What's your favorite Guild for fingerpicking country blues?

[devellis]

Skippy, I'm with ya. Guitars that sit nicely on the knee and have wide boards are great for finger picking. I only have one standard dread (a 1979 Taylor) and I'll probably sell it because it just doesn't feel good to hold. Jumbos actually work okay for me. I also agree that the wider boards are more comfortable. I have a Zimnicki with a nut just over 1 3/4" in a sort-of OM size with a deep waist and it's probably the most comfortable finger picking guitar I have. It has a big voice that isn't your typical blues box sound but it's great fun to play. I also have a Seagull parlor that feels great for finger picking. Again, an "intimate" feeling guitar with a reasonably generous nut width (just under 1 3/4"), It's also a shorter scale, which helps.

Of late I'll finger pick whatever I can get my hands on but guitars that I can hold on my knee and sort of envelop and that have a reasonably wide fingerboard do seem to work best. Tone, of course, is a separate issue. I have to admit that I haven't really developed a specific tone preference for picking blues. I'm too new to the genre and my ability is a bigger limitation than the guitar's tone at this point. The Zimnicki has a big, resonant voice that in many ways is the antithesis of what you'd think of as a country blues guitar. But while it may not sound "authentic," it sounds great to my ears (the guitar, not the playing at this stage).

I've always believed that you can play pretty much any music on any guitar. But the older I get, the less use I have for dreadnoughts and that's especially true for finger picking. Small, balanced, guitars are looking better and better. And this from a guy who recently bought an F-512. But that big 12-string is surprisingly comfortable. It feels smaller than it looks, if you get my drift. If anything, it sounds bigger than it looks, which is a good thing.

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

Skippy, I'm with ya. Guitars that sit nicely on the knee and have wide boards are great for finger picking. I only have one standard dread (a 1979 Taylor) and I'll probably sell it because it just doesn't feel good to hold. Jumbos actually work okay for me. I also agree that the wider boards are more comfortable. I have a Zimnicki with a nut just over 1 3/4" in a sort-of OM size with a deep waist and it's probably the most comfortable finger picking guitar I have. It has a big voice that isn't your typical blues box sound but it's great fun to play. I also have a Seagull parlor that feels great for finger picking. Again, an "intimate" feeling guitar with a reasonably generous nut width (just under 1 3/4"), It's also a shorter scale, which helps.

Of late I'll finger pick whatever I can get my hands on but guitars that I can hold on my knee and sort of envelop and that have a reasonably wide fingerboard do seem to work best. Tone, of course, is a separate issue. I have to admit that I haven't really developed a specific tone preference for picking blues. I'm too new to the genre and my ability is a bigger limitation than the guitar's tone at this point. The Zimnicki has a big, resonant voice that in many ways is the antithesis of what you'd think of as a country blues guitar. But while it may not sound "authentic," it sounds great to my ears (the guitar, not the playing at this stage).

I've always believed that you can play pretty much any music on any guitar. But the older I get, the less use I have for dreadnoughts and that's especially true for finger picking. Small, balanced, guitars are looking better and better. And this from a guy who recently bought an F-512. But that big 12-string is surprisingly comfortable. It feels smaller than it looks, if you get my drift. If anything, it sounds bigger than it looks, which is a good thing.

That, to me, anyway, is the great thing about Jumbos...I guess it's the lack of a "waist" that makes a dread not as comfortable (for me) to play while sitting down or standing, while a Jumbo feels "just right"!

Definitely, after playing Jumbos pretty much exclusively for almost 3 decades, dreads just feel "odd", if you will.

