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Does any one know why, when 00 size, fingerpick guitar is discussed, the vast majority of people are talking Martin 00. Why don't fingerpickers like L-00-most classic blues players fingerpicked the L-00?

different style of music, different tonal qualities in the instrument.

just as a majority of country musos seem to prefer gibson, and most bluegrasser pickers go for martin.

or it could just be image or habit....

Bob,

I think it's just that Martins in general are a lot more visible in the marketplace, and the L-00 is relatively obscure. And I think a lot of fingerpickers don't necessarily play blues and might prefer the Martin tone and/or the name. The L-00 has been getting more attention in our circle and I'll bet that will also happen in the retail marketplace.

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now known around here as Pat Foster
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Thanks to all for the great info.--fingerpickers could change the 'sound, of the L-00 by B/S other than Nic. Mahog--Macasar, rosewoods,Ebony's,et. If they were built w/ different b/s and different woods for top. Would the L-00 then possess qualities wanted for finger-pickers?

[QUOTE=bob J] Thanks to all for the great info.--fingerpickers could change the 'sound, of the L-00 by B/S other than Nic. Mahog--Macasar, rosewoods,Ebony's,et. If they were built w/ different b/s and different woods for top. Would the L-00 then possess qualities wanted for finger-pickers?[/QUOTE]
I don't see why not. In fact,though, good ol' mahogany and spruce are a sweet combination for fingerstyle (or any other) guitars. As in all things lutherie, it really depends on the skill of the builder and not so much on the woods used.

That's right Hesh, the L-OO was never a premium guitar in the way that the Martin was. In more than 40 years of guitar playing I have never seen a L-OO, I'm not sure how many ever made it to this side of the Atlantic, just not worth importing cheap guitars. I do own a couple of Martin OOs, and use one for my blues and ragtime playing. My favourite being a 1963 OO-18 that sings. I prefer it over my pre-war Martins in fact.

But if you are really talking delta blues guitars, then the real McCoy is the little ladder braced Stella. Just have a listen to the sound clips that John How posted of his ladder braced 'stella', they almost taste of the juke house, certainly the best sounding guitar we have heard on the forum. It also shows that while the X-brace may be essential to the large bodied Dread and Jumbos, maybe it overbraces the smaller guitars. Just a thought.

Colin

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I don't believe in anything, I simply make use of a set of reasonable working hypotheses.

todd, my likening of the difference in instrument preferences between blues and finger style players to the difference in preference between country and bluegrass players was just that, a comparison of the tendency for preferences of musicians of differing genres to go to instruments by different makers. the fact that one pair by and large uses small bodies and the other large bodies is totally irrelevant to the point of the thread.

for that matter, there are probably as many country players playing jumbos as dreds, but they will still tend to be gibsons.

but there was no indication in my post whatsoever that i was saying the country or 'grass musos use small bodied instruments. where you came up with that idea i don't know.crazymanmichael39085.8036574074

So far I've seen three L-00s up close and personal. A local guitar shop here had two of them last time I was in there and a local repair guy had one for sale on ebay that I went and looked at.

The thing that struck me about them all was , as Hesh stated above, that they were so lightly built. These things are light as a feather. One of them was busted and I got to have a good look around on the inside and the braces just amazed me. I didn't have anything with me to measure with but the braces looked to be about 3/16" wide tapering to a sharp point at the top and not very tall either.

The other thing was the thickness of the back and sides. I would guess then to be somewhere aroung .060" thick or less, certainly not any more than that. So when Hesh says lightly constructed he means lightly constructed.

Oh yeah, the two that were still together sounded great too.

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Dave Rector
Rector Guitars

My most popular model is my L-00 with the 25.4 scale. Still build em light but with that scale the finger style players love them which is who I mainly cater to.

Thanks for the informative and thoughtful answers. I love threads like this. FINAL QUESTOIN:
Forget that L-00 has been considered a 'blues' guitar for years. (I happen to think that that nomiker was earned not because it had something special for the blues but it was a cheap guitar and it or the guitar used would be the affordable guitars for many blues greats).
Let's say I want to build a L-00, EIR B/S, Addi top & bracing, and assume bracing will be done in a proper manner.
If I was looking for the best SOUND, tONE, in your opinion, should the guitar be braced Martin style or the pattern used form '27-33-type of parabolic.
Thank you for taking the time,