Topic: parlor guitar sizing

[dave stott]

hello fellow weenies

This is not intended to be a discussion on the origins of parlor guitars..

I am very confused as to what size body a parlor guitar actually has..

Is it the same as a "00" sized guitar?

it seems to me that just about anything smaller than a dreadnaught is being called a parlor guitar these days.

what makes a guitar qualify to be considered a parlor guitar??

thanks

Dave

[waxwing]

I don't think there is any "official" size that qualifies a guitar to be a parlor guitar and therefore it is a very subjective label. If you don't want to discuss the history of the instruments, it's hard to talk about what influences my subjective viewpoint, but to me, anything bigger than a concert sized Oscar Schmidt Stella is too big. The 00 sized Martins you refer to, and their knock-offs, and the L-00 Gibsons and their family of similarly sized guitars all seem to be a bit bigger than the Stellas and L&Hs, etc., that I think of as having been from the "parlor era" you don't want to talk about. 0 Martins are definitely small enough to me. But I haven't measured any of these guitars.

14 fretters are definitely out.

The term certainly has more cachet these days, so, of course, it will be stretched and abused by anyone trying to sell a guitar smaller than a drednaught, as you pointed out..

All for now.
John C.

[Slack]

Names, body sizes and number designations are "stretchable" or can overlap.  No hard and fast rules.

In my mind "00" is a small bodied guitar and the "0" is a Parlor guitar.  Parlor's are generally 12 frets to the body, short scales (24"),  lower bouts that are 11-13 inches.

But again, these are merely guidelines and the actual dimensions can vary quite a bit.

(edit I see Wax has said pretty much the same thing.  I'll post anyway.)

[waxwing]

And I agree on the short scale, too, Slack. Might even throw in slotted head as a must, but that's definitely my personal taste, I think..-G-

All for now.
John C.

[dave stott]

thanks guys..

It is beginning to make sense to me now...

now all I have to do is figure out where a "12 fret concert" sized guitar fits into the realm of guitars...

LOL



Dave

[onewent]

..the term, 'parlor guitar' stems from the parlor music popular in the late 19th century, and guitars, generally, were small by today's standards .. I like the terms, concert, grand concert and auditorium used by Oscar Schmidt and other manufacturers in the early 20th century, to designate the small, medium and large guitar sizes .. these terms, and the guitars, were the ones around when the music we now emulate was first recorded, so it makes sense to me to use the terms from the matching period.

[waxwing]

thanks guys..

It is beginning to make sense to me now...

now all I have to do is figure out where a "12 fret concert" sized guitar fits into the realm of guitars...

For me, it fits in right at the top.-G- I play and perform with my little Stella more than any other guitar.

All for now.
John C.

[onewent]

John, maybe this will help:

Oscar Schmidt (Stella et al)

     Concert: Lower bout = ~ 12-13.5", scale = 25"
     Grand Concert:  LB = ~ 14.5", scale = 26.5"
     Auditorium (jumbo):  LB = 15.5", scale = 26.5

Martin:

     Size 0: LB = 13.5", scale = 24.9"
     Size 00:  LB = 141/8", scale = 24.9"
     Size 000:  LB = 15", scale = 24.9

There's more to 'size' than these two measurements, but this will give you a start.  There's tons of info out there re Martins, and Neil Harpe wrote a book on the Stellas. 
Then, there's the whole 'sound' issue .. even though the Stella Concert and Martin 0 share similar measurements, they're at waaay diffenent points on the sound spectrum..

So, what you could do is:  1.  seek out and play these various size guitars  2.  determine which fits your needs best..just don't ever try to trade a Martin 0 for Waxwing's Concert Stella  ;-0