Which parlour?

[lexluthier]

Hi all!

Looking to buy my first parlour(type) guitar for finger style country blues and perhaps slide. As most of my 'guitar life' has been involved with electrics and basses I'm not as clued up on acoustics as many of you folk out there and would greatly appreciate anyone's views, opinions, experience etc on the two guitars I'm currently considering.

1. Blueridge BR 361 & 2. Eastman E20P.

Both are Martin 0-28 types, Rosewood back and sides, ebony fingerboard and bridge and importantly(I think) 24 3/4'' ish scale and 1 7/8'' at the nut(I would prefer 46-47mm but there you go, many parlours are 1 3/4'', a bit small for me)

Suggestions/recommendations for other similar models also very welcome and gratefully received. I did start my search looking for something ladder braced but it looks like a minefield to my uninitiated self, especially if I have to buy without personal collection, which is likely. I would be very happy to take advice on this subject too if anyone has any suggestions.

Thank you for your time, hope to speak to you soon.

Chris.

[Deleted]

Chris...you should go to as many shops as possible, or visit with other guitarists, and play as many guitars as possible to find the tone,feel,appearance fit for you. Unless you have no other option, try to play the guitar you buy in person. That being said, there are so many reviews online that may be of value. Most new guitars starting in the $300 and up street price are well made and have nice play action. I'm sure you will get good advice on this forum.

[lexluthier]

Hiya, thanks for replying Fredcapo.

Good advice in an ideal world, I would say the same to anyone myself but unfortunately I can't get out and about very much. Had a look in all the music stores in my City(3!), only one 12 fret parlour type and I don't personally know anyone locally interested in this genre. I've spent the last two months watching every Youtube review and relevant thread on other forums I could find and kind of boiled my choices down to those two guitars. I have to admit its based on a mixture of what I fancy the look of, the dimensions I prefer and what's been said about them. The trouble with the last point is its mainly shop reviews out there and they're not going to say anything negative about something they're trying to sell you. Hence my plea for advice or opinion especially from anyone who may have come across these model or even just the brands personally. Both these guitars are priced north of £800 in this Country which is a fair old amount for an Asian guitar, and for me at the moment to be honest! So I just need to make the best informed choice I can within my limited circumstance.

Thanks again for you time mate, appreciate it.

Chris

[washboardchris]

Hi, if you don't mind a guitar that is a bit bigger , then I would look out for a second hand Yairi New Yorker, OO size, 12 fret to the body,nice wide fingerboard and very good sound. Hope this helps

[Deleted]

I've got a Washburn R314K 125th Anniversary Parlor I can recommend, has a nice wide fretboard AND an amazing V-shaped neck. It's a bit larger than my Framus parlor, deeper too, and I think the neck is full-scale too. Excellent build quality, solid wood, great price.

Washburn's also come out with a parlor resonator -- the spalted maple version looks stunning. Too bad they're not releasing it in Europe. You can still get it over here, but it's much too expensive.

I picked up the Framus a couple of weeks ago from a seller in Germany. Nice guitar -- but very thin neck, narrow fretboard (took some getting used to after switching from the Washburn), but nice bright sound (brighter than the Washburn). I like the smaller size too.

I don't currently have either guitar set up for slide, so I can't comment on that. The action on the Washburn is very low, not at all suitable for slide as is.

[lexluthier]

Hi Washboardchris. Thanks for that, I think I've still got a demo of one of those downloaded. I remember liking the look/vibe of it when I was hacking through loads of youtube vids. Didn't make the short list probably because it struck me as hard to find. I seem to remember having a classical through my workshop many, many years ago and was massively impressed with the quality of it. I will take another look. Thank you.

Hi Mickeyz. Was hoping to get a reply from you as you seem to have parlours on your mind at the moment judging from odd things you've mentioned on various threads. The Washburn parlour series was the first thing I homed in on when I started searching. I even tracked a few on Ebay while I was thinking. The guitar you mentioned I have seen/heard on Youtube and seems like a very good guitar, in fact the whole series seems excellent for the money. In the end I moved away from them for a number of reasons, one of them being I find them a little over decorated, too many inlays for my liking(that model with the Tree of life inlay would give me a headache!)  I think the dimensions are not quite up my street either. I've found myself being drawn to very conservative classic clean looking models, you have to be comfortable with the look of your axe as well as the way it feels and sounds I think.

