Taylor GS Mini - too small for an everyday guitar?

[Arthur Sweeney]

Hi my friends.

I've been toying with the idea of getting a Taylor GS Mini and using it as my main guitar.

I have tried them out at Guitar Center, but only for short periods of time, before I start

getting odd looks from management  :-)

I like them, but my question is, does anyone out there have one, and use it as their main guitar?

Or, is it really best as a travel or coach guitar?

For me to really know, I'd have to buy it, and they are not cheap.

Trying them out for 15-minutes at a time at each GC visit doesn't tell me the whole story.

Second question is, do you find them too cramped for an adult? (scale too short)

I'm a tall guy, buy don't have long or strong fingers, so that is why I started looking at them.

Thanks for any input.

[Arthur Sweeney]

sorry, typo above, meant to say "couch" guitar, not "coach"!

[Mark Fogleman]

You'll probably get better advice at one of the acoustic guitar "player" groups like http://www.acousticguitarforum.com . Taylor has always impressed me with their small body guitars.  

[Mark Pollock]

A friend of mine has one and loves it. The tone is great from that little guitar. ( I personally like the tone because it isn't like most Taylors, but that's me.)

[Ned Knepp]

Arthur, I recently spent some time playing one at a local GC and liked it better than anything else in the category but it's not a matter of what anyone else thinks, it's about what you think. If you're comfortable with the guitar than it's the guitar for you... no matter how big or small or how you want to use it. If you were looking for a mandolin or a ukulele, would you be concerned that the instrument might be too small?  Size is just one aspect of a guitar. It's a lot less important than your personal comfort level. As we've said before, if you like the sound, playability, look and price, it's the guitar for you. Doesn't matter what anyone else thinks.   

Being able to hold and play the instruments you are interested in is the biggest difference between a brick and mortar store and Online stores. If you didn't want to play the instrument before you purchase it you could probably get it cheaper on the internet, something you might mention to any sales personnel that make you feel like you are spending too much time playing one of their instruments. Personally, I don't think fifteen minutes is all that long to try out a guitar you're really interested in purchasing. That's the whole point of the benches and stool around the store for customers to use. As long as you are being careful with their guitar they should be happy that you are there looking at a guitar  there rather than in a shop down the street of setting at a PC making your choice online. As long as your are setting in their store, playing their instrument, you are not making a purchase somewhere else. 

When I was in the local GC last week, I spent a hour in the acoustic room with a kid that played the same two guitars the whole time trying to make up his mind which one he wanted. Two different sale people came in and talked to me but neither said a thing to him.  When I left, he was still at it. It takes what it takes.  

[Arthur Sweeney]

Thanks for the input.

I was exaggerating with the Guitar Center management.

They really did not bother me at all, just looked at me a couple times.

[Paul Verticchio]

Arthur,

If they "looked at you", then you were on the receiving end of their "world famous personalized customer care & service". That's considered an extraordinary amount of attention for a GC.  Yep, that was pure sarcasm. ;)

Man, I truly dislike GC, their whole modus operandi and especially their clueless sales & managerial staff.

Good hunting my friend :)

[Mike Kolb]

I've always taken the same mindset at GC as I take at Radio Shack: you have to know, beforehand, what you want (or want to see) before walking through the door.  

In both cases, it's a big PLUS if the sales folks leave you alone:)

[Mark Pollock]

And, in both cases, it is fun to ask questions that are really hard. 

In Radio Shack, I ask where the Variacs are. 

In GC, I ask why there is no sound coming from the D and G strings on a Gibson acoustic. 

[Ned Knepp]

When I was in GC last week I pulled a banjolele from the wall and handed it to the first sales guy that walked in. He stood there with it in his hands just looking at me. I took it back and held it up so he could look at it from eye level. He still didn't see that the tail piece was so out of alignment that the first strings was running down the edge of the fingerboard and off the edge before it got to the end. When I  ran my finger down it, he said the first words spoken in the exchange,

" We usually have our setup guy go over the instruments when they get in, I guess he hasn't had time to get to this one yet."

 I said, "Yeah."

 He took the instrument away and I returned to my tour of his acoustic's room. He didn't come back. 

[Mark Pollock]

Yeah, but that's just a uke. Nobody needs to set those up. Leave the action at the nut sky-high and use really stiff Aquila strings so that a novice can barely play the thing. 

Last week my wife's family got together for a week at the beach. There were 13 ukes there. I had brought a pile of luthier tools, and ended up lowering the action at the nut of 5 ukes. My mother in law was stunned that she actually could play the g7 chord without pain. 

Face it - cheap instruments, and instruments with no cache (ukes) simply won't get any respect or help. Your example may be on the fringe of what is acceptable anywhere, though. 

[Paul Verticchio]

Ned,

If you really want to mess with GC's 'staff', tell them you need either 1.) A set of left handed guitar strings and/or 2.) A dozen left handed guitar picks.

I've done that when service staff are rude or 'just being jerks' for over 40 years. Amusement is 100% guaranteed. :)

[Arthur Sweeney]

Hi, it seems my original post morphed into talks about Guitar Center.

Can we please get back on the subject of a GS Mini as an adult's main guitar?

Thanks!