NGD.....Taylor GS mini

DownUpDave

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They say confession is good for the soul.........I am a traitor.......I bought a guitar and I love it. It is a Taylor GS mini-e spruce and walnut, comes with Taylors ESB pick up.

A little background, I'll try to keep it short. About 12 years ago I attempted to learn to play acoustic guitar. I had never played any kind of musical instrument in my life, nothing in school and no one in my family played anything. So I bought a guitar took a few lessons did the internet thing and made very little progress, I was a golf addict back them so ALL my time was golf, golf, golf.

Fast forward three years ago I bought a ukulele became addicted, played a lot and actually can make music now. I still had a love for the steel string acoustic sound, bought a Blueridge tenor guitar and really enjoyed it. I kept the Larrivee L-01 I bought 12 years ago, but it is SOOO huge.

The Taylor GS mini has gotten great reviews and is a compact guitar, same size as the Blueridge but with a big guitar sound. It is comfortable for me to sit down with and play, the fretboard length and body size are quite manageable. It really does sound great and the pickup system is excellemt with a nice natural sound. Below are some pictures. One shows my Larrivee, Taylor, Blueridge tenor guitar, LFDM and Kamaka baritone ukes for size comparison .

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Congratulations!!!!
You just can't go wrong with a Taylor.
 
Dave is a big boy now. Congratulations
Happy to see that you finally got a proper steel strings. You don’t kid around when you said you want one !
Thank you for the comparison photo. I played my friend’s when I was in San Diego. It sounded mighty good !
I guess you are too busy to play with your uke buddies now. :(. Six strings Dave!
 
Dave is a big boy now. Congratulations
Happy to see that you finally got a proper steel strings. You don’t kid around when you said you want one !
Thank you for the comparison photo. I played my friend’s when I was in San Diego. It sounded mighty good !
I guess you are too busy to play with your uke buddies now. :(. Six strings Dave!

I was playing ukulele with my friends last night down at the 12th fret. Douglas Cameron put on a Joni Mitchell workshop, Tim came along
 
Congrats Dave! Very nice addition. Really appreciate the comparison photos. I think size is really important - it has to be comfortable. Enjoy.
 
Excellent choice. IMHO, Taylor is the best in this size range. Tone and volume are top notch, not to mention construction quality. And Taylor is a company with integrity.
 
Dave, I have the hog version and love it. After many years of playing uke, I found the transition to guitar not so hard. I still play uke now and then but I'm about 60% guitar now and 30% mandolin. Love those steel strings
 
Congrats DAVE!

I had a chance to try out a few different models of the 'Little Martin', a Gretsch Jim Dandy as well as the GS Mini in a shop a few months back, and all in one sitting.

All the Martins were just 'meh' and felt overbuilt and sounded pretty dead to me, which surprised me.

The Jim Dandy also seemed overbuilt to the point if it being the guitar I'd want with me if I were a soldier deployed to the trenches, and similarly pretty flat and lifeless in tone...

But the GS Mini felt better 'out of the box' with no setup, was lighter, and projected a huge 'bubble' of sound all around me similar to when I had tried a Martin D28 sound cannon. I was VERY impressed with the GS Mini.

The sound was wonderful and easy to play, but I'd still have needed to lower the action (from 3.5mm @ the 12th) and tweak the intonation on the G string which was about 10 cents sharp after the 3rd fret, bit that's ok, since this specimen I played was literally 'just out of the box'...

Since I am still holding off on buying any new instruments now, I did not buy it at the time, but if/when I am thinking about it again, the GS Mini is going to be the first one that I look at next time.

I am glad you are enjoying your time with the new baby. :music:
 
Congrats Dave! Very nice addition. Really appreciate the comparison photos. I think size is really important - it has to be comfortable. Enjoy.

Casey thanks for the congrats. Playability has always been important to me in ukes and especially in a larger instrument like guitar.
 
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Excellent choice. IMHO, Taylor is the best in this size range. Tone and volume are top notch, not to mention construction quality. And Taylor is a company with integrity.

Thanks Don, these Taylors really are a great instrument and I really do like their strong stance on ethics and sustainability
 
Bunnyf......the hog version really called to me, most reviewers loved the sound of the hog version best. I went to Cosmo music and dealt with a salesman I know, trust and respect, great guitar player that gigs a lot. We played the hog, koa and he pulled out 4 spruce top minis. We decided on spruce and I asked him to play all 4 of them. He gave them all a really good work out and declared this one the best. I kept quiet the whole time but I actually picked this one as well.
 
Hey Booli brother thanks for your honest assessment of those three small bodied guitars. The Taylor gets a lot of accolades but they really do seem to deserve it.
 
Still too big for me. :p It's amazing how small the baritones look in your comparison shots. I recently got in a Córdoba Mini and even that is a wee too big.:)
 
Yes, the GS minis are nice guits. I played guitar for over 40 years before starting with ukes 1 year ago. Recently played a spruce/rosewood GS mini at GC, and was blown away, really spectacular sound, as good or better than my previous Larrivee L-01, or longtime keeper spruce/sapele Larrivee D-02. That GS mini was an exceptional instrument, top 5% of all Taylors I've played, many costing thousands more. Went back a few days later and it was gone. Gotta agree on size. After a few months on mostly all soprano, when I picked up the Larrivee L-01 acoustic guitar, it felt so huge, like being on a different planet, even though I gig on electric guitar in our band.
 
If one is patient, these can be had on the used market. Got mine in mint shape $325 locally on CL.
 
Congratulations Dave, glad to see that you are firing up the love for small guitars as well!
 
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