I play mostly acoustic blues. I use a fingerpicking style (without pics on fingers) and play a lot of muted bass with the thumb. I also do a little blues guitar strumming with a pick and some lead fills and small solos. I am an average sized man, about 5’10” 150 lbs.
I currently play a Taylor 314ce which is a grand auditorium but find the body to bit a bit big. I do like the big sound I get when strumming and the muted bass is nice too.
It just doesn’t feel like it fits me as well as some martins and smaller body Taylors I’ve played. The bottom back edge of the lower bout rests on my leg but the bottom front edge doesn’t touch my leg. The back edge sort of digs in to my leg. This makes the body sit at an angle with the top sloping away from me instead of being straight up and down. Also, the top front edge of the lower bout digs into my strumming arm.
I want something a bit smaller without sacrificing too much bass for the muted thumb bass picking. I have played the 000 and 00 body sizes and favor the 00 for size but the 000 for the sound. I’m having trouble deciding between these 2 body styles. I really liked the feel of a 00-17SE whiskey sunset I played but the low E bass was very low volume and honestly the entire sound was sort of hollow.
I am interested in a 12 fret model both to keep the frets I use (mainly below the 9th) closer and also for the better bass apparently associated with the 12 fret (vs 14 fret) which might offset some of the lost bass from going to a smaller body.
Aesthetically, slotted is nice and a few appointments wouldn’t be too bad , but all second to playability and sound.
There is a used (excellent condition) Taylor 522e 12 fret for about $2,000 locally I was liking too but As a grand concert it’s not too much smaller than my current grant auditorium.
My budget is $2-4,000.

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Um, you do know that this is the Rickenbacker factory forum, for discussion of Rickenbacker instruments and related issues? That said, if you want to expand your horizons, as when Dylan walked onstage at Newport in 1965 with a Strat, then a model 360, with its semi-hollow construction and rounded front, might be a great avenue to explore, especially since Roger McGuinn's playing style is adapted from banjo fingerpicking, and we all know what he was able to do with that style on a 12-string!

Rickenbacker guitar bridges from the factory do have a cover that many players remove so they can employ one version or another of palm muting, either for chording or fingerpicking.