There are certain developments that are favoring some smaller guitars in the world; one is the remarkable number of child players who are becoming very accomplished at an early age, and another is the population of wise, experienced guitarists who long for instruments more comfortable and easier to play. Until now, in the guitar market, smaller has almost always been cheaper, and lower quality because it's perceived to be for young students who aren't so serious.I've been working with shorter string lengths and smaller body guitars for a long time. Recently Scott Gossage a Teacher at Silicon Valley Classical Guitar School was in our showroom shopping with a talented young student, and while trying guitars he said "if only you had this size guitar but with this string length." What he said made sense to me, so I did it.
I have taken our standard Performance Series and reduced the perimeter by 5mm all the way around, and built it with 630mm string length, and I love it. We are referring to the body size as 7/8, which is about right. To me the lines of the body are just beautiful, the guitar feels wonderful and luxuriant, and it produces a full concert sound, and plays very easily.
So far I have made two, one spruce, one cedar, but I have also made the molds for it, so this can be part of our regular production schedule, as time permits.
This s a slightly smaller classical guitar, with full concert sound, featuring our unique Performance Series design including double top, lattice bracing, sound ports and French polish finish. It's priced the same as the standard Performance, and as such is a first class concert guitar at a modest professional price.
June 2012.