When I've chosen and bought my super-duper solid wood classic 12 fret parlour, I'll be having a look at some yesteryear cheapo's like Framus, Stella and the like, much inspired in this area by Daddy Stovepipe, who I love watching/listening to.

Thank you for your input anyway, looking forward to agreeing with you in the future(headless guitars rule dude!)

Chris

[slide496]

For vintage, you might want to take a look at Neil Harpe's selections at stellaguitars.com as he often posts sound samples or youtubes on the models he sellsand also vintageblues.com to get an idea. I believe you need a more precise instrument up and down the neck so its, imho, a good idea to get one that had been demonstrated as
having good intonation up and down the neck.

[lexluthier]

Hi slide496. Thanks for that, will certainly check it out. Been a touch reticent to down the vintage route before I know more but it is where my search started so will pick it up again there. Cheers

Chris

[Deleted]

Almost forgot! -- there IS a headless parlor out there. Look for the Traveler AG105 (or the AG105EQ) -- looks like a great guitar. Not exactly a parlor - has a dreadnought shape, but the same size. It also has a full-scale neck.

Washburn makes a contemporary version of the parlor - has that clean classic folk guitar look, but not the V-neck.

I'm definitely with you on the look - very important. There's nothing flashy about my Washburn though -- well, except the body binding, which is a magnficent herringbone inlay, really beautifully done but still quite restrained. But the fretboard has simple dot markets, the headstock as nice little inlay, but nothing that screams at you. I really like the distressed finish they gave the guitar too - it's not overdone.

but most of all - that V-neck is great.

I've only played the one Framus, but if you're looking for a wider fretboard, I'd steer away -- all the Framus parlors I looked at had pretty narrow neck.

You might have a look for an old Hofner -- they made fantastic guitars back in the day, and their entry-level guitars were really very plain, but they age so well.

I'm in the process of developing a headless parlor resonator! I think it'll work - just gathering the parts at the moment.

[washboardchris]

Hi again, there is a US ebay seller (ebay name roadtoast) who seems to buy up a lot of prewar parlor guitars,work on them and then sell them on at a very good price.He tends to post a slide show and a vidio clip of the guitars being played so you know what you are buying. I have no connection with this seller but I would suspect that he must do it as a hobby as the amount of work he does on the guitars (neck sets etc) would cost you more than the asking price of the guitar. As I remember he has more than 1000 feedbacks (all good ) so worth a look.

[slide496]

For vintage - IMHO think it through, especially if you are new to fingerstyle. I hope you are able to get a new one you mention first, with a 30 or 45 day return, in case you play it and find its not for you.

I think you are doing right by getting a modern guitar set up for fingerstyle playing and will be better able to evaluate what you need if you choose to proceed and look into a vintage.

I have read mixed experiences both with the neck shape and the action on the older models from players in the style who have been playing 30-40 year, so if you can work with a seller and be able to describe what you need it would be best.

I play a little fingerstyle but not on parlors - I have a 1990 Gibson for that - which is why I haven't any suggestions about a parlour for fingerstyle

[Deleted]

I was quite impressed with the Hudson Little Wing VE Series Parlour Guitar. There are two versions, one a 44mm neck one with a 46mm neck.
www.cranesmusicstore.com/hudsonho1wlittlewingveseriesparlourguitar-p-2839.html

[Deleted]

The Hudsons are suppposedly made in the same factory as the Guild GAD series -- I had one of those for a while, nicely built guitar. Too big for me -- I've switched to parlor guitars because they're a better fit my body/age.

To me 699 pounds for a Chinese-built retailer-spec'd guitar is kind of outlandish. I know they're trying for a higher-end bracket, but still. That's approaching real money... for a no-name brand.

[Pickers Ditch]

I've got a Tanglewod parlour and it's a lovely little tool. Cost me £215 new with gig bag.

There's one on t'Bay
www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Acoustic-Tanglewood-Rosewood-Reserve-Parlour-Guitar-/181748361565?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item2a510be95d

or this one: basschat.co.uk/topic/262338-tanglewood-tw40pan/

No affiliations, but it might be worth having a butchers.

[Dessery]

I was on a similar position to you a few months back looking for a parlour guitar, one of the guitars I was looking at although never got round to trying was the Larrivee P-05, if you haven't come across it, it may be worth a look. I think they do a couple of variations in different woods too.

Good luck!!
David