Small bodied short scale guitar

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peter.coombe
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Small bodied short scale guitar

Post by peter.coombe » Sun Nov 20, 2016 2:19 pm

My latest guitar. Can hardly believe it, but this is my 17th guitar, and I must have learned something because it is a beauty. I have had a few enquiries about a small guitar, so decided to give it a go. The body is the same as my bigger tenor guitars and it fits into a case designed to fit a Taylor GS Mini, so no problems with finding a case. This one is a small bodied guitar with a short scale length of 23 1/2 inches with Red Spruce top from John Preston, and Black Heart Sassafras black and sides. Neck is Honduras Mahogany, rosette Blackheart Sassafras, bindings Indian Rosewood. The tuners are the fairly new Schaller grand tune black nickel tuners which are quite nice. This one was a surprise. I was not expecting much because of the small body and scale length, battling against the laws of physics, but it is one sweet sounding guitar with a good solid bass. A few jaws have dropped with this one, including mine when I strung it up. After 3 mandolins and this guitar, I really like Sassafras. It seems to have a warm bass very similar to Mahogany, but better clarity in the mids and treble.
Front.JPG
Front.JPG (119.16 KiB) Viewed 10556 times
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Front_detail.JPG (105.29 KiB) Viewed 10556 times
Back.JPG
Back.JPG (151.87 KiB) Viewed 10556 times
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Back_detail.JPG (130.09 KiB) Viewed 10556 times
Headstock.JPG
Headstock.JPG (108 KiB) Viewed 10556 times
Tuners.JPG
Tuners.JPG (102.56 KiB) Viewed 10556 times
Peter Coombe - mandolin, mandola and guitar maker
http://www.petercoombe.com

seeaxe
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Re: Small bodied short scale guitar

Post by seeaxe » Sun Nov 20, 2016 5:24 pm

Just lovely Peter, great job.
Richard

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kiwigeo
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Re: Small bodied short scale guitar

Post by kiwigeo » Sun Nov 20, 2016 6:30 pm

Nice work Peter. The 23-1/2" scale length is very short....what strings did you put on the instrument and how do the tensions feel when you play it?
Martin

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peter.coombe
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Re: Small bodied short scale guitar

Post by peter.coombe » Sun Nov 20, 2016 8:03 pm

Ended up with Elixir 13-53. Tried lighter strings, but did not like the sonic results. Tensions feel about right, they don't feel floppy.

Peter
Peter Coombe - mandolin, mandola and guitar maker
http://www.petercoombe.com

routout
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Re: Small bodied short scale guitar

Post by routout » Mon Nov 21, 2016 7:58 am

Nice I like the machines was just looking into hand made ones :o Oh and that wood looks perdy nice on the back. :D
John ,of way too many things to do.

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DarwinStrings
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Re: Small bodied short scale guitar

Post by DarwinStrings » Fri Nov 25, 2016 11:48 am

You have a stash of that appendix II mahogany do you Peter?
kiwigeo wrote:Nice work Peter. The 23-1/2" scale length is very short....what strings did you put on the instrument and how do the tensions feel when you play it?
If you didn't like the tension at E you could easily go up a semitone at that length.
Life is good when you are amongst the wood.
Jim Schofield

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peter.coombe
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Re: Small bodied short scale guitar

Post by peter.coombe » Sat Nov 26, 2016 9:50 am

I have a small stash which is disappearing all too quickly. Bought it from Gillian Alcock when she retired. She bought it 40 years ago.
Peter Coombe - mandolin, mandola and guitar maker
http://www.petercoombe.com

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