A dread for fingerstyle players

The arm bevel makes the guitar more comfortable to play.

Flatpick, fingerpicks or bare fingers—I love the volume and sustain that a big-bodied dreadnaught provides. It’s the perfect design for a bluegrass player or flatpicker who performs standing up and needs to be heard over the band. Martin Guitars invented the dreadnaught and, along with most other manufacturers, gives them necks that are a relatively narrow 1-11/16 inches wide at the nut—perfect for most flatpickers.

But ergonomically, the dread is not a great design for fingerstylists. The shallow waist and 5-inch-deep body is not particularly comfortable for playing while sitting, especially for smaller guitarists. And the neck is a bit narrow for fingerpicking.

So I got to thinking about designing a dread specifically for fingerstyle players. As of this writing, I have built one so far.  I call it “the comfort dread.” You can see and hear this instrument by clicking over to Available Guitars. I am currently working on the second one.

There are three main differences between a comfort dread and a standard dread. Perhaps the most important is the arm bevel on the bass side of the upper bout. The bevel provides a flat surface for your right forearm to rest on instead of an edge, and it brings the arm a bit closer to the body. This makes the guitar feel less deep.

The second and third differences are in the neck. It’s 1-¾ inches wide at the nut. As a fingerstyle player I really appreciate this little extra bit of room.  I have also given the neck a shorter scale which reduces string tension and makes the strings easier to press and bend. Combined with a lower action than an aggressive flatpicker would want, the result is a guitar that is comfortable to play and perfect for the gentler attack of a fingerstyle player.

As of this writing I am working on the second comfort dread. This one will have a Florentine cutaway, a great option for players who like to get all the way up the neck.

Of course I can add an arm bevel and or cutaway to any guitar I build—that, after all, is the advantage of ordering a custom guitar. And of course this means I can change or eliminate any of the features of the comfort dread. Maybe you find that 1-11/16 is the perfect nut width, or you have big hands and want something even wider that 1-3/4 inches. My goal is to work closely with guitar players to create a guitar that perfectly fits your body, your preferences and your style of play.