Why You Need a Parlor Guitar | TNAG Feature with Lindsay Straw 

Some of us don't want a guitar to be loud, to record in a studio, to be part of a band, to play for an audience, some of us want a guitar to express our feelings alone, on the couch, after a long day, to let our hearts speak through the chords, not using the guitar to impress someone, but to let our feelings tell a story, the guitar not being a tool to catch attention, but as an intimate friend, loving your guitar like a memory of a night sitting with your father on the porch.

Video: Why You Need a Parlor Guitar Me: Say no more

Well done! There's one thing I would like to add as a reason to own a parlor ... we get old. We lose grip strength and some of us get arthritis. A short scale length and lighter gauge strings will add longevity to one's playing.

I am a 55 year old new guitar player. I have no intentions on playing on stage and started just as a hobby. After watching your video I believe a parlor would be a great choice for sitting around the house and playing. Thank you!

Must... resist... buying... more guitars! 😀 I owned a Parlor and I can confirm, that among steelstring-guitars, they might have the sweetest sound possible. I actually like nylon just more, but even as I sold mine, it will always have a place in my heart.

Watching Jethro Tull’s frontman, Ian Anderson, rock a parlor guitar all these years showed me how great they can sound! I picked up a used vintage one recently and love it enough to seriously consider getting a better one. He’s said in interviews that he went that route because it’s great for traveling with his flute.

As a parlor guitar maker, I am biased, but I think the parlor guitar is the best all around guitar for the home and small settings. They are great for recording and have phenomenal tone. I build them with both, a 12th fret to body joint and 14. Lovely little instruments

Since my last comment here of a year ago I have acquired a '63 Martin model 5-16, a Collings/Waterloo WL-S (size 0), and also a '33 Gibson/Kalamazoo KG-11 (size 00). I remain as infatuated with these small size dynamos as ever! They are the most responsive and expressive guitars I have owned, and over the years I've had quite a few!

The sound of that Collings gets me misty eyed. Shout out to the Vietnamese brother on video production...

I've been waiting 60 years, to own a parlor guitar ... love the tonal qualities of this size

Wonderful selection of music and playing! Thanks

A wonderful presentation thank you. I was delighted to be able to restore a parlour guitar recently, it was lovely to play and wonderful to give back to its owner to enjoy. Cheers Dave

Wow! Beautifully done. ❤️ But will my wife understand why I need a parlor guitar to add to the rest of my collection?

Simply spectacular! Some of the most beautiful playing I have ever heard. Just wow.

I'm not sure if I am more enamored by Lindsay's playing or a new found love for these parlor guitars.... I've never heard a parlor guitar I liked until now... absolutely love the Santa Cruz and Martin!!

I love your playing. Delicate, expressive, and musical.

Wonderful presentation and playing, Lindsay. Love the tonal pallette of parlor guitars.

Thank you, Lindsay. Well done!

Thanks for sharing. Great video! I did not knew what were these guitars. Eventhough I have seen many guitarists playing a Parlor guitar, I did not knew all the things you explained. Thank you very much and congratulations. I am looking forward for a Parlor one.

Lovely demo and beautifully played by Lindsay.

Great playing Lindsay. I’ve always love smaller bodied acoustic guitars as I believe it’s more intimate when you play them. When I hit the lottery I’ll own either a Martin parlor or a Collings parlor. They’re so warm and round sounding. Just simply beautiful.

Very nice . I own a couple parlors- and I just love them. Easy to hold, nice for the couch also. Great projected sound for its size. Mine are 19th century parlors. Thank you. Well done.

Thank you for this video. You play beautifully. I’ve played for 50 years and I picked up a parlor 7 years ago and since that time have owned a few. Now my collection has mostly 00 or concertina size models. Thank you again

Wonderful guitars, and wonderful playing!

Well I may not need a parlor guitar, but after listening to this I NEEEEED a parlor guitar!! Beautifully performed and recorded, superbly produced!

