Hello all --

I'm zeroing in on my next build, and I'm upping the ante a bit -- I'm going to attempt my first venetian cutaway with my Blues Creek side bender that should be arriving very soon. Woo-hoo! I've got some practice wood I plan to use before I tackle the gorgeous koa I just procured from Bob at the swap.

First question -- am I insane, or completely naiive to be trying this with koa my first time?

Secondly, I had pretty much made up my mind I wanted to do an SJ, but seeing the plans here for both the SJ and MJ got me to wondering -- what are the differences between the two? Is it merely a slight difference in body size, or is it more than that?

If anyone has images of their MJ's, I'd love to see em.

Whichever one I go with, I plan to alter the lower bout to waist recurve a bit to "slim it down" a little. I feel that would be more aesthetically pleasing to my eye.

Thanks for any input.

Ken

Now I'm really torn. Would there be any downside tonally to using the MJ shape on the SJ size? Of course, it'd have less bottom end, but probably still a bit fuller than an OM?

The MJ is just an SJ on Prozac.

I didn't know what you meant by "MJ." But now I get it: both SJ and MJ are abbreviated oxymorons. What's next, a JP?

OK I'll bite JP?

Jumbo Parlor.

I used to have real issues with terms SJ/MJ! This was because I didn't really recognise, as others had, that the proportion of bouts to waist and length was distinctive in the jumbo compared to smaller guitars! After recognizing this and seeing that I really liked, not just the size of the jumbo, but the shape too, I am much more comfortable with the terms.

I guess it would be somewhat analogous to,... God forbid,.... shrinking down a dreadalot and calling it an SD! I really, really hope this doesn't give anybody any bad ideas!

I guess using the nautical context of the name dreadnaught we can the extrapolate that a scaled down dreadnaught would either be a destroyer of Cruiser. Right?