Does your Repertoire Determine your Guitar Choice?

[William2]

Listening to some ragtime and blues guitar today. I wondered if these players favor a certain kind of instrument. They seem to be smaller body, appear light weight, and have a certain sound to them. I'm thinking of Waterloo, Iris, or maybe a small body Gibson. If I were to look at this type of music seriously, I'd probably want an instrument to inspire me in this type of music. My own repertoire favors a more modern sound like a Larrivee. arrive makes small body instruments but not that old timey sound. While you can play anything on any guitar; do you think ragtime and blues type of music is better served with a certain type of instrument? I'm thinking of expanding my repertoire.

[StringPicker6]

I have yet to hear or try one of the larrivee 24 series guitars with the shorter scale lengths, but my short scale larrivee p-03 is a fun little blues box. Pretty much all Gibson acoustics are short scale and have that darker old time blues sound.

[Gill]

I've got a long time guitar player friend who plays ragtime like a pro, he plays it on my OM -10,his Epi EJ-200, Yamaha dread, a Dobro,in fact, whatever comes to hand at the time, and it sounds just peachy, it's the player I think.not the guitar,though it helps.

[William2]

I've got a long time guitar player friend who plays ragtime like a pro, he plays it on my OM -10,his Epi EJ-200, Yamaha dread, a Dobro,in fact, whatever comes to hand at the time, and it sounds just peachy, it's the player I think.not the guitar,though it helps.

interesting! When I came back to guitar, I started looking at a ragtime book by Lasse Johansson and I had a Waterloo WL-12 at the time. I'll read through it and see how it sounds on a dreadnought. Still, there is a sound to these instruments that try and replicate the 20s and 30s.

Here is a guy I like and lefty also. He put me on to my Waterloo WL-12. There is a sound to these guitars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iE3V6kZI2IE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbNVkaFZW2I

[B0WIE]

If your music benefits from a more percussive attack and less sustain, then it only makes sense that an instrument which has those qualities will help you. While I do believe that tone is in the fingers, it's also clearly in the guitar.

I've found different instruments encourage me to develop my playing and explore different musical styles. Owning a Waterloo really taught me a lot. I was so disappointed at first, but I knew there must be something special in there in there I was missing. I discovered jazz through this and I never would have gone that way had I kept chasing guitars with more sustain.

[John in Charm City]

Not necessarily brand but certainly body shape, size, wood (subject to builder voicing), neck and bridge width, etc.

John

[William2]

I agree the fingers are the main tone component. And let's not forget the strings. But I think these brands like Waterloo, Iris, and small Gibson's (mahogany tone woods, spruce top, and short scale) really add to the mix.

[Silence Dogood]

This is a great topic.

I do think new songs and sounds are trapped inside a new guitar, and sometimes that can be because of the shape/style, and sometimes just because it's a different guitar than we are used to.  But I'm firmly in the camp that a dread can pretty much handle anything. 

I remember back in the day when pretty much everyone played a dread, because a dread WAS an acoustic guitar.  Even the old Martin Marquis strings had a fellow in a nice jacket clearly playing fingerstyle on a dread.  Now everyone has to have a different guitar for every kind of music. No harm done though, and it's good to have choices. 

[William2]

This is a great topic.

I do think new songs and sounds are trapped inside a new guitar, and sometimes that can be because of the shape/style, and sometimes just because it's a different guitar than we are used to.  But I'm firmly in the camp that a dread can pretty much handle anything. 

I remember back in the day when pretty much everyone played a dread, because a dread WAS an acoustic guitar.  Even the old Martin Marquis strings had a fellow in a nice jacket clearly playing fingerstyle on a dread.  Now everyone has to have a different guitar for every kind of music. No harm done though, and it's good to have choices. 

I agree, a dreadnought can handle it all. Thinking about this and expanding my repertoire, I was thinking about ragtime on a dreadnought. But I wanted a different sound than my Larrivee instruments for this music. Over the weekend I got an email from Sweetwater offering me a Martin DSS-17 at $300 off. I've owned the DSS-17 before and loved its different sound, light weight, and easy response to fingerstyle. In fact, I only sold it because I heard my dealer playing a Larrivee D-40 LOL. Well, now I have both. This new one sounds just as good as the last one. I noted they have fitted the instrument with light Monel strings. The last one was with medium Monel's. When I started playing, I was amazed at the ease of effort on my fretboard hand. Curious, I checked the specs, and they have gone to lights on this instrument. I'm going to give these Monel's a fair chance this time. Last time I just removed them and put on light D'Addario XS. I wasn't the only one getting this notification. Sweetwater had 3 lefty DSS-17. Now they have none LOL. On to the new repertoire.

[StringPicker6]

I just looked up the Martin DSS-17. Interesting build. Looks like a Gibson J-45 but with a longer 25.4" scale length. The burst finish even looks like a J-45

[William2]

I just looked up the Martin DSS-17. Interesting build. Looks like a Gibson J-45 but with a longer 25.4" scale length. The burst finish even looks like a J-45

I've always preferred a deep body instrument not just for looks, but also for sound. The DSS-17 is just a hair under 5" at the lower bout.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgQoC5GuzgU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9vumx2yc_4