Post by surfguy13 on Feb 24, 2015 16:47:30 GMT
£4,000 is a lot of money to spend. If you are looking or something different I would recommend thinking about a custom build from one of our luthiers here in the UK. Having recently done this I wish I had explored this option earlier. It's an interesting process to go through and, of course, you can tailor the design to the things that are really important to you. There are great luthiers here who will be build you a guitar for far less.
Finally, a reflection on the jumbo size. I used to play a jumbo for many years but moved down to an OM because of a series of niggles and problems that I put down to the size of the guitar. When I commissioned my main guitar last year I imagined I would be looking at something broadly similar to OM size. I played the luthiers own guitar, more of a jumbo sized instrument and was knocked out by the sound. I was also impressed by the comfort of playing it — this was not a Martin shape. I went for the jumbo but added a wedge option to ensure comfort. I am very pleased that I went down this route. The playability of this guitar — the fingerboard dimensions — and the woods and the sound are all superb and easily compete with imported guitars that I have played that are over twice the price.
As earwighoney mentioned, a 12-fret produces a nice round and solid bass response and with mine being 0 and 00 body sizes they kick the sound out, whereas a dreadnought or jumbo will be more resonant and have a 'bigger' sound. Horses for courses. However, having been over to a friend's house this morning and played a Breedlove Jumbo with a 16" bottom bout, same as the Baranik, I found it completely changed my playing position. I had to sit more upright in order to tuck the bottom bout under my right arm and I didn't find it particularly comfortable. When playing the 0/00 I tend to sit over the guitar more and with the bottom bout being so much smaller the whole guitar feels more 'tucked in'. This may not be the ultimate playing position but it's the way I've been playing for many years and it feels comfortable. Also, with a wider fingerboard I find I need to sit forward to get around the neck.