Cheap Parlor Options?

Started by Blue in VT, March 23, 2006, 11:55:37 AM

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As most know I just bought an OM-05mt so funds are very low at the moment...this guitar is so beautiful that I'm afraid to take it out of the hose.... so I would love to find a cheap Parlor with 1 3/4 neck that I could use as a travel box and couch player.  I would love to have a larri parlor...but too much for me to worry about now...and I don't need two guitars to be stressed about keeping ding-free.  Any suggestions?

Blue
OM-05MT "Mary Helen"
Silvercreek T-170
Harmony Herd (1203, 162, 165, 6362)

Seagull Grand, Simon & Patrick Parlor or Art & Lutherie Ami with a solid top.

Cheap, fun and they sound really good for the price.

A&L ami has a 1 11/16" fretboard. Seagulls are generally 1.8" I think. I have an AMI cedar top and it's the bees knees. $199 brand new with a very decent gig bag...

One unsolicited suggestion. Use the fact that parlors are short-scale to your advantage and use a little heavier strings.  In my case it made all the difference. Thin sound became loud and with a lot more mojo...

enjoy!
Rob 

Larrivee OM-03R
Art & Lutherie Cedar/cherry Parlor (the best 200-dollar guitars in the world, made in Canada by real guitar craftspeople) :-)
Click to Read About Art & Lutherie Guitars
Peavey Generation EXP

What Denis said.  I have a A&L AMI ($85) that has a most surprising (as in good) sound, and is fun to play
Johnson L Body
A&L AMI
Cort Earth 900
Taylor Big Baby
Gold Tone PBR
Regal RC-51
Fender R48
Ariana Classical
Seagull Artist Grand
Gibson SJ
Gibson J-55
Taylor 355
Taylor 414
Larrivée L-05
Guild D-55
Taylor 614ce
Taylor 714ce
Taylor 814c
Kent archtop
Silvertone archtop
Les Paul Custom

The AMI has a 1 3/4" nut . . .
Johnson L Body
A&L AMI
Cort Earth 900
Taylor Big Baby
Gold Tone PBR
Regal RC-51
Fender R48
Ariana Classical
Seagull Artist Grand
Gibson SJ
Gibson J-55
Taylor 355
Taylor 414
Larrivée L-05
Guild D-55
Taylor 614ce
Taylor 714ce
Taylor 814c
Kent archtop
Silvertone archtop
Les Paul Custom

Mine's not a 1 3/4. It's definetly narrower.

Ditto above. Any Godin products are great. I own a Norman dread 12 string. Can't beat them for the money.
But, I really liked the Aria parlor I tried a couple of times at a local store. It's less than $200 and even looks great--no pickguard! These are imports, but very impressive.
--Fred

Than ks for the input all...sounds like some viable options...now to get out and get my hands on a couple of these...I believe there are some dealers around here who carry A&L and Simon and Patrick so I will start there...I'll also keep my eyes open for a used one on ebay.

cheers,

Blue
OM-05MT "Mary Helen"
Silvercreek T-170
Harmony Herd (1203, 162, 165, 6362)

I'm telling you, that Felix the Cat Martin is one nice little guitar...

Andy
Larrivee OM9
Larrivee PO-09 Koa
Breedlove SN20
Webber 000 Cedar/Maple

Andy?

Blue said cheap! :WNK> Oh yeah, and buy that thing already...  :GRN>
Mark from Wis.
Guild D-35
2004 Larrivee D-09

Martin LXK2
Epiphone Elitist '61 Reissue EB3 (for Sale!)
Birdsong Skyrider custom bass.

I agree with Andy - the HPL Little Martins are very portable and indestructible....and actually sound good for their size and materials.

I have played an LXM and own the LX1, which has the solid spruce top.  For a couch guitar, the other options mentioned sound good, but for a travel/outdoor guitar, it's hard to beat the weather and ding-resistant HPL.  Also comes with a very nice, heavily padded martin gig bag.

The only thing I'd change is the scale length:  23" is a little cramped.  I would have liked 24" like the Larrivee parlor, although the little Martin does have a 14 fret neck going for it  -_-


I had the chance to play several parlors this weekend...The Seagull is very nice...despite the headstock which I just can't like.  The Simon and Patrick is also great but I think they are both out of my price range for this purchase.  I did play several A&L AMI's which I thought were nice.  I was suprised by the AMI nylon string...I play mostly acoustic blues so I had no intention of trying a nylon string...but low and behold I really liked it...it plyed nice...sounded different in a good way...and was much nicer on my fingers.  Does anyone else outhere play the blues on a nylon? 

Blue
OM-05MT "Mary Helen"
Silvercreek T-170
Harmony Herd (1203, 162, 165, 6362)

We have an older (60s) Regal small-bodied guitar--same size as my Larrivee parlor-- with silk & steel strings. A friend of ours gave it to the kids, since theirs were grown and it was just sitting around. Moveable bridge. Painted on rosette & headstock logo. "Uni-bar" reinforced neck (whatever the heck that is :GRN> ). Fun, funky & bluesy.

Deb
Larrivee OM-03PA
Larrivee Parlor 01K
Taylor 412e-R

Quote from: Blue in VT on April 03, 2006, 10:34:03 AM
...I play mostly acoustic blues so I had no intention of trying a nylon string ... Does anyone else outhere play the blues on a nylon?...

