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The B00 Guitar

This page provides the details on the B00 guitar (Size 00) and shows you some examples of this size guitar.

This is my own original design:  a small guitar with a big voice!  I designed this one from scratch and I am really
pleased with all aspects of the guitar:  sound, comfort, and looks.  It is approximately the same size as a large
classical guitar; but the shape is designed to be reminiscent of early twentieth century Martin guitars.
 
The sound is remarkably big, full, with plenty of bass and very strong and well-defined midrange and treble.
this is a superb fingerstyle guitar.  It is really fun to play.
 
I can play this one sitting in the driver's seat of my Honda Civic as I sit in the ferry queue -- without opening the window.
(I can do this with the Size 1, also.)

 

Click HERE for a sound clip of a rosewood and western red cedar B00 guitar
Click HERE for a sound clip of a flamed bigleaf maple and European spruce B00 guitar
Here are some comments on my B00 guitars:

"Jim,
I have been playing acoustic for over 40 years and have owned over 20 guitars including vintage Gibsons, a top of the line Takamine, and many other makes: Ovation, Epiphone, Yamaha, Seagull and so forth .I've played a few Martins as well. The 00 cedar/rosewood is a phenomenal instrument. It responds to a very light touch, yet projects like anything when asked to. Now, I play fingerstyle, and the wood combination along with the wide fingerboard and the 12 fret configuration is a fingerstyle equation for fun. Wish I had spent what I put into my spruce topped parlor to get a spruce topped 00 from you...maybe another year, if I can sell my parlor. My commendations on the best sounding guitar I have played. You do have a talent for your work and I am happy to let anyone play the 00 to hear for themselves. This guitar is balanced across the strings and up and down the fingerboard. It has the best intonation of any guitar I've played. I guess the compenstated bone saddle has something to do with it. Honestly, the guitar is louder and sounds better with light guage strings than my custom shop all solid wood Takamine model ( EF417s) does with medium strings, and the Takamine is a great sounding guitar. Hats off!

RH in Statesboro, Georgia"   November 2008   (Western red cedar and Indian rosewood B00)
And:
http://reviews.harmony-central.com/reviews/Acoustic+Guitar/product/Barbarossa/00/10/1

And:

"Hi Jim, just opened and played the MASTERPIECE. Another home run....not only is it beautiful, but the sounds and playability are a 10....It has the same tonal qualities as the 1st one I got. Very balanced , full tight bass, round and fat mids and trebles...No matter where I capoed it sounded fantastic. Again, this is how my ears define a great guitar. Thank you so much for creating this guitar for me.
I have owned and played ALOT of acoustics over the years, yet only a select few have stood out as phenomenal...these 2 are at the top of the list...I don't know much about how to build a guitar but in laymen's terms, you have to be doing something special/unique in the bracing, because the tone and volume are just incredible from this relatively small guitar. The woods are top notch..And the soundboard already sounds "broken in-opened up". Oh, and the neck feels great too...slightly modified from the shape of the other one.
The wood even smells great. Some people don't like walnut...This is my first...It has all the warmth and fullness of rosewood with a little crisp, fast attack of mahogany. And the same punch that a really good mahogany guitar has. Fingerstyle is amazing on this one. Hard to tell if heavy rhythm will suit this one(the other one handles everything you throw at it), as the strings are new and she needs to settle -- the woods need to adapt and recover from the journey here. That said, I am amazed how great it sounds right out of the box...

Again, this guitar is PHENOMONAL!!!!
Thanks for building it for me!"   (European spruce and flamed bigleaf maple B00)
 
 
Please listen to sound clips to get the idea of the typical B00 sound.

B00 guitar backs with various woods:


Pacific Madrona burl Flamed myrtle East Indian rosewood Pacific Madrona (plain) Flamed bigleaf maple Curly claro walnut

 

 

 

Black acacia (a.k.a. Australian blackwood) Ribbon figure Honduran mahogany Curly koa Maccassar ebony Curly mango Figured, spalted bubinga

Here's a B00 in Sitka spruce and figured, spalted bubinga:

 

 

         

 

 

 

Here's a cutway B00 in Indian rosewood and bearclaw Sitka spruce:

 

         

 

         

 

 

 

Here's a "full bling" version with bearclaw Sitka spruce and curly mango:

 

   

 

           

 

   



Basic specification of the B00 guitar:

Scale Length:   24.9
Frets clear of the body:   12
Width at lower bouts:   14.50
Width at upper bouts:   10.60
Body depth at tail:   4.30
Body length:   19.13
Overall length:   38.50
(Important:  Dimensions are generally ± 1/8 inch)

The other guitar sizes for comparison, along with Martin standard sizes.
Dimension B1 B0 B00 B000 OM GA D Martin 0 Martin 00 Martin 000 Martin D
Scale Length:   24.9 24.9 24.9 24.9 25.4 25.4 25.4 24.9 24.9 24.9 25.4
Frets clear of the body:   12 12 12 14 14 14 14 12 12 14 14
Width at lower bouts:   13.00 13.75 14.50 15.25 15.25 15.63 15.63 13.50 14.31 15.00 15.63
Width at upper bouts:   9.25 9.88 10.60 11.75 11.75 11.62 11.50        
Body depth at tail:   4.15 4.25 4.30 4.15 4.15 4.50 4.88 4.19 4.06 4.13 4.88
Body length:   19.00 19.13 19.13 19.38 19.38 20.00 20.00 19.13 19.63 19.38 20.00
Overall length:   38.00 38.00 38.50 40.00 41.00 41.00          



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© 2015, James W. Blilie, Barbarossa Guitars                        5997 Turtle Lake Road, Shoreview, MN 55126                        This page was last updated:  24-Jan-2015