The Homestead Models: Various Shapes of Guitar Bodies

At Homestead Guitars we offer different body shapes for clients to choose from. Besides the looks, the guitar’s body shape also produces different sound tones and different feel when you wrap your arm around the guitar’s body. The best way to learn the differences between these models is to try them yourselves, and this is possible in our showroom.

 

The most important factors in choosing the right guitar model are the comfort of playing, the sound, and the ‘looks’ of the model.

 

Comfort of Playing

To start with the comfort of playing. Choose a model that you can easily play on. If you are relatively small, do not take a Jumbo model, otherwise, the guitar may cause pain in your arm or back. Guitarists with chronic back problems also often opt for a smaller guitar model.

 

The Sound

A second factor is the sound of the guitar. With a smaller body, for example, the Orchestra Model (OM), the higher notes resonate more compared to the middles and lows, while with a larger/wider customer body (Jumbo, Dreadnought) the lower notes dominate a little more compared to the mid and highs. Please note that the sound of the guitar is determined by several factors, such as the wood types and a 12-fret or 14-fret (neck and body) connection (see also under FAQ). But the design of the guitar’s model also has an influence. So, it’s not just about size. A Dreadnought is often said to be good for strumming and country, while the OM is appreciated more for fingerpicking. Also, the placement of the waist (the narrow part of the guitar) and its width change the way the vibrations move around inside the guitar and this can have a small effect on the sound. This all remains very personal and the best is to try different models and choose what you like best.

The Looks

Finally, the looks of a guitar can also influence the final choice. This also is very personal. For example, the OM, Jumbo, and Grand Auditorium have a thinner waist than the Dreadnought. The Dreadnought guitar is named after an English battleship from the early 1900s. The Dreadnought guitar is in fact much larger than for instance the compact Parlor model that was common until then. Some guitars have a cutaway on one side or shoulder. A cutaway has a clear function (see also under FAQ), but is also bought because of how it makes the guitar look.
But let us try to put our findings(opinion) and several others that we have found on the world wide web.

 

Here are the lists of available body shapes for your Homestead guitars and the differences between them.

 

Traveler model

raveler is the smallest body shape Homestead has to offer for six-string guitars. As the name said, it is a guitar for a traveler but not exclusively. The traveler model is also a perfect guitar for on the couch and also for the guitarist who is looking for a compact-sized guitar to play with. Tonally traveler guitars produce higher tone sounds compared to the other guitar body shapes. This is because of the smaller top surface the shape has and the shorter scale of 590 mm that the traveler guitars are equipped with. 

Even though it has a small size, the standard use of Adirondack spruce (AAA grade) on all of our Homestead Guitars gives our Traveler-sized guitars also the long sustain as our other models. The owners of Homestead traveler guitars have been amazed by the sound their guitar is able to produce ever since they strung it the first time.

In line with its name, each Homestead Traveler guitar is delivered with a gig bag with 2cm padding instead of the (heavier) hard case for the other models.

[Buy our Traveler Model] [Custom order our Traveler Model]

 

Parlor model

The parlor model in general is one of the earliest models of steel-string acoustic guitars. Up until the beginning of the 20th century, it was the most built acoustic guitar model, mainly because it is affordable and a bigger guitar size was not needed back in those years. The name parlor comes from the ‘parlor’ room where (according to the stories) this model was built for, where the lady of the house would entertain her guests. A bigger size guitar, the concert model is used to be played in concert halls. 

Parlor model is, after the traveler model, the second smallest model available at Homestead Guitars. It has a slender body figure and a scale of 610mm. Due to its slender size and form Parlor guitar has a distinguished mid-tone compared to other guitar models that mostly are bigger in size. The slender size also gives more relaxed playability where you effortlessly can rest your arm on the body of the guitar.

The standard use of Adirondack AAA grade top (the best top wood for acoustic steel string guitars) provides a long sustain sound and unique tone colour compared to other Parlor guitars. Each Homestead Parlor guitar is delivered with a gig bag with 2cm padding. 

[Buy our Parlor Model ] [ Custom order our Parlor Model]

 

Orchestra model

The Orchestra Model is the best model for the fingerpicking style. The medium size body articulates each tone clearly and produces more intimate sounds when played lightly. 

Compared to a bigger model, the volume the Orchestra Model produces is relatively not loud. But we offer two depth side sizes: the standard 9,5cm/ 11 cm thickness and the extra thick 11 cm 12,5 cm thickness. Due to the extra thickness of the latter option, the volume of our OM is loud enough to compete with the volume of bigger models. Another way to by-pass the volume issue is using electronic elements (pickups), for instance you are playing with other louder instruments. 

The medium body size of an Orchestra Model is comfortable for most guitar players. It is not too small nor too big. The thicker side size is not thicker than any other model, which should not give discomfort feeling to the guitarist that is accustomed to playing acoustic guitars, whether classical guitar or Dreadnought-sized guitar. The thinner side size is more comfortable to play compared to wider one.

