Comparison of Small Guitars

[Davoravo]

So you wouldnt expect much difference between a 00 and a 000 in terms of tone?

[DownUpDave]

So you wouldnt expect much difference between a 00 and a 000 in terms of tone?

There is a noticeable difference. I own a 00 and a 000, the larger body and longer scale length make the 000 more resonant and rich sounding. The 00 is boxy and compressed sounding, not a bad thing but different.

I was in a music store today and played a Martin 00-15 and a 000-15 back to back. Same all mahogany construction just different sizes so a great test. They exhibited the same tonal differences as I described above.

[dcuttler]

Recently to comply with the directives here in the San Francisco Bay area to stay home, and work from home if possible, I decided to bring indoors the Cordoba Mini that has been in my car almost every day since I purchased it. It may be a long time before I will be driving to work again.

Before putting it away I tuned it up and played a few pieces, and was struck by how really bad it sounded. Could it need new strings? How long since I last changed them? I keep a log for this stuff, and these were the strings that I put on when I first received the guitar 10 months ago. Jeez.

At that time I experimented to come up with a decent mix of strings to allow it to be tuned E-E, but I remembered that I had a set of inexpensive D'Addario ¾ scale strings that I was going to use on a 580mm scale cordoba guitar I ended up selling. Having nothing to lose, I put them on the Mini, and tuned it G-G. The results were surprisingly good. Good enough that I ordered 4 more sets from Musicians Friend for $4.59 per set including free shipping. You could spend a lot more, and never noticeably improve the sound of that tiny guitar.

For what those strings cost I quit looking. The D'Addario product number is EJ27N ¾. $4.59 a heck of a deal.

[Jim Hanks]

Bad how? All the strings?

You had it in a car for 10 months? What was the highest internal temperature? If this were NC, that uke would probably be warped all to he** if not dried out and cracked in two.

FWIW, I liked the Mini I had in G-to-G, so if it sounds significantly worse than what you remember, then I agree something is wrong.

[merlin666]

So you wouldnt expect much difference between a 00 and a 000 in terms of tone?

I would not consider a 000 a "small" guitar at all.

[dcuttler]

Bad how? All the strings?

You had it in a car for 10 months? What was the highest internal temperature? If this were NC, that uke would probably be warped all to he** if not dried out and cracked in two.

FWIW, I liked the Mini I had in G-to-G, so if it sounds significantly worse than what you remember, then I agree something is wrong.

Wild variations in temperatures and humidity.

When you play these tiny guitars inside a closed automobile, thay almost always sound terrific because it's like being inside the body of the guitar. Then bring it indoors, play it, and find out how dead the strings really are.

Having said that, I think the most limiting factor in tone production is the very small body. You could spend a ton on exotic string sets, and not make much of a difference. Actually I really like the Cordoba Mini as a travel guitar, it just has some limitations baked into it.

[dcuttler]

I might also add that when tuning the new D'Addario strings, they kept going out of tune rapidly. It didn't make sense so I decided to check the tuner screws, and sure enough some were loose. After tightening all 6 screws, it settled down and stays close to tune overnight.

It's ironic that just after ordering 4 additional sets of strings for my Mini which I mainly use in my car if I get to work early, I was furloughed for the foreseeable future. Oh well more time to practice at home. 😀👍👍