah the 2 I tried didn’t have a hint of boxiness, they sounded really full and punchy.  The sounded much better than the Dowina I tried and fuller than the Eastman Parlours.  I’d love to try the spruce top version one day.

richman6100

I tried several parlours before buying the one I now own. To be honest, most really didn't appeal - that boxiness thing was uninspiring. Then I played an Auden Marlow - similar to the Emily Rose, but 14-fret and I think the nut is narrower. The main difference from the alternatives I played before it was the body depth. The Marlow has a slightly deeper body and that makes quite a difference. A surprising amount in fact. It's still small enough to be dead comfortable to play though.

Doug Sparkes, the owner of Auden, was kind enough to open their workshop on a Sunday for me when I was in the area visiting friends. He made me a cuppa and we chatted while I tried several models. No pressure to buy whatsoever. Incidentally, all of the guys at Auden I've met really are top blokes and their workshop manager gave my young son a tour of the place the next day in his lunch hour.

I really wanted a parlour and that may well have influenced me when I played some of Auden's OM models and didn't completely gel with them (I like OMs normally). After trying a bunch of guitar sizes and wood combinations, I ended up with a rather lovely ex-display Marlow in cedar/rosewood. It's not boxy at all, although obviously not in dreadnought territory. I can't claim to have tried loads of parlours, but I have played around eight from different brands. Possibly the best was a Martin CEO7, but the Auden Marlow certainly wan't eclipsed by it at all and was a third of the price. It really is a great guitar; addictive even.

Having recently acquired a rather wonderful Kinkade OM from this here parish, I'm playing that the most right now, but the Marlow was my go-to for sofa playing for years before then. Even getting more play time than a very nice Furch I have. The right parlour is a joy to own.

ToneControl

Epsilon said:

ToneControl said:

drofluf said:

I have a hankering for a parlour sized guitar. I prefer smaller bodies and 12 frets over 14.

Not concerned about the lack of volume as it’s for home use and it’ll be almost exclusively fingerstyle. 

So what are the downsides? 

erm.. almost all of them sound boxy and awful

Don't agree with that, but in any case, it's all about application.

Boxy is its own thing and certain pieces call for it. You wouldn't criticise a jazz guitar because it doesn't sound good for playing Meshuggah.

I just don't like guitars that sound boxy, I prefer jumbos

drofluf

Well my conclusion is that they don’t all sound boxy. A quick A-B test I did yesterday. Same manufacturer, same woods, same (crap) player (me) and same recording set up. So as many variables eliminated as possible. One OM, one parlour; which is first?

https://on.soundcloud.com/gStoqT6MoacHSCpW9

guitarjack66

drofluf said:

Well my conclusion is that they don’t all sound boxy. A quick A-B test I did yesterday. Same manufacturer, same woods, same (crap) player (me) and same recording set up. So as many variables eliminated as possible. One OM, one parlour; which is first?

https://on.soundcloud.com/gStoqT6MoacHSCpW9

I am hoping one day to be as 'crap' as you!
That sounds really nice.

BillDL

@drofluf  I would guess that the OM is the first and the Parlour the second.

drofluf

guitarjack66 said:

drofluf said:

Well my conclusion is that they don’t all sound boxy. A quick A-B test I did yesterday. Same manufacturer, same woods, same (crap) player (me) and same recording set up. So as many variables eliminated as possible. One OM, one parlour; which is first?

https://on.soundcloud.com/gStoqT6MoacHSCpW9

I am hoping one day to be as 'crap' as you!
That sounds really nice.

Thanks!

Fishboy7

What is the actual definition of a Parlour guitar anyway?  I always thought this was just the really really small bodied guitars but I hear some people the term for things like a Martin 00 or Gibson L00 size.  

drofluf

Fishboy7 said:

What is the actual definition of a Parlour guitar anyway?  I always thought this was just the really really small bodied guitars but I hear some people the term for things like a Martin 00 or Gibson L00 size.  

That question’s good for at least 10 pages

There’s no standard so it’s usually defined as the smallest in any manufacturer’s range. I’d say smaller than a OO or with a lower bout of less than 360mm. 

But that’s just my opinion.