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Taylor GS Mini-e Solid Koa Top ESB review

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Taylor GS Mini is a scaled-down grand symphony (GS) body shape acoustic guitar, well-built, nice attractive, highly playable, and sounding a solid bass and full rich tone. Though scaled-down, The Taylor GS Mini’s deep body which is flawlessly constructed using high-quality tonewoods makes it feels and sounds like a full-size guitar.

With all those great features, this guitar has won the Gold Medal Travel Guitar and Silver Medal Guitar of the Year in 2011 Players Choice Awards held by AcousticGuitar.com.

What Taylor GS Mini guitar is offering you?

Taylor GS Mini is made in Mexico by Taylor Guitars and inspired by the born of Baby Taylor. It once again proved that scaled-down guitars designed for travelers or kids could also sound very great. 

One from our recommended acoustic guitars under $$$ for beginners, this guitar offers the following features:

· GS (grand symphony) Mini body size produces clear, full sound and pairs with the ingenious ES-Go pickup.

· Solid Sitka spruce top.

· Laminate Sapele wood back and sides.

· Sapele neck.

· Ebony fingerboard and bridge.

· Chrome tuners.

· Satin finish.

· X-braced top, braceless arched back.

· NuBone nut and saddle.

· 23.5-inch scale.

· 11 1⁄16-inch nut width.

· 2 1⁄4-inch string spacing at the saddle.

· Elixir medium-gauge Nanoweb strings.

Taylor GS Mini is a good traveling companion but it doesn’t look at all like an ordinary travel guitar. Though the plain woods – solid Sitka spruce top and caramel-colored Sapele back and sides – and satin finish give it a simple appearance, the three-ring rosette, and three-layer purfling lend it the credibility of a higher-priced stringed instrument. It’s a decent guitar at an affordable price.

Though scaled-down, Taylor GS Mini can sound and feel like a full-size acoustic guitar

In its overall size with a 23.5-inch scale length, Taylor GS Mini is somewhere between Big Baby Taylor and Baby Taylor. Compared to the GS, it is 2 inches shorter hence make it easy to play the open cords. It also has a small body, 14 3/8 inches wide, so you’ll find it very comfortable to play and you don’t have to hunch over it if you play this acoustic guitar when sitting down.

Single-note runs are clear and crisp, and the snappy tone brings bass runs to rise above ringing chords and is also best for less busy melodies, such as bluesy single-line riffs. Fast runs pop off the string, but long notes held for as long as you needed them to, the sustain filling in the chords on cross-picked tunes.

Playing up and down the fingerboard is very easy, thanks to the guitar’s comfortable neck and good factory setup. Taylor GS Mini also can match the volume produced with the way you do strumming this guitar. No matter how hard or lightly you strum the guitar, the sound is just great. Medium attack or soft strumming will create a clear and warm tone, a bit like the midrange but with rich bass and bright trebles. While with an aggressive attack, GS Mini Taylor’s sound – especially in the bass – will start to break up and make it a good gear to play in a small group or solo.

Conclusion

Taylor GS Mini is suitable for those travelers as well as for people who kill their times by Flatpicking, fingerpicking, or strumming their guitar at home.

It has everything: compact size which is car and plane-friendly, clear tone, wide dynamic range, long sustain, and – the most important thing – inexpensive and affordable price (click here to check the most recent price). Taylor GS Mini will be your best investment for acoustic guitar, guaranteed.

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