[KCC]

Any help is appreciated.

[ninjato]

First of all, strumming hard is neither here nor there unless you are a beginner, and all beginners I know strum too hard.

If you are experienced, then you'd know what kind of guitar you need for that level of strumming.

Acoustic jumbos and dreadnoughts are the preferred guitars for hard strummers while Grand Auditorium and the smaller Grand Concerts are for fingerpickers.

[dorio]

Acoustic jumbos are great. But I think if you strum really hard the strings/gauge that you use is more important than the model of your guitar. This I have learned over the years so it's always good to have a stock of your strings of choice. Personally I've really come to dislike hard strumming because it's the equivalent to someone talking too loud and generally people tend to dislike that. That being said good luck with it all.

[dadfad]

Acoustic jumbos are great. But I think if you strum really hard the strings/gauge that you use is more important than the model of your guitar. This I have learned over the years so it's always good to have a stock of your strings of choice. Personally I've really come to dislike hard strumming because it's the equivalent to someone talking too loud and generally people tend to dislike that. That being said good luck with it all.

Pretty much true. If you're playing for yourself, there's no reason to strum hard. If you're playing a gig, that's what amplification is for. There's not much need to whack your strings, and playing very fast has nothing to do with it.

[maplebaby]

my 2 cents would be a larger bodied guitar, a guitar that will handle medium guage strings well, and a stiff wood choice for the top. All the best,
dale

[okiejohn]

Try a thin pick.

[ninjato]

Acoustic jumbos are great. But I think if you strum really hard the strings/gauge that you use is more important than the model of your guitar. This I have learned over the years so it's always good to have a stock of your strings of choice. Personally I've really come to dislike hard strumming because it's the equivalent to someone talking too loud and generally people tend to dislike that. That being said good luck with it all.

To a degree. Some guitars are just not braced for heavier strings and harder strumming. Cedar top guitars break up sooner than spruce tops and generally cannot handle hard strumming but does produce a warmer sound to fingerpickers who want to stay away from the crystaline sound a spruce top can have.

Jumbos are braced for hard strumming and the tops are usually spruce. I also agree, there is hard strumming, and then there is obnoxious strumming.

If you are strumming hard because your guitar isn't loud enough, then:

1. You need a better guitar
2. See if you can plug in or mic yourself somehow
3. Have someone else strum real hard for you so you can really hear how crappy it sound when facing your own guitar.

Always keep in mind the people sitting 10 feet away from you will hear your guitar in a whole different light than how you hear it since you are not facing it and the sound is being projected away from you.