 

[Ridgemont]

Since there is a ever so slight veer to an ideal fingerstyle guitar, I will chime in again. I have been on a quest for my ideal guitar. I am mainly a fingerpicker so I guess I am looking for my ideal fingerstyle guitar. I have realized that it is all about precision. To fingerpick on an guitar with a small nut width and small string spacing at the bridge, you need to be much more precise than on a guitar with a larger nut width. I think that with practice precision can improve, but it can only do so much if you have large hands with big fingers. My GAD30 has a 1&3/4 inch nut width with a large string spacing and it is very easy to play. When I switch to my 000-15 (1&11/16 inch nut), it takes me a little warming up to get used to the new string spacing at the bridge. Then when I switch to my D25 with even smaller string spacing at the bridge, more warming up is needed to regain precision. I feel lucky because I have thin fingers which gives me a comfortable experience with the narrower string spacing. Unfortunately, my smaller hands make the modified V on some Martins to be very uncomfortable. This stinks because I love the tone of the 000-18 Golden Era (with the uncomfortable modified V). But on the other hand I feel I am at an advantage because the narrow string spacing is decent on an F30 which has a very desirable tone. But for me, the Standard series Martins (like my 000-15) has the ideal string spacing for me and playability is great....but I don't like the tone of the 000-18.

 

[killdeer43]

I think all along that turning my F112 into a 6-string was aimed at making a small-body fingerpicking "package" for myself.

It seems to fit the criteria that a lot of people are looking for in a finger picking Guild; i.e., small body, wide neck (1 13/16 at the nut), comfortable fit. I'll say that it's much better for fingers than it is for a flat pick....and that's OK by me!
But it still handles a flatpick very well.
*Oh yeah, it's strung with D'Ad mediums, BTW.

Great little camper, too,
Joe

 

[dogberry]

Regarding the wider fretboards, I had a Tacoma ER28C that was a beautiful guitar, great finger picker -- but I found there were some things that I just had a hard time playing on that guitar. I have short fingers, and some of the reaches were too long. After trying a Martin 000-16, I figured out that the fretboard on the Tacoma was a little too wide for my hands. My F30, with its short scale and slightly narrower fretboard, fits me better. Which just proves the oft mentioned point that the best guitar for one player is not the best for another.

Ridge, if you're looking for a new fingerpicker, have you tried out the Taylor GC line? I particularly like the GC3 and GC5, the cedar tops give them a great, warm sound.

 

[Ridgemont]

Ridge, if you're looking for a new fingerpicker, have you tried out the Taylor GC line? I particularly like the GC3 and GC5, the cedar tops give them a great, warm sound.

Hey Dogberry, well lusting for a new fingerpicker is more like it. Yes I have tried the Taylor GC line, particularly the GC5. I really like the tone of mahogany, but something about the mahogany Taylors just doesn't register well with me. I really haven't been able to figure it out. I find them to give off a very bright, shrilly, tight sound that is just too jangly for my tastes. First off, I loathe the tone given off by Elixers and the Taylors I have tried always come strapped with them. I would like to try an older Taylor strung with something else to get a better perspective. However, in terms of a good playable fit for me, the Taylor neck is very easy for me to fret and the string spacing at the saddle is quite generous.

 

[zplay]

Well, my favorite Guild for country blues is my Tacoma-made DV-4.
Every bit as good a fingerpicker as a strummer. Has that warm mahogany tone and great balance.
The nut width is given as 1 11/16, but something about the contour of the neck and maybe the radius of the fretboard make it easier for me to play clean than most dreads. Also, there was enough room to spread the strings slightly more at the nut, so I had it reslotted and that has helped.
I have a guitar that has that roominess of a 1 3/4" nut and 2 5/16" saddle spacing, which is quite nice and would work well for country blues, but atleast for me, is almost too much of a handfull as i play up the neck toward the body join.

 

[killdeer43]

Well, my favorite Guild for country blues is my Tacoma-made DV-4.

OK, with that entry the door swings wide. Here's my all-time favorite, all-everything guitar. Fingerpicks and strums with equal loveliness to these ears! :wink:

'89 D50

And it's a heck of a camper, too!
Such a wide open thread.

Joe

 

[Terry Allan Hall]

I think all along that turning my F112 into a 6-string was aimed at making a small-body fingerpicking "package" for myself.

It seems to fit the criteria that a lot of people are looking for in a finger picking Guild; i.e., small body, wide neck (1 13/16 at the nut), comfortable fit. I'll say that it's much better for fingers than it is for a flat pick....and that's OK by me!
But it still handles a flatpick very well.
*Oh yeah, it's strung with D'Ad mediums, BTW.

