Well, I did it again - NGD!

[bigG]

Long story short:

I've been on the lookout for a nice parlor size acoustic for some time. Today, I found exactly what I wanted - the new Hohner Essential Series EL-SP Plus Parlor!

You can go to www.hohnerusa.com and here: http://www.hohnerusa.com/essentialseries.html and read up on what makes this guitar a bit different re "resonance"-matching woods and the Earvana compensated nut and bridge for "true intonation" across the fretboard (and all the specs: solid spruce top, laminated mahog back n sides, etc...).

It's a very plain-jane, satin-finished looker. No pickguard. Comes strung w D'addario 11s. And all this w a street price of $249!!!!

I saw a full page ad in December's Acoustic Guitar Mag about this Essential Challenge. Basically, Hohner will send you a free hat just for comparing this guitar to a Martin 000X-1 and a Taylor Big Baby. One of my two local music shops is listed in the ad as a Hohner dealer, so I trotted on up there, played the Hohner, and was sold on the spot!

Really quite a lovely piece of work, this little Hohner! Who knew?

I love it!

[sumitomo]

It is awesome at some of the nice guitars that are out there for a low price.Nice score,I'm keepin this one in my memory I need to replace an old jasmine.Sumi

[wingsdad]

...
Really quite a lovely piece of work, this little Hohner! Who knew?
...

Betchadidn't know:many of the better model of Hohner guitars used to be (may still be, haven't checked lately) made in Korea by.....Crafter!

So, you could (maybe) say you've got 2 Crafters now.

That's how my local dealer got a special deal a few years ago on a bunch of Crafters....thru his Hohner (harmonica) rep, when Crafter opened their USA marketing office, at the time, in Virginia. Until then, Crafter (the brand) was a Europe/Asia market product. In the USA, they were branded (and marketed by) Hohner.

Congrats, G.

[Spudman***]

I've played a few Hohners in the last couple of years and really liked them. Sounds like you got yourself a pretty good one. Congrats.

[Robert****]

Congrats! You buy guitars like they are about be extinct!

[evenkeel]

Very sweet little parlor.

I checked out the Hofner page. Seems like a lot of guitar for $250!!!

[bigG]

Thanks all! She's a sweety!

sumi: it's a sleeper/keeper for sure!

wingsdad: Thanks for the info. This one is made in China, but, for all I know, it could still be Crafter-China (?). I did discover that the company that owns Hohner is in Germany, fwiw...

spud: There are a few older, less expensive Hohners at the other shop in town, and, honestly, I never paid them any attention. More of a backroom stock starter guitar, those models...

Robert: it's more that I'm afraid of ME becoming extinct! At 59, you start to think about gettin' everything you can out of life as the days grow shorter...

evenkeel: it truly is an amazing "alot of guitar" for $250! I couldn't be happier; with the Hohner "discovery", this Hohner guitar, and the Hohner price!

Thanks again guys!

G

[Perfect Stranger]

Hohner makes a helluva guitar. I've owned a couple that were really nice...

[sunvalleylaw]

Cool BigG! Have fun with it!

[markb]

Looks nice. Wide nut too.

[tot_Ou_tard]

Very cool BigG.

I'm in the market for an acoustic for my 21 year-old son the christmas.

I was thinking of going with a used Seagull, but this might be the ticket.

He loves to play Jack Johnson and the Beatles.

Can anyone help me with the style of guitar? Folk maybe?

He is 5 foot 5 inches tall and his hands are rather small.

[evenkeel]

Very cool BigG.

I'm in the market for an acoustic for my 21 year-old son the christmas.

I was thinking of going with a used Seagull, but this might be the ticket.

He loves to play Jack Johnson and the Beatles.

Can anyone help me with the style of guitar? Folk maybe?

He is 5 foot 5 inches tall and his hands are rather small.

I'm only an inch or two taller than your son, also rather small hands. A 000/auditorium/folk size guitar would be a good option. Be careful however, as the wide fretboard, 1 3/4 at the nut, on some of the folk/auditorium/000 guitars may be a problem.
The washburn f10 would be a great starter guitar in the 000 category. This is 000 size cousin to the very popular Washie D10. Solid spruce top, lam back and sides and a 1 11/16" neck. Lots of bang for the buck.

[wingsdad]

Tot,
Good suggestions from 'keel on smaller body shapes/size. But with smaller hands, you may want to focus on even narrow nut-widths than 1 11/16. Seagulls, I believe are around that. While that's better for fingerstyling, for chording/strumming like Jack Johnson, 1 5/8 ---just a 1/16" narrower -- may make a difference. Not so much at the nut and lower positions, but as you go up the neck. To that end, try to see the specs on width at the 12th fret...often available brwosing online, but perhaps by email to the mfr's cust. service dept.

Then there's another route...a 3/4 scale. Besides the narrower neck/fingerboard, the frets will be closer together. Since your boy likes the Beatles, too, let's not forget that John Lennon's early-period Beatles favored Rick 325 -- short scale, or as he called it 'short-armed'. He dug it because it made grabbing chords otherwise hard to handle on full-scale guitars much easier to finger and reach extensions.

They're out there, but to name just one I'm familiar with from my local dealer, Washburn's Oscar Schmidt line is low-priced, and they make a very decent little guy...the list price is on this page I've linked to about it, so figure at least 30% lower than that:
Oscar Schmidt OG-1

[tot_Ou_tard]

Thanks Even & Wings.

Are 3/4 scale guitars really an option? Do they sound small?

We should move this discussion elsewhere as I don't want to take over bigG's Hohner thread.

[bigG]

Thanks again, folks!

tot, no problem for me if discussed on this thread. Go right ahead. (Although it might get lost, whereas a proper new thread would invite more attention and discussion...?)

G

PS: IMHO, 3/4 guitars of the acoustic variety do sound noticeably "boxier", which is understandable. The bodies are REALLY small, like a Baby Taylor.

[wingsdad]

Thanks Even & Wings.

Are 3/4 scale guitars really an option? Do they sound small?

We should move this discussion elsewhere as I don't want to take over bigG's Hohner thread.

Yeah, bigG's cool with it, but like he sez, this side-topic is prob'ly lost in here.

As for your question on 'size-of-sound'...similar to most smaller body acoustics (parlor, OM's).