Thanks very much for this video. Absolutely beautiful playing. Excellent job detailing the benefits of the Parlors. I too play with a lighter more delicate touch. I feel it leaves room for more dynamic tonal variation. I own a Huss and Dalton Custom and a Bedell Wildfire Parlor. Love them both.

You play beautifully. Nothing you played seems out of my reach, but as a whole it's at another level. Parlours sound fantastic in your hands, well done

love that you are using carefully placed microphones, and lovely lighting. What a treat.

Beautiful playing and narrative. I love the Collings

you play beautifully, and i am actually quite surprised and impressed with the fullness in tone of these instruments. i DO need a parlor guitar!

Great playing, Lindsay. I was drawn to the sound of some guitars more than others; the Santa Cruz was the pick of the bunch for me.

Lindsay’s playing is very appropriate and a great compliment to the instrument.

I have several parlor guitars and love them all... thy add so much to my playing and practice, writing and all around enjoyment

Beautiful video. Your playing has inspired me to revisit the music of Carcassi.

You’re playing is beautiful. I also love the sound of those guitars. Amazing actually.

Thank you Lindsay, very nice presentation. I love parlor sized guitars and own about 6 of them. Kinda like potato chips. I have been playing for 50 years and they still are my favorite guitar. Your playing is such a gift, great talent, thank you for sharing!

I own a Collings Parlor, and an O2h. Between those two I almost always pickup the Parlor. The instrument itself is stunning and it's a cannon with tone and projection. Wish I had the dough to buy another. Great playing btw, Lindsay. Your finger style technique is lovely and very impressive.

I've been saving and cannot wait to get my parlor. I've always been in love with their intimacy and clarity. Loved this video but it made me slobber on my phone cause I wanted all of them.

That playing is so clean. Great tone too

I really enjoy the Breedlove Oregon concertina. Well made. Sound optimized and very comfortable to play.

I love my new Fender Malibu! 😊 It's an acoustic-electric, so loudness isn't an issue. It feels more like playing an electric guitar, which helps the playability. It stays on my bed, and feels so good in my arms!

Superb playing, very well presented too was considering a parlour guitar thank you 🙏

From the many parlors that I have played through the years the one that impressed me the most was a Goodall parlor guitar. It is certainly worth trying a Goodall when you are looking for a parlor guitar.

My main performance guitar is a Bedell Coffee House Parlor. Love it!!! It's usually matched with the Fishman battery powered amp. That guitar comes with a K&K mini western. I could listen to Lindsay playing Parlors endlessly!

As I've gotten older and my hands don't work so well and the parlor has added a few more years to my playing. I have two I love them.

Great feature. Great playing. I love the sound of smaller acoustics, especially in the studio. For an interesting look at the distant relative of this style of acoustic guitar check out Rolf Lislevand playing a 1679 five course, ten string Stradivari guitar and also Brandon Acker's excellent video on the baroque guitar.

The shape of these guitars are very pleasing to the eye. The long narrow look.

Nice selection. I'm a parlor freak. Enjoyed the playing, demonstrates the sonic power nicely.

Great playing & information. Those guitars sounded woody, big & full. Enjoyed it. oNe LoVe from NYC

Great selection

Best guitar I have is a parlour .......Guild .....and I rarely play anything else now . So comfortable to hold and the sound is great

The piece you played at the end was just too good! Thank you for sharing

Your playing is the true standout here...

I still consider my 0-18 Martin to be a "parlor guitar", it certainly is the quinresential couch guitar!

I've never owned a parlor guitar but I'm getting more and more interested in them. Plus I have small hands so it might work very well for me. I also like the gentle voice of parlor guitars. Would also mix well with dreadnaught. Thank you very much for the very cool video.

Awesome stuff...I need one!

Beautiful guitars and sounds. My first release Taylor Baby fills that slot in my collection

I needed a guitar I could play while I laid back in my recliner, and the Parlor is perfect for that

This video is a pleasure to watch. Beautiful playing, interesting information and such a great scenery with BEAUTIFUL light. I can see that this team all together like what they are doing. Thumbs up for all of you.

