Fingerpicking

I'm mostly a hybrid style finger picker and it doesn't matter to me, but I have long skinny fingers.
Most fingerpickers I know seem to prefer guitars with necks that are wider at the nut. They mostly have fatter fingers than I do though.
Some like Martins, some like Seagulls, etc.. I like Gibsons and Epiphones these days. Everybody is different, you just have to find what suits you. It can be a long search.
To tell the truth, it never really ends
For me, my very favorite playing guitar was a 90s MIJ Takamine N-10. It played like silk, but had a cedar top, and didn't quite have the tone that I was looking for. I need a spruce top.

quote:

---

So you're talking about mechanical enhancement right?

---

Right.

quote:

---

What about sound?

---

Again, it's going to depend on what you want. What style you want to play. Different woods have different tonal qualities, but all of the good guitar builders offer choices of woods for this reason.
.If I knew who's playing style and sound that you like, I can give better suggestions.
Do you already play? Are you just wanting try fingerpicking? because this gets more complicated than just a good learning guitar.
Even things like fretboard radius come into play, String spacing at the bridge, depending if you are going to use a thumb pick or not, do you want to do walking bassline type stuff or not?

quote:

---

If you are talking about acoustics, be sure to try some with cedar soundboards instead of traditional spruce. Cedar's warmth and note bloom can be truly breathtaking in a skilled fingerpicker's hands

---

I agree, I had the Takamine N-10 with the cedar top that was a fantastic guitar, beautiful sound for certain types of songs. I needed something with a more pronounced country tone though.
I can still borrow the Tak if I need it though. It's an awesome guitar. Hard to beat as a player.

Thank you for the help. Very much.

Got to work on callouses for the right hand. But not too much. They get scratchy.

There is a YouTube video or two with James Tsylor just talking about his picking hand regimen. Fake nail prep etc. it’s like a 20 minute video.

Have to decide nylon or steel string too. The variables are endless. Nylon and cedar top as mentioned is awesome.

There are a few things to consider in a fingerstyle guitar. As auggie mentioned, a wider nut (usually at least 1.75") is considered preferable as is a more balanced tone. For these two reasons, many fingerstyle players gravitate to the OM style guitars, which have both of these characteristics. OM guitars are smaller bodies than dreadnoughts which generally cause the bass strings to be more muted and thus treble strings to stand out a little more. Some say smaller body styles project more, but I don't know if that's true. Also, in my experience, fingerstyle uses more barre chords and shapes up the neck to utilize voicings for the picked strings, so a lower action is also desirable. 000 size guitars are similar to OMs but with a shorter scale length if that would be something you prefer. Fretshack can certainly opine better about if any of this is true or not.

You'll also have to consider whether you'll want electronics in the guitar. Good electronics make a huge difference for fingerpickers. I know Maton has an excellent electronic system but any of the top brands will have that if you're looking to perform.

For the right hand, you have a few options. One is to develop serious calluses on your fingers (the route guys like Tommy Emmanuel and Joe Robinson have taken); learn how to use and maintain fake press on nails; or play a nylon string guitar, which is what Chet Atkins and Jerry Reed ended up doing.