Parlor guitars originated from the classical guitar in the late 1800s. Parlor guitars garner their name from the fact that they were designed to be played in small intimate settings.

The small size of the parlor guitar also made it very affordable. Therefore, many musicians chose the parlor guitar due to its affordability. In the 1930s, the parlor guitar can be heard on many blues recordings. Folk musicians also favored this instrument due to its soft and sweet sound.

The parlor sized resolian is a single cone resonator. Although small in size, the full size cone gives it much more volume and richer sound than a traditional hollow body guitar.