I have no experience with any of the listed guitars or those particular size forms. That wonât keep me from commenting. LOL
When you say âsmallerâ, why not consider a parlor guitar? Also, since you are looking at electric-acoustic, make sure to compare the electronics on these instruments. If you can get something better than the standard piezo pickup and some decent onboard EQ you will be ahead of the game and getting good versatility and value.
Hi Pam,
I am not really up enough on the specific models of guitars you are looking at. But I can share a few things.
I own both a Taylor 456 ce 12 string and a Takamine EF341 SC. Both are cut-ways and you would have a hard time prying them away from me. The Taylor was bought off Reverb.com as ânewâ. The Tak came from Sweetwater. I have purchased a little over half my guitars there. At first I thought buying mail order for a guitar was taboo. But I found SW worked pretty well for me.
I would not feel too bad about going with SW vs local. Yes, it is nice to support the local shop, but you could do that by buying strings and such from them in the future. I would certainly play any guitar they had that was what you were looking for to get an idea of what your getting into. With Sweetwater you basically will get a good setup, even though they say they donât. They call it an âinspectionâ. Ha, in my experience the guy doing it uses that as an excuse to twiddle away and do a nice setup. The same guy rejects new guitars that âdonât feel rightâ and they send them back to the manufacturer. Do realize though, that a setup done by someone, may not be perfect for you due to playing style differences. So at some point you might want your âlocalâ guitar tech/luthier to do one. - There is nothing like playing a guitar near 30 days to decide if it is the one for you. The cost to you is the return shipping if it is not the right guitar for you. If at the 28th day you decide you need another week with the guitar to decide, call your âsales engineerâ and if like my SW rep, he will extend you another week. Frankly, if you do go mail order, it donât get much better than this.
Another thought is that you and hubby could take a little trip to a bigger city. Check ahead to see what stock they have on hand and play away during your stay there. If you fall in love with something, buy it. Or use them to set your sights on a SW offering. Again, I would not feel bad about walking away from a sales guy and going SW for the purchase. That sales guy was in the store before you came and will be after. It is his job and you gave him a chance at a possible sale. You donât owe him anything past that.
If you are liking a Gibson, you might check with Leo. I donât know his specific model of Gibson but it was $2.500 or so in St. Petersburg. You can hear it on many of the songs he has posted. His play is very good and of course he makes it sing pretty darn well.
If looking at an acoustic guitar with pickups. I myself would go that route. If nothing else the pickups will offer options down the road, to you. Some folks get a very rich tone blending a pickup with a mic in recording. If recording and singing, it really helps if your pickup is good at recording and you possibly sing into a dynamic mic. You then have 2 fairly pure tracks or channels to work with. Call that a little 2 cents for what it is worth.
So what would I get if you? What plays best I guess. But I much prefer cut-aways. Not that I play up that high. Some of it to me is looks and a person preference. I will throw one monkey wrench at you. Have you looked at a Takamine in this price range? A Taylor is a great guitar, but maybe a tad high in price. At one time a Takamine seemed more guitar for the money. But with tariffs and all, that may no longer be true?
Keep me in the loop on what you decide to do!
LBro
One thing you need to remember is with this return policy there is a good chance the guitar they send you may have already been returned by someone else. There are people on the acoustic guitar forum that will order 3-5 guitars play them for a month and send them back until they find the one they want.
These are the same people that complain that the guitar that was sent to them has scratches on it like someone has been playing it hard with pick.
There are advantages to buying in a store. If the guitar is a floor model you can ask for a discount. If you want one right out of the box and they have it in stock they get it for you and let you play it.
Usually stores also have a 30 return policy and a free set-up. The store I deal with has a free set-up for a year after purchase. They usually tell you to take the guitar home for a month before getting it set-up so the guitar can acclimate to your home.
That is true Stitch⌠But personally I have not seen it with SW. I think they are pretty reputable in that they do sell a lot of âopen boxâ stuff. I can only speak to what my experience has been and I have found I never had to worry about that. Good point though, that you make and I am sure other dealers are possibly not as up front about such things.
On the flip side, how long has a guitar been hanging on the wall at a local shop? How many times was it played before you walked in? Did others impart the personal touch of scratches on the guitar? I guess at a big shop you could request a âboxedâ guitar from the back. Not sure what you would get setup wise with that, or if it would be the one you settle onâŚ
I think there are tradeoffs all around and the best thing is to only trust yourself, your eyes and ears. Making a expensive guitar decision is a tough task indeed! So many factors to consider too.
Take care,
LBro
Hey Clint! Yeah, I just havenât considered the parlor because I wasnât sure if it might be too small. Thatâs another reason I should get out there and try some out.
Like I told @mustela, I know very little about the pickups. I need to educate myself on that, I guess.
Appreciate you bunches and Thank you!!