Great little camper, too,
Joe

I might look around for a 3rd F-212XL and convert it to a 6-string...interesting idea, at that. 8)

 

[killdeer43]

I might look around for a 3rd F-212XL and convert it to a 6-string...interesting idea, at that. 8)

It was a fun project and the end result left me with a smile.
The F112-6 hybrid is a a great little guitar and if I had it to do over again....I would!

Joe

 

[yettoblaster]

Telecaster!

Oh wait...

Um, I grew up playing everything on a '61 J-45, including lots of so-called "Travis-picking" (the two finger and alternating thumb bass "chunk") for singing whiney Folk songs about stuff I had no clue about, bein' a white teenager. Also some Mississippi John Hurt, which I related to even less but thought I was being pretty "ethnic." Dave Van Ronk was slightly accessible however.
The kid across the street had a 12-string Guild, and later I loved finger-picking on a small bodied Gibson 12 string (you couldn't "dig in" much, more like skimming across the surfaces).

Fast fwd 25 years and I had a luthiered OM pattern in German silver spruce and walnut. That was about the best general finger-pickin' guitar I ever had, but actually sounded a bit too elegant for Country Blues, though at the time I was chasing some "original" acoustic "air pudding" muse that eventually led me back to mahogany (D4 Guild).

Lately I have run across (in stores) a Chinese M20 (nice guitar for Country Blues, I thought, not being much of an authority still), and a GAD30R which was dandy, but I couldn't pull the trigger on it even so.

Which led to today's D-40 purchase, which I intend to reprise my terrible sense of Country Blues on, along with everything else I hardly have a concept about or for! It is FUN however.

So, first acoustic flat-top in a while (though I've had some acoustic archtops I thought were fine for fingerstyle, though again: I'm a bit more dave Van Ronk or paul Geremiah than those delta guys with the deep tans). 8)

 

[dogberry]

Which led to today's D-40 purchase, which I intend to reprise my terrible sense of Country Blues on, along with everything else I hardly have a concept about or for! It is FUN however.

So, first acoustic flat-top in a while (though I've had some acoustic archtops I thought were fine for fingerstyle, though again: I'm a bit more dave Van Ronk or paul Geremiah than those delta guys with the deep tans). 8)

You are going to love that D-40, I predict - I just put new strings on mine, and it blew me away all over again. Do you have the Richie Havens model, or the bluegrass jubilee?

 

[adorshki]

Do you have the Richie Havens model, or the bluegrass jubilee?

Said he got a NOS Tacoma Bluegrass Jubilee on another thread...

 

[Ridgemont]

Good choice on the D40 with all things considered. The GADs are nice, but if you can swing it, I would run with the big boys. I have played some great D40s. I would love one some day, but my D25 is all the dread I need...can't beat the tone of a Guild

 

[yettoblaster]

Yeah I put some John Pearse light 80/20's on and it woke up and sounds like a grande piano.

I did like that GAD30R, and the 20 (25?), for finger-style, but the D40 is much closer to my ham-fisted style of bashing, and finger-picks just fine too.

 

[West R Lee]

Yeah I put some John Pearse light 80/20's on and it woke up and sounds like a grande piano.

I did like that GAD30R, and the 20 (25?), for finger-style, but the D40 is much closer to my ham-fisted style of bashing, and finger-picks just fine too.

I've been preaching John Pearse 80/20 lights for quite a while around here......great to see someone that's made the switch and loves them. Fabulous fingerpicking strings.....very comfortable and pliable.....far and away my favorite strings....and for about $6/set.....pretty hard to beat all around.

West

 

[yettoblaster]

Yeah I put some John Pearse light 80/20's on and it woke up and sounds like a grande piano.

I did like that GAD30R, and the 20 (25?), for finger-style, but the D40 is much closer to my ham-fisted style of bashing, and finger-picks just fine too.

I've been preaching John Pearse 80/20 lights for quite a while around here......great to see someone that's made the switch and loves them. Fabulous fingerpicking strings.....very comfortable and pliable.....far and away my favorite strings....and for about $6/set.....pretty hard to beat all around.

