Next round, been to a local guitar store to check sizes and sound. Primary goal was to find out whether there is a „one for all“ size with good sound to replace my dread, or I got to go for a second guitar, sacrificing allround capabilities for playability. Started with parlors and worked my way up to grand auditorium, grabbing a dread every now and then for comparison. Several insights I got, quite interesting.
Parlor, while being really comfy and well suited for blues stuff, lack the depth of bigger bodied guitars to suit my taste for strumming, so it could only be a second guitar.
1/16“ nut width make a BIG difference. Tried a parlor with 1 3/4“ width and it really felt weird after playing one with 1 11/16“ nut width, which is kind of what I am used to from my dread and my electrics. Those two findings directly rule out the Harley Benton CLP slothead as it sports the wieder neck.
Tried a couple of 000‘s, and immediately felt at home with the size. The first one with a sitka top didn’t impress me, neither sound wise nor from the looks. Same model with mahogan, quite nice looking, and what a sound ! I guess that’s it. The one for all I‘ve been looking for. This is the one :
https://www.sigma-guitars.com/acoustic-guitars/15-series/000m-15/ . There is also one with cutaway and preamp/pickup. I know that I could get a Harley Benton much cheaper, but with the risk of having to do a setup on my own in case the action is to high or send it back if it doesn‘t fit.
Action for this weekend : check ABGU, SRM and HTJTBA to find out whether access to higher frets is mandatory. From the looks I would prefer the classic look, but don‘t want to restrict myself. And think about pickup or mic for recording.