Can my guitar be too small?

[boombox]

I bought a second hand Collings OM 6 months ago, chiefly because it felt so easy to handle and play a small bodied instrument with such a beautiful tone. I've never owned a small-bodied guitar till now - previous acoustics were a Fylde Oberon with a neck that never really agreed with me and an old Fender Gemini II dread and my electric of choice is an Epiphone Sheraton (335 size). Like I say, the OM sounds gorgeous in the way a 6 year old played-in instrument should sound, but I've noticed that when I play for any amount of time, the following occurs:

1) I find it hard to get a comfortable position to play and find myself constantly swapping the guitar from leg to leg in order to better fret certain chords/positions.

2) It hurts! ie armache, wristache, backache.

The other day, I picked up my old Fender and while it wasn't sonically a pleasure to play, it felt more comfortable. Just googling around, I found this article:
http://www.playguitarmagazine.com/article/11/11,6647,FEATURE-2.asp
Towards the bottom:
The thinner bodies of OMs and concerts make them easier to hold, but it also means that your fretting arm will be a little lower, which can be uncomfortable for people with longer arms.

I'm beginning to wonder if therein lies my problem (I'm 6'2" with the arms of an orang utan) and whether I should abandon the small body experiment and return to larger bodied guitars eg A300 or L25/32.

Anyone else out there had experience of this?

[Rick Jones]

I don't get on with small bodied guitars either. OM's and such make me drop my shoulder too much and I get neck ache.
I like Jumbos for the big lower bout, 16 inches and up for me....it keeps my wrist in the right place and allows me to angle the guitar slightly upwards when playing, keeping the back off my body to let it couple better. If I do that with a smaller guitar I 'chase it' the whole time I'm trying to play.

Jumbos and Dreads for me!!

[boombox]

Well, a fair bit has happened since I posted the above.

I decided to keep the OM after I started using a strap on it to improve playing position - it made a huge difference. Besides, the tone it has was just too good to lose and I knew I'd regret it. In some ways, it's easier to play, though I do have to admit that next to my Avalon, it now feels like a toy: switching between the two instruments can be interesting at times.

As for now owning a jumbo, I did go through a period where I wondered if I had done the right thing buying my L32, especially as regards the body size and the chunkier neck profile (as compared to a 1 11/16" Collings). What clinched it for me was watching Andy McKee, who, like you Rick, holds the guitar angled upwards: it makes a huge difference to playability. This meant I was able to start getting the best out of it, to the point that the Collings remains pretty much my standard tuning guitar, while my L32 does all the open tunings stuff. As the wood begins to open up properly too, it will only get better - I'm already noticing more volume on pull offs and harmonics. Have just put a new set of D'Addario Exps on tonight (first new set since I bought it in January) and in DADGAD she's really singing!