Great playing

i LOVE the finger sounds scraping against the strings and frets on acoustics

I didn’t quite go to a parlor, but after decades of playing East Indian and Brazilian rosewood dreadnaughts , I collaborated with a luthier and came up with a short scale 12 fret 00 made of select Sitka spruce, amazing ribbon stripe Cuban mahogany and Gaboon ebony - it’s amazing to see and hear and I’ve barely touched the big guns since…

Beautiful guitars!

Thanks helpful information, now I know!

I love the sound and feel of the parlor guitars. I'll soon be purchasing a Gretsch Roots Collection G9500 "Jim Dandy" Acoustic Guitar. I hope to play well enough to compose on it.

I picked up a parlor a few days ago and I love it! They sound so good for a smaller guitar. I'm just starting to learn finger picking and at the moment it seems like a daunting task but I'm looking forward to having my parlor sing like these. Excellent playing! Great video! Subbed and I'm excited to check out more content 😁❤️

We'll I'll be!!! Will just have to add a parlor onto my wish list.

Great playing. I love my Guild P-240 parlor

Beautiful guitars and beautifully played. Did I hear Kris Drever’s “The Poorest Company” being played on one of the clips? Such a stunning song.. you more than did it justice. ❤

I absolutely love the design of the model you're playing at @2:12

I have a lovely Stadium parlor guitar and i like it because I keep it close bye ,watching tv or relaxing and i just grab it and play and experiment and I really like it very much . I just like it close by and fool around with it ,writing songs or entertaining in an interment setting and i fool around with finger picking that I try and never really did it that much before. Nice . Thank you for the reminder Lindsey . Cheers, The Elusive Kenny Brown.

Thank you! I love the parlor size. I think of them as the perfect lullaby guitar and chilling out guitar. Lindsay your playing was lovely. I was disappointed that you didn't include the Bourgeois Piccolo as I would have been very interested in hearing them compared to the others. All the guitars you demonstrated were gorgeous in every way. Thanks again. 🙂

An angel, if i ever saw one. A voice that comes from a confident, independently balanced soul.

Lindsay, it's always a pleasure to watch you play. These are great guitars tho. But your playing is something magical.

I bought one for song writing. Excellent video.

Lindsay is so good at these, great player too!

Many thanks for one of the best demo/review/information videos I've ever seen about a specific category of guitar. For years I stuck to playing the more 'usual' types of guitar, starting with jumbo and dreadnought and eventually settling more on the Taylor GS or Martin 000 size/shape/type. I soon realised that small-bodied guitars suited me much better. They were more comfortable to play when sitting or, as mentioned here, when ‘crouching’ over to note down music. However, when I first tried a parlor guitar, I was soon hooked and now have two. They are well suited to softer styles of playing but are equally ideal for more aggressive tones as long as great volume or booming bass are not wanted. I usually play without a pick and mostly use my thumb (nail and flesh) for the tones I like. It's also noticeable that parlors are becoming more common in the catalogues of pretty well all major guitar makers. As a consequence, they are now much more easily available across a wide range of price ranges. I play a Fender PM-2E that is startlingly good, a JHS/Vintage ‘Paul Brett’ 12 string parlor and a ‘rescued’ Faith Mercury FMESB45-BNC that has a gloriously warm tone. I think you can say I’m a convert.

Glorious!

Great video thank you!

Yep I picked up a Prs parlor because my Martin was getting lost in the mix in my church. We have electric guitar, synth bass and piano drums. You know the whole 9 yards. Plus I play electric most of the time and my Martin dreadnought felt so fat especially since my belly is getting bigger. So I wanted a thin body acoustic, the parlor is perfect. The Prs is under 4 inches in depth. And also the midrange sits nicely in the mix.

I got a Zager mahogany parlor for Father’s Day. I love the size and the sound of mahogany. I have 6 other acoustic guitars so the parlor completed my collection. I’m finding that the parlor is now my go to guitar.

