Life is short...Enjoy it!

[Dru Edwards]

Kori, Play the "wrong guitar" as long as you can. A couple of beautiful, wonderful guitars that you should (and are) enjoying while you can. Thank-you for the reminder.

[Kh1967]

Originally Posted by cheer tunes

Fantastic instruments! Your post got me thinking. Many of us use instruments that they were not "purpose built" for. I have found dreads very versatile over the years, not just for situations where you need to cut through a banjo, but they also work exceptionally well for solo singer songwriter situations to give a full spectrum support to the vocal.

My current odd situation is I finally realized why my J-185 sounds FANTASTIC for jazz....it has a spruce top with maple back and sides, just like the classic Gibson jazz boxes. So much so that I leave the jazz archtops in the case these days in favor of a J-185, go figure??

Best of luck, the pendulum always swings back to the "smalls"

I have some "smalls" in the closet. They are waiting for me.

[Kh1967]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Kori, Play the "wrong guitar" as long as you can. A couple of beautiful, wonderful guitars that you should (and are) enjoying while you can. Thank-you for the reminder.

Thank you, Dru! Hope you are doing great.

[leew3]

I agree with everyone supporting your perspective and appreciate your sharing it. I'm on the other end of that consideration. At 6'4" my Taylor 814 and Martin CEO 7 are my current favorites. The closest I have to a dread is a Larrivee L03 and the dread heads assure me that it doesn't count!

[Kh1967]

Originally Posted by leew3

I agree with everyone supporting your perspective and appreciate your sharing it. I'm on the other end of that consideration. At 6'4" my Taylor 814 and Martin CEO 7 are my current favorites. The closest I have to a dread is a Larrivee L03 and the dread heads assure me that it doesn't count!

Nothing wrong with that. Play what works for you!

[Birdbrain]

Originally Posted by Sponserv

I am very small in stature as well. My experience is nearly identical to yours. I always told myself that I would never be able to play a dreadnought comfortably.

But lo and behold I acquired a beautiful D-18 recently and could not be happier. I strum, fingerpick and flat pick this bad boy with equal pleasure.

Life is short...try a dread.

In my experience, guitar fit isn't about your overall height. Your guitar doesn't care how long your legs are- look at Little Jimmy Dickens and his big jumbos! It's a slightly more complicated equation, considering your torso length and your arm length. In my case, that would be long and short; I roll up my short sleeves, but the tail barely reaches my belt (if that's not more than you wanted to know). If you sit tall like that, a big guitar is just fine. But the dred's wide waist sits it up higher on my leg, and my left shoulder has to rise too high for comfort.

For way too long, I only had a Dred, and I dreaded playing it. Felt like a bulky box in my lap, teetering on my knee. It was a revelation when I discovered my smaller Jumbos. The guitar became completely comfortable on my knee, balanced on that deep waist. I stay seated, though, so I don't look like Little Jimmy Dickens.