Concert Hall vs Folk?

I find Concert Halls bodies too thin. Many Fenders and Yamahas have same issue.
Parlour guitar sizes vary greatly. You might recall my case refitting project to get a case that fit MY Ibanez parlour.. it floated around in the TRIC Parlour/grand case. 
but the answer to all your size problems , is the Seagull/A&L Mini-Jumbo size.

keywestkeely ,  When all things are equal, I've found that sound-wise, the diff between the folk and the CH is very negligible.  You have to try very hard to hear the difference.  I've tried to compare a few models where the only difference was the size and nothing else and, even when there was some other slight differences, it was very hard to tell the folk apart from the CH; sound wise.

So, I would just test a bunch and pick the one you like the look of and more importantly, the feel of and go with that one (it sounding good goes without saying right?  8-D  ). 

Keep in mind, that some of the Seagulls will have the 1.8" nut width.  So, if you have short arms and small hands, you might want to check the nut width and make sure you grab a model with the 1.72" nut width.  If you're going with any other Godin brand, like Simon & Patrick or Art & Lutherie, you won't have to worry about this because those brands only have the 1.72" nut widths.

Hope that helps.  Enjoy the search and best of luck! 

I have an assortment of Godin acoustics. The S6 dread I bought used when I got back into guitar about seven years ago after a long layoff is a great 'boomer', but like you, I find it to be a real armful (average size guy, average size hands) so it now spends most of its time in the case. The S6+ Folk, now on semi-permanent loan to my daughter, is a more manageable guitar, and it has that 1.8" neck, which I like a lot. The sound has less bass than the S6, but is more balanced. The A&L AMI Wild Cherry, while it lacks the bass punch of the larger guitars, holds its own very well..."Barks pretty good for a small dog", as one friend put it.

But my favourite right now is the '05 Simon&Patrick mini jumbo...right size, great sound. The sound balances very nicely across the fretboard...solid bass, clean mids, lots of treble sparkle. The back and sides are cherry lam, which I find is a perfectly good tone wood in its own right. If the S&P had the wider Seagull neck, it'd be perfect...as it is, it's the guitar that sits out on the stand, ready to go whenever the mood strikes...



A quick check of the Godin website shows the mini jumbo body is available only in the Entourage series...the Concert Hall series looks more like a 000 body, which is just fine in its own right...

Thanks very much to everyone here for all the informative replies! I really appreciate the help.

There's not a Seagull for sale within a four-hour drive of here--I live in Key West--so trying one out isn't an option right now. I have to confess, I'm worried about the wider nut as well, because my hands are extremely small. I'm a life-long professional musician (pianist, singer, harpist, accordionist) so I know how to "larn" my hands to stretch; but I can only do so much with a middle finger that isn't even 3" long!

That being said, I'm really taken with the Seagull Concert Hall Slim series--the burnt umber ones they're selling now. It has the narrower nut and the smaller, slimmer body...

I've looked at the specs for the mini jumbo, and it's still got that larger body length/width(like the dreadnaught), so I'm afraid I'd have the same problem.

At this point, I'm leaning very much towards the Concert Hall Slim A/E guitar--especially since Seagull doesn't make a Folk model with the narrower neck.

Thanks VERY much for all the great input here!

keywestkeely , tonally with the same woods, there should not be much difference. But as TonyKgull has mentioned, the necks are very different between the Concert Hall and the Folk. 1.72 vs 1.8. They will play differently. That for me will be the deal breaker.

Seems like you have experience and are already leaning toward the slimmer 1.72 nut, which is great. I would trust your instincts if you cant find models to play.

Thanks again! I think that the slimmer neck is going to influence my final decision--which means that the CH slim AE (spruce top) is at the top of my list. This seems to be the only CH with the slim neck. Unfortunately, all of the folk models have the 1.8" nut; otherwise, I'd be able to choose between the two.

Fortunately, I like the burnt umber finish, because the only CH slim is in this finish.

However, I found a fabulous buy on a Performer CH (burnt umber), but it has the 1.8" neck. It's a shame, because I'm really tempted by the solid wood construction of the Performer.  

Any Performer players out there? Is there really a great difference in sound quality between the spruce top CH models and the solid wood Performer CH Seagulls? This particular Performer (the Fabulous Buy) has a spruce top and maple back--not laminated, all solid.