Our Orchestra Model guitars are delivered with ABS hard case with the Homestead logo debossed on the cover of the hard case. Proud owners of Homestead Orchestra Model guitars include Geroge Kooymans, Ernst Jansz, Barry Hay, Simon Kirke, David Becker, Joost Dijkema, Bas Phaff.

[Buy our Orchestra model ] [ Custom order our Orchestra model]

 

Grand Auditorium-model

Grand Auditorium is one of the famous models among steel-string acoustic guitars. It falls in the large size category of our models. It has a beautiful curvy shape and the body size is big enough to produce power for an acoustic guitar. The curvy and big size makes the Grand Auditorium guitar good for both fingerpicking and strumming style. An all-rounder guitar compared to the other models. 

The lower bout width of our Grand Auditorium model is 39,5 cm wide. It has the second widest lower bout after our Jumbo model. For many guitarists, this size is a perfect fit. The Homestead Grand Auditorium model is delivered with the Homestead logo debossed on the cover of the hard case. Grand Auditorium model has been selected by many great guitarists, among others: George Kooymans, Jan Hendriks, Frank Carillo, I Wayan Balawan, and Vladimir Tkachenko.

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[Buy our Grand Auditorium- model] [ Custom order our Grand Auditorium-model]

 

Dreadnought-model

Dreadnought is one of the oldest and most models ever produced as steel string acoustic guitars. It was first coined by C.F. Martin from Martin Guitars in 1916. The dreadnought model has a more squared shoulder and wider waist compared to the other models. Because of the wider waist, the top wood area is wider in comparison with Grand Auditorium. This makes the Dreadnought model more robust for a heavy strumming style and less gracious for a fingerpicking style. 

Our Dreadnought model has a wide side size, 11 cm on the neck side and 12,5 on the tail side. This gives more volume acoustically. Due to the Adirondack Spruce that we use as a top wood, the tone balance* is still clear even though the dreadnought model produces a high volume of sound.

The Dreadnought models have been selected by among others the following great guitarists: Boudewijn de Groot, Laura Beekman

[Buy our Dreadnought- model] [ Custom order our Dreadnought-model op maat]

 

Dreadnought Slope Shoulder-model

  1. Dreadnought Slope Shoulder model

The Dreadnought Slope Shoulder (DS) model is similar to a Dreadnought model only it has a rounder shoulder instead of the squared shoulder of a regular Dreadnought model. The lower bout of our Slope Shoulder Dreadnought is wider than the lower bout of regular Dreadnought, but the upper bout of a slope shoulder is narrower than the upper bout of a regular dreadnought. Regarding the dimension size, both a regular Dreadnought and a Slope Shoulder Dreadnought have a similar size. The side size of the Slope Shoulder is also the same side size as regular Dreadnought. Because of these two factors, the volume of both Dreadnought models is almost the same. 

Our Dreadnought Slope Shoulder has a balanced tone due to the Adirondack Spruce top we use as our standard top wood. But on the color of the sound, the slope shoulder model sound spectrum sits between regular Dreadnought and a Grand Auditorium; higher attack than the Grand Auditorium and mellower sound than the regular Dreadnought. 

Homestead Dreadnought Slope Shoulder model has been selected by among others the following great guitarist: Eddie Seville, Tim Easton, Laura Beekman

[Buy our Dreadnought Slope Shoulder Model] [ Custom order our Dreadnought Slope Shoulder Model]

 

Jumbo-model

The Jumbo model is (currently) the biggest model Homestead Guitars has to offer. The lower bout is 51,5 cm wide. Because of the big size the Jumbo model creates the loudest sound of all models we have to offer. Although this model is the loudest, the tone balance is still perfect on each Homestead Jumbo side guitar due to the use of Adirondack Spruce as our standard top wood. 

Many guitarists that visited our showroom and tried the Jumbo model noticed that the lower (bass) tone is amplified profoundly compared to the other models, but when you concentrate on the higher(treble) note, you will also hear the strong sparkling tones compared to other guitar models. The balance between low, mid, and high is amazing.

Talking about playing style, the Jumbo gives the most powerful attack for strumming style, the sound it created by strumming is wide and loud, but still balanced (once again due to the Adirondack Spruce). The Jumbo model is also good for flat-picking style (using plectrum) and fingerpicking, but the latter will have less intimate sound created using the loud-built Jumbo model. But also, this is very personal, and many professional players prefer the fingerpicking sound on a jumbo. 

Besides 6-string guitars, the Jumbo size body is also used for the Homestead Baritone guitar and the Homestead Acoustic Bass guitar.

Some of the great guitarists that selected Jumbo models for their own Homestead guitars are Danny Vera, Spike van Zoest, Leoni Jansen (Standard and Baritone guitar), and the late Henny Vrienten (Baritone Guitar and Acoustic Bass Guitar).

[Buy our Jumbo- model] [ Custom order our Jumbo-model]

 

*What does it mean:

Tone Balance: The same level of volume between high tone(treble), middle tone (mid), and low tone (bass).