Baby Taylor/Mini Maton/Tiny Guitar

[Austen]

Anyone made or planned to make a tiny guitar yet ala matons 'mini'?

I have tracked down one set of plans for a 'small guitar/baritone ukulele'.
What do you guys think of these?

http://www.mimf.com/library/small_guitar.gif

Can anyone see any reason why it wouldn’t work? id just hate to get it knocked up and have it not produce the full sound that those mini matons get coming out of them.

[Allen]

I've built a Size 5 Terz guitar. Used Scott Antes plans for the basic dimensions, but lightened up the bracing considerably. You can see the finished instrument in this thread.

Size 5 Terz

To date, it's my favorite instrument that I've built, and I plan on keeping this one until something better comes along. The sound is really surprising to everyone that plays it. Very focused and great note separation.

[Localele]

What is the scale length of the plan.I have built some Baritone Ukes with a 19" scale length and strung them with DBGE strings and they sound great.I think the same body with six strings would be no worries.Cheers .

[Richard]

Can anyone see any reason why it wouldn’t work? id just hate to get it knocked up and have it not produce the full sound that those mini matons get coming out of them.

I see no reason that it wouldn't out-shine a Mini Maton acoustically. Personally I've always found that unplugged they have a very thin, muted sound... they really shine amplified.

[Austen]

thanks allen your baby looks awesome mate. well done

[hilo_kawika]

Allen, your work is impeccable. I'm very impressed. You've made a lovely instrument.

Regarding Austen's question, I have a suggestion or two. I've made a couple of 6-string baritone ukulele sized instruments using nylon rather than steel strings. I used a scale length of 20" rather than 19". I'm not saying that 19" is wrong but rather that for the body size I used, 20" seemed more appropriate.

Tuning. Generally, the first air resonance of the instrument body is close to the lowest open note of the strings. For this reason, baritone ukuleles which are made into six course instruments use what I understand is called "Nashville tuning". That is, ADGCEA rather than EADGBE. A baritone ukulele with only four strings can get away with DGBE tuning but a travel guitar with the same sized body will have difficulty (acoustically) with standard guitar tuning because of its smaller body size unless electrically amplified.

This is a wonderful little instrument. I highly recommend it for younger players with smaller hands in the nylon string configuration.

aloha,

Dave Hurd

[Alfred J]

I've built a Size 5 Terz guitar. Used Scott Antes plans for the basic dimensions, but lightened up the bracing considerably. You can see the finished instrument in this thread.

Size 5 Terz

Wotta little beauty! That gets my vote.
one of these years I would love to build a wee little guitar like that.