I started understanding the diff between travel and parlor when I received a Taylor Mini GS (travel) and found it TOO small on the neck especially in the first three frets. This videO was helpful overall, thanks!

really enjoying your playing style, so perfect for this style guitar.

Very well done video! Not sure why I watched it though, since I already own a parlor guitar.

Fabulous video..

My favorite guitar - which I play every day - is a 12 fret 00 reproduction which I built by modifying a StewMac 000 kit. I love it. I use Martin custom light silk and steel strings because tweaking it would break my heart.

Parlour guitars are making such a resurgence. Eastman has a beautiful little Parlour. Well built and affordable. Got one and loved it. Won’t break the bank but quality control there is top notch. You’re such a nice 😊 player 👍

Nice one. Parlour size is the way it used to be before volume became a big deal. Similarly, early Classical guitars were what we would now call a 3/4. My Alvarez solid mahogany parlour gives me plenty of volume and lovely tone. You might consider using a footstool.

i love your playing.

Thanks so much.

I have 8 old 0-18 Martin guitars: 1923, 1927, 1939, 1943, 1949, 1951, 1952, 1968 They all sound different. Several years back the 0's were somewhat affordable and I got carried away. Great to have the variety and wonder about the histories. Also have a 1931 0-21 that everybody loves, even people that think $8400 was a lot to pay for a small guitar. They play it and their opinion changes. Small guitars can sound good to bang on with a 0.6 mm orange tortex pick. They can do more than just fingerpicking. The playing in the video is nice.

Ok, I'll admit it... I've owned every type of guitar, and some of my best are my parlors. I've been in repair for 47 years now and have worked on countless amazing parlors, including my buddy's recent Santa Cruz slot head last week. SO, recently I ordered off of Ali Ex a customized to my spec 12 fret 000-42 "clone". You won't believe this, but after doing a few minor things (dressing, unbleached comp saddle and nut, tuners), it's really, really good! It's a clean / tidy build, nice solid WR cedar top, lam rswd B&S, scalloped bracing, well-seated frets, and my fav... perfect neck angle and fret ext roll-off. The poly finish is heavy with the dumb flaws you'd expect and same goes for the abalone, but it's all acceptable-enough, if ya know what I mean? The slotted headstock is its crowning jewel. No, it's not my best parlor plinker by any means, but ya know... it's honestly AOK for $350. They say they can duplicate the awesome neck angle (perfect action with plenty of saddle protrusion) and lacquer finish, but we haven't talked price yet. I asked about a 0-28 with my prefs and they say yes, they can do it. This is the short version, but comment if anyone was wondering about ordering one from Ali. WARNING... your results may vary :D

Nice Channel. ❤

Buying a parlour was the best choice I ever made, they're so much more comfortable and more enjoyable to play compared to my dreadnought!! Wish I had one from when I first started playing!!

I'm actually really impressed with the sound of the parlor guitar. I was not familiar with them until now. I find they sound a lot like my Ovation. If I didn't switch to bass due to arthritis in my thumbs, I'd be looking for one. Not to mention, of course, Lindsay's playing! love her style!

I bought a lovely Eastman parlour guitar a few months back. It's wonderful. Cost about GBP1,000 and worth every penny.

I can keep hearing you play

My first guitar was/is a late 1960's/early 70's Harmony Stella parlor guitar. It was probably ordered out of the Sears catalog.

While not following the traditional shape the Taylor Mini fits the niche; is one of the best selling guitars on the market and at an affordable price. Lovely playing. Perfect to make the little bodies shine.

Fantastic video as always, thanks so much TNAG and Lindsay! There's something about the sound and look of these parlors that is very charming, and this video has renewed my desire to add one to my collection. The problem I have is that it seems there are limited options for a sub-$3k 12-fret parlor if I want one that's not built overseas - there are the Larrivee parlors but I'm not a fan of the 24" scale length. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!