5 Best Parlour Guitars - Traditional Small Bodied Acoustics - All Under £500!

Meg takes a closer look at 5 of our favourite small-bodied Parlor Acoustics. Find out more about any of the guitars featured in this video at PMT Online...

00:00 Best Parlor Guitars Tone Comparison
00:50 What Is A Parlour Guitar?
02:14 Gretsch G9500 Jim Dandy - Features & Specifications
03:58 Gretsch Jim Dandy - Demo
04:50 Tanglewood Java TW JP - Features & Specification
06:33 Tanglewood TWJP - Demo
07:32 Epiphone L-00 Studio - Features & Specifications
09:27 Epiphone L-00 Studio - Demo
10:22 Faith Naked Mercury - Features & Specifications
12:00 Faith Naked Mercury - Demo
13:08 PRS SE Tonare P20 - Features & Demo
14:44 PRS P20 - Demo
15:33 Where To Buy Best Parlor Guitars

Other gear used in this video...

With an ever growing demand for smaller acoustics, whether its for travelling, for kids or even just to have a convenient acoustic next to the sofa to pick up whilst you're watching Netflix, Parlor guitars have been a growing popular choice. If you aren’t too familiar with what a parlour guitar is, these are one of the oldest acoustics dating back to the late 1800's and one of the first guitars to be made widely popular with steel strings instead of nylon strings.

They were predominately used by musicians for performances in smaller venues such as bars or parlours, hence the name. They tend to have a slightly shorter scale length than a standard acoustic and they have a recognisable elongated body shape which makes them distinguishable from your classic Dreadnought or Concert size. Because of the smaller body they also do tend to have a slightly higher tone with more midrange than bass, this does make these guitars particularly popular for folk, blues and roots guitarists due to the twangy tone.

In this acoustic guitar buying guide, we answer the question "what is a parlor guitar?" and recommend 5 of the best parlor guitars for under £500 from the likes of Gretsch, Tanglewood, Faith, PRS and Epiphone. So if you're looking for a small sized acoustic or the best travel acoustic or an acoustic for kids, take a quick look and listen here with PMTVUK and try one out at your nearest Professional Music Technology store...

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[xavierbaudet]

Jim Dandy sounding boxy is exactly what makes it so cool...

[jimdoner]

The Faith is my favorite with the PRS close behind, the Epiphone wasnt bad at all, and The Tanglewood had it going on too.I still like my old Taylor BigBaby for a couch guitar. But the Gretch looked and sounded " vintage " for a parlour guitar

[fategg]

you play guitar with so much care and delicacy its so beautiful

[tuskedbeast]

The opening montage makes your video the most useful on the topic on YouTube. Thanks!

[patricklundquist]

As much as I love your playing and the sound of an open tuned guitar, I'd sure like to hear these in standard tuning with the same piece played on each guitar in order to get a better baseline for comparison, not just with each other but with other guitars on YouTube.

[flafferty]

Just got this very same Jim Dandy, absolutely love it!

[swannclement]

I bought the Gretsch, my first Gretsch, and my first acoustic, I love it!

[YouTubeHandlesAreMoronic]

This is easily the most useful PMT video I've seen. Well done.

[iamlato]

i can't get over just how good that epiphone sounds. tried and tested design

[JohnMoseley]

I could have done with more picking in this video, but the bit at the start of the Jim Dandy demo is enough to make this one the one I most want to investigate further. Beautiful playing there, by the way.

[mcstabba]

I got a Gin Rickey (which is the Jim Dandy with a fancy looking pick up installed), enjoy it a lot!

[migalito]

Kala has some very nice 3/4 or parlor sized guitars in both solid mahogany top for the classical and I believe solid cedar for the steel stringed instrument at around the $200 and less range.

I actually bought the classical in spite of building baritone Ukuleles as a hobby in my retirement because at Sweetwater it was about $160 with free shipping and I could not build one cheaper since I'd half to buy the tone woods.

[roddyrobertson]

Loved the Joni Mitchell theme on the Faith. Playing and tones were really good! Thanks. Roddy. :-)

[luc]

I like 24" (610mm) scale length parlors. The Gretsch lacks sound (I know, I got one...)The Faith looks cool, but 43mm neck is not enough for me, I like 45mm...
Very good parlors with all the specifications I want are very expansive, between 3000 or 4000 euros new... I found a very good compromise for 680 euros (only $550 if you live in the States) with the Martin 000-Junior. All solid woods, very good sound, 610 mm scale and 45mm nut. Almost the perfect guitar for me, almost the Parlor size body, just a little bigger... Great guitar!!! 😎

[rasmushansen]

The tanglewood twjf is a great guitar and sounds beutyfull i own one and love it. I Even compared it to guitars dobbelt the price guitars but they dont come near it. The Only bad thing is the freetboard is a little small if you have big hands. My second choice would be the faith !

[sometimesdimneverthin]

I'm after a small guitar for sofa strumming. The Faith sounded best to my ears but Meg's strumming arm looked a bit awkward for a sofa. I'll check out a few more reviews as I am 5 10 and probably bigger. I currently have a dreadnought and it works well but smaller would be better for a sofa.
A very good overview.
Redoing the video as a Christmas special with Dagan would be quite funny.

[O_Towne_Bear]

Love the tones of Parlour guitars. Mentioned before that I have a Simon & Patrick (Canadian Made in the Godin factory) and play it daily.

[Doowopsid]

Very nicely done and informative video comparison. Thank you!

[louaguado]

Not a fan of the pickguard on the Gretsch. I think a black one would have looked better.
Tanglewood sounded the best to me, must be the combination of woods used. I'm surprised you didn't mention the Ibanez pn12e. I recently purchased one and it sounds great, has built-in electronics with a tuner, and was only $200.
F.y.i. drop tuning a parlor down to D standard makes them sound more full, just add a capo on the second fret for standard open tunings. Wishing you and everyone there a great new year. 😊

[anthonyb]

I’ve played the Gretsch a number of times. In my opinion, too thin a sound. Yes, I think it sounds like an old style catalog guitar. Doesn’t work for me. I’ve owned two Epiphone L00. Very nice looking and very easy to play, and the sound wasn’t bad. Projection was weak and really needs to be amped up. At least, that’s my opinion. I’m very interested in trying the Faith guitar.

Thank you