Trade D/PW for F Model or…

[Anonymous]

I’ve got a really nice D/PW, but what I want is a more all-around guitar like the F model, or possibly an OM Grand. I’m also considering a Collings SJ.

My D/PW is in excellent condition, but it has a repaired top split below the bridge. Almost undetectable, A really well done repair. Glued but not cleated, it has remained solid and reliable. It has been kept in a humidity controlled room since I’ve owned it. Sounds great, loud and full, strong bass and highs

Let me know if you’re interested and we can discuss details. I am in Northern California, Sonoma County

 

[Acoustic Soul]

You may want to keep an eye out for a deep body variant of those two also, stepping down from a D/PW you can lose some internal space that you might miss if you’re in a singer songwriter situation – coming from someone with an OM Grand.

[Anonymous]

Can you elaborate on the “internal space” issue? Thanks for your comments.

[Acoustic Soul]

It’s only an issue if it’s not fitting for you 🙂  You get a little less of that internal reverb or intimacy with that large sonic cavity in those in between models without getting the charm of the OO or OOO.  It’s not a negative, but I find they very much land in the territory of their own thing.  My logic was that it would be a utilitarian workhorse of the highest caliber, but my OM Grand told me “no, I am not your idea of me… I am myself and nothing else.  I will do what I do and that is that.”  It is a very moody guitar, complicated and sophisticated.  The woods I’m sure contribute to that because other ones I have played have been different.  It is a torturous affair sometimes, but one I cannot seem to quit entirely.

If you are always finger style then it is a different story… a lot of the marketing and model information I find is heavily slanted towards finger stylers and not strummer singers in my own experience.  I don’t know what kind of player you are.  If you want any advice or questions answered feel free to message here or shoot me a PM and I can share what I’ve heard over the past 8 years playing them.

I also find personally that woods work differently in these models than they do on a small or large guitar.  That was a strange lesson to learn.  The OOOO or small jumbo world is like an alternate guitar universe haha, where what you thought would happen warps into reality in another fashion than anticipated… experience is really the only thing that can help you to match up what you want with what you’re going to get.

I just wanted to point out that an F or OM Grand may be no better suited as an all around guitar than the D/PW.  Having said that Santa Cruz dreadnoughts do have a very stylized sound I think, the F is the most reciprocal of whatever you put in you get out.  It is the smallest sounding between itself and the OM Grand in my experience, but I’ve only gotten hands on one F.

Coming down from the D PW though you’ll have a tighter waste and thinner body at the very least.  I’ve also found that Adirondack and Mahogany is most versatile for the things that I do and the way I do them… for you woods may not matter or you may find that another combination is a better go to for you.

I find it’s always great to daydream, formulate ideas, write down questions, set out on the road to play some guitars to answer them, have new questions, reflect, ask them to the shop and see what kind of answers come out of the process.  At the end of the day they are just guitars, but also at the end of the day I can’t stop the pursuit so I guess we can say the immovable object has met an unstoppable force…. I suppose that’s what drives life 🙂

[Author]

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