Folk Guitars

Among folk guitars, you will find acoustic guitars with bodies smaller than a dreadnought or jumbo, almost all with steel strings. They include parlor, travel and mini guitars, as well as smaller bodies that manufacturers describe as folk, such as Yamaha JR2, Pasadena PT-200, Bromo BAR6H or Enya Nova Go Mini. A smaller body is comfortable to hold when playing seated and generally has less pronounced bass than a large guitar. Most models are intended for beginners, but there are also guitars for advanced players from Martin, Gibson, Guild and Takamine.

What does folk guitar mean?

Folk guitar is a common name for a steel-string acoustic guitar, so the term is not limited to one body shape. On this page, it covers guitars with smaller bodies suited to fingerstyle, accompanying your singing and playing at home. You will find large-bodied guitars on the dreadnought guitars and jumbo guitars pages, and Concert, Grand Concert, OM and Grand Auditorium bodies in the acoustic guitars with other body shapes category. A guitar with nylon strings is a classical guitar.

Which body shapes will you find here?

Body shape	Body characteristics	Model examples
Smaller bodies described as folk	smaller than a dreadnought, with the shape varying by manufacturer	Yamaha FS820, Martin Special 0X1, Gibson 1942 Banner LG-2, Baton Rouge X11
Parlor	small and narrow, with a slim waist	Fender CP-60S, Bromo BAR6H, Gretsch Jim Dandy, Guild P-240 Memoir, Takamine GY93
Travel guitars	scaled down, often with a shorter scale length	Pasadena PT-100 and PT-200, SX TG1, Enya Nova Go Mini, LAG Sauvage T, Guild Travel, Martin Steel String Backpacker
Mini guitars	scaled-down dreadnought or Grand Symphony	Yamaha JR1 and JR2, Fender California Standard Redondo Mini, SX SS760

Who is a smaller-bodied guitar suited to?

You will appreciate a smaller body if you mainly play seated or are looking for a child's first guitar. The Yamaha JR1 and JR2 mini guitars are 3/4 size and have a shorter scale length, so your fingers do not have to stretch as far. A travel guitar takes up less space in transit, and you can play it on a trip or at a holiday cabin. A Parlor has a focused midrange sound, which helps the melody stand out when playing fingerstyle.

What should you look for when choosing?

Size: compare scale lengths on mini and travel guitars. A shorter scale means narrower fret spacing and, with the same strings and tuning, lower string tension.
Top: around half of the models have a solid spruce top. The others mainly have spruce tops, with some made from sapele or carbon fibre, as on the Enya Nova Go Mini.
What's included: around two thirds of the models come with a gig bag, while sets add a stand, clip-on tuner or capo.
Electronics: if you want to connect your guitar to a combo amp, take a look at folk guitars with electronics.