West

I was already familiar with the John Pearse Phos Bronze, but when I went to get some I subliminally remembered discussion here about the 80/20's. Was that YOU Obi-Wan, using The Force on me?

"...These aren't the droids you're looking for..."

I suddenly switched mid-sentence and came home with 80/20's.

Ok ok, I give. I LIKE 'em!

 

[taabru45]

Telecaster!

Oh wait...

Um, I grew up playing everything on a '61 J-45, including lots of so-called "Travis-picking" (the two finger and alternating thumb bass "chunk") for singing whiney Folk songs about stuff I had no clue about, bein' a white teenager. Also some Mississippi John Hurt, which I related to even less but thought I was being pretty "ethnic." Dave Van Ronk was slightly accessible however.
The kid across the street had a 12-string Guild, and later I loved finger-picking on a small bodied Gibson 12 string (you couldn't "dig in" much, more like skimming across the surfaces).

Fast fwd 25 years and I had a luthiered OM pattern in German silver spruce and walnut. That was about the best general finger-pickin' guitar I ever had, but actually sounded a bit too elegant for Country Blues, though at the time I was chasing some "original" acoustic "air pudding" muse that eventually led me back to mahogany (D4 Guild).

Lately I have run across (in stores) a Chinese M20 (nice guitar for Country Blues, I thought, not being much of an authority still), and a GAD30R which was dandy, but I couldn't pull the trigger on it even so.

Which led to today's D-40 purchase, which I intend to reprise my terrible sense of Country Blues on, along with everything else I hardly have a concept about or for! It is FUN however.

So, first acoustic flat-top in a while (though I've had some acoustic archtops I thought were fine for fingerstyle, though again: I'm a bit more dave Van Ronk or paul Geremiah than those delta guys with the deep tans). 8)

First saw, and only time, I saw Paul Geremiah was in a coffee house in '69........What a great time to have been able to almost sit across the table from folks like him, Tom Rush, Joni...Sonny and Brownie, etc....a real part of musical history being made....Steffan

 

[spiderman]

Several have mentioned Mississippi John Hurt's F-30. Now it can be yours, maybe. On another forum I saw that it was available from the Denver Folklore Center, although I don't see it listed on the website, though a Tom Paxton owned Santa Cruz is.
Check this URL for a video of it being played in MJH style.
http://www.littletobywalker.com/pages/videoclips3.html
When I saw him in 1963 at Newport I believe he was playing his old Stella? The Guild was a later gift.

Harmony H-173 bought in 1960 (retired), Alvarez AC60S 2008, Eastman AC320ce 2008 "Hybrid", Guild GAD-JF30E(blonde) 2008, Guild JF55 1997, Guild D25M 1974, Martin Grand J35E 2009, Martin D12-20 1970

 

[yettoblaster]

...First saw, and only time, I saw Paul Geremiah was in a coffee house in '69........What a great time to have been able to almost sit across the table from folks like him, Tom Rush, Joni...Sonny and Brownie, etc....a real part of musical history being made....Steffan

Same here. The Unicorn Coffee House on Boylston, across from The Pru, in Boston, in the sixties was THE place, along with the Club 47, Cambridge (and other little-known coffee houses like Turk's Head, and Sword in the Stone). Got to see (multiple times): Tom Rush, Phil Ochs, Dave Van Ronk, Tom Paxton, Jake Holmes, Jamie Brockett, Paul Geremiah, as well as Gram Parson's "International Submarine Band," Cat-Mother and the All Night Newsboys, etc etc. What an era! Everybody from Greenwich Village who was managed by Albert Grossman played The Unicorn several times a year, as well as Lena's (route 50, Saratoga, NY). Mary McCaslin used to play there (and now lives here in Santa Cruz). She's still playing and recording, and also DJ's and works (books) for Sylvan Music, where I used to teach.
I saw Dave Van Ronk and talked with him again here, a couple years before he died. A legend!
When I lived in Boston we played (garage bands) the same Rathskellar as Aerosmith and James Cotton. The J. Geils Band was a couple of echelons up, and our heroes.