@LBro, thanks for all your great advice. Great info you have given me not only here but in your last email. And I will keep you posted.
@stitch, thank you too. I will remember about watching out to make sure Iâm getting a brand new in-the-box guitar; or about a floor model vs one still in the box. You both, and all the others who have commented, have given me lots to consider. Stitch, I remember when you helped me out on my tentative purchase when I was trying to decide between an acoustic or an electric. Great help.
You both are exceptional advisers on this forum.
Again, Thank you!!
Youâve already gotten a ton of advice and maybe this isnât super helpful, but I thought Iâd chime in because I own both a Taylor Grand Auditorium and a Gibson LG-2. They are wildly different instruments in terms of feel and sound. The LG is slightly bigger than my parlors (not muchâit fits in a standard classical guitar hardcase, if that helps you visualize anything), but much smaller than the Auditorium. The LG is a bit deeper in the sides, though, so my arm extends a little further when Iâm sitting with it. I strum and do a lot of finger picking on both, and both sound good. The LGâs fretboard is a tad wider, but it feels pretty marginal. Neither is better than the other inherently, they just have different feels and different sounds, which you may or may not prefer individually.
One thing Iâll say about Taylor is that Iâve found that theyâre pretty consistent in terms of sound, regardless of body shape. Unless youâre getting wild with tonewoods (which you arenât), youâre going to get something thatâs pretty neutral and balanced. The tech at my shop used to compare them to buying a tub of vanilla ice creamâyou know itâs going to be good, but itâs not going to be particularly unique tonally. I love mine, but it sounds like a standard-issue Taylor. If the house burned down it would be readily replaceable sonically. My LG, on the other hand, sounds smaller. Itâs deeper, warmer, has a bit less sustain. Itâs unique, but that doesnât mean itâs the sound everyone wants. I chose it initially because of its smaller body and more delicate sound.
Perhaps instead of thinking in terms of how different they are from what you already own, you could think about the differences between the models youâre considering? Can you isolate exactly what it is that you want? The guitars on your list strike me as quite different from each other!
Iâm sure whatever you pick will be a lot of fun! Itâs always exciting getting a new guitar friend.
I own Alvarez all solid mahogany parlor and itâs wonderful, warm and comfortable. It sits between my 814ce and GS mini Taylors which I adore, but parlor gets played the most. I little bit regret not looking for 12-fret Taylor 812 or 322 instead of 814. There are not many 12-fret guitars around here to try, but I would definitely look into it if i had access to try one.
If youâre looking for a slightly brighter, sweet sound then I would say the Taylor is the go.
I have a Taylor 914 V and absolutely love it. I bought it secondhand and it sounds amazing! Spruce top and rosewood back/sides.
I fingerpick and strum and it works well for both.
Iâd suggest you go with the best V class Taylor you can afford, probs the 412ce? Or else look for a quality secondhand higher model.
Hi Pam!
I donât own any of the Taylor or Gibson acoustics that you have been considering but my 2 centsâŚ
Iâve often played Taylors when âwindow shoppingâ at guitar stores. Theyâve never quite had âitâ for me. They are beautiful & mostly comfortable but I canât imagine paying what they cost without having the sound I desire. The exception was a couple of months ago playing at a Guitar Center store & the salesman recommended a Builderâs Edition with a torrified spruce top & Hawaiian Koa back & sides. It played beautifully but it cost around $4000. My Koa Takamine that was not a cheap guitar IMHO plays just as well for less than a third of the price of the Taylor⌠I believe you have a Tak already, right? Do you love the sound it has? My other beautiful sounding acoustic is my Seagull Artist. Itâs mahogany back & sides with a cedar top⌠it smells as good as it looks & plays even better!
You may want to take a look at SeagullâŚ
Have fun though the process, whatever you decide!!!
Tod
Hey @coyotesnacks. Your advice was very helpful too. I took notes on what you said about the different sizes and sounds. Further confirmation that I need to go try them out for myself; taking into consideration what I already have and whether I want a guitar with different sound or just different size.
Thanks for taking the time to assist.
Thank you, @initK. Some more good info on sizes of different guitars. Iâm taking notes!
@radds1. As I was listening to some videos of some of the Taylorâs, I highlighted the 412ce-R V-Class and the 412ce - Natural as having nice sound, compared to some of the others I listened to. Thanks for these suggestions.
@Catman62, Iâm learning that the various woods make big differences in the sound - and the price. I do enjoy the sound of my Takamine. I also will take note of other brands like the Seagull Artist you mentioned. Mmmm, Cedar! 
Thanks for all your help.
Hey PamâŚ
I didnât really mention that the tone of the cedar top on my Seagull is very warm & to me, really distinctive. I have noticed the same from other brands of guitars with a cedar top as well. So, if youâre looking for something thatâs really bright & projects a lot of volume, cedar may not be the best choice.
Thatâs 4 cents you owe me!!! 
Tod