That's pretty unusual.  I'd stick to steel strings myself for blues.  You just can't bend nylon trebles well ... they have a nasty habit of rolling out from under your finger.  Plus you get much better volume.

I was going to suggest the Ami Steel ... for a cheap guitar to play acoustic blues on they're untouchable.  Get steel strings.  Save up for a basic setup, and your fingers will get used to it anyway.  I don't find the action on A&Ls I've tried that bad anyway.

Not to belabor the point, but get steel strings for blues.

Yeah, I went back and played it again and have to agree...the nylon is too slippery to get a good grip on for bending and even on my picking fingers it feels abit odd.  Unfortunately the store I was looking at has several AMI steels but the set up is terrible on all 5 of them...on 2 of the 5 you couldn't even pluck the strings because the neck was so misshapen that all the strings were touching frets in the middle of the neck!!!...they have them on display like this!!!!  When I asked if they would do a free set up adjustment they said they would have to send it away to get the work done and it might take a week or two...why the hell would I buy a guitar that I couldn't play when I walked out the door...I mean the set up wouldn't have to be perfect but at least playable!?!?!?

Am also having a hard time figuring out how to properly hold a parlor and be comfortable...in a classical position it works well but in a more standard over the leg I just don't know where to put my right hand.  On my OM I'm used to resting the heel of my hand on the bridge and damping the bass strings there...and my picking fingers are right over the sound hole.  On the parlor the bridge is so far from the sound hole it just feels odd.  Maybe I'm just getting caught up in the Parlor "CRAZE" and they are just not for me....or maybe I have my heart set on a Larrivee parlor...but thats not gonna happen any time soon.

thanks for the help all...keep it coming,

Blue in VT
OM-05MT "Mary Helen"
Silvercreek T-170
Harmony Herd (1203, 162, 165, 6362)

I was in a similar position a year ago or so that I needed something to travel with play in the yard, etc instead of my L05MT.  I bought a baby taylor which I disliked from the moment I got it home.  I sold it and ended up with a seagull folk.  I really like this guitar.  had it about 12-14 months and I play it often.  It has a fairly similar neck to the larry, sounds good, and the size is realy nice.  it is larger than a parlor but still a comfortable little guitar.  the size gives it a much more appealing sound than the affordable parlors to my ears.  the cedar top does not appear to be indestructable.  I have been lucky to not have given it any door dings yet, but think I will eventually.  For me it is an upgrade from the parlor because it is so easy to play on the couch, etc.  haven't tried to take it on a plane yet.  I think it will make it most times.  finally, these guitars are often available used for less than $300 with a hard shell case.  If they have one where you have tried the seagull grand and other godin parlors, I think it is worth a comparison.

jeff
Santa Cruz PJ
Martin om28v
Martin 0018vs
Bourgeois 'Alan Simpson' Slope Dread
Martin LXM (on loan)

Quote from: Blue in VT on April 06, 2006, 08:16:37 AM
...  When I asked if they would do a free set up adjustment they said they would have to send it away to get the work done and it might take a week or two...why the hell would I buy a guitar that I couldn't play when I walked out the door...

The best shop anywhere near here has the same policy ... they offer free initial setups but it takes a week.  And they do the work themselves, they don't contract out.  Don't expect a great factory setup on any guitar in that price range either.

It takes more than an hour to do it properly because the truss rod has to be adjusted and it tends to settle in after adjusting.  If they'll do it for free on a $200 or less more or so guitar, jump on it.

Just curious what store the Ami's you found with the horrible setups are in. We have a chain here in New England called Daddy's Junky Music that has started carrying the Ami's, and it's the same thing. Five of them on the wall and all pretty poorly set up, a couple just unplayable...

Godin strikes me as a smart manufacturer on the one hand, but they seem to not get the fact that their guitars will be left on the store walls if the setup is poor or (as is the case with most of the A&L's and Seagulls I pick up in the stores) the strings are dead. Why they haven't figured out that they should string with Ellixir's as original equipment is beyond me. Well worth the extra 5 bucks they'd have to charge for the guitar. There are a couple other manufacturers in the same price range whose guitars are always well set up, basically in tune and have Elixir strings and they sound great right off the wall...

Anyway, I have an AMI cedar-top and I love it. Here's the trick as far as I'm concerned...

1) Elixir Medium/Light or Medium strings - gave it A LOT more volume and punch than with the lights, and it still plays easy because of the very short scale

2) replaced the TUSQ saddle with Bob Colosi bone saddle. Rounded out the tinny-ness of the trebles and overall made it sound a little more meaty and less "shrill".

Now an excellent-sounding and playing little fingerstyle box, and still under $250 in outlay!

:GRN> :GRN>
Rob 

Larrivee OM-03R
Art & Lutherie Cedar/cherry Parlor (the best 200-dollar guitars in the world, made in Canada by real guitar craftspeople) :-)
Click to Read About Art & Lutherie Guitars
Peavey Generation EXP

You got it man...the Junky daddy's in Williston VT.

Blue
OM-05MT "Mary Helen"
Silvercreek T-170
Harmony Herd (1203, 162, 165, 6362)

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