I started learning on a Yamaha dreadnought that felt too large for my smallish frame and hands. Last November I bought an Alvarez AF60 acoustic-electric that immediately made playing easier and more fruitful. This is a folk/OM model that I think is larger than a Taylor GS Mini; maybe similar in size to the Taylor AD. It’s priced on par with the GS and much less than the AD. I mostly play unplugged in my small home, and the Alvarez produces the best sound among several guitars I tried in that size and price range. Worth checking out.
I have the Sheeran by Lowden W05, so the smallest body size that Lowden produces, and although it does have a LR baggs pickup, I have never plugged it in. It does produce a beautiful sound and plenty loud enough for a small bodied guitar. They do a slightly larger body size (S) in the range. The W01 or S01 are pure acoustic models.
This video is quite good to watch as it has 3 smaller bodied guitars including the model that I own. I will put the time slots below as it’s quite a long video so you can scroll to 13.40 minutes and then the other two follow on.
Sheeran by Lowden W05 - 13.40 minutes
Taylor GS mini 15.47 minutes
Martin X series (O size) 18.05 minutes
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I am a fan of smaller guitars and I think they can sound great. Parlors, the smallest, got an undeserved reputation for plainly sounds. Maybe a bunch of poorly made small guitars, but more likely expectations.
You may not get the bass punch of a dread, but it more than makes up for it in balanced tone and if the guitar is good, better articulation.
Sizes vary by manufacturer, but I have a Pono 00 size. I think the lower bout is about 14”? Roughly, maybe 14.5”. Just a little smaller than a classical. Anyway, much better size for my shoulders and it is a short scale 12th fret to the body, so the neck is shorter, too.
You naturally need to go and try out a bunch of different size guitars and see what feel good and sounds good to you, but the smaller guitars are becoming more popular and it is not because the sound is deficient. (Probably because more players are getting old…)
Hey, are calling us old? The term is Vintage!
Does the APX 500 not sound good unplugged? I have no experience (my 1 acoustic guitar has no pickup), but I believe I’ve heard that acoustic guitars generally sound better unplugged than they do amplified. Maybe the APX 500 is the exception to the rule? Or maybe there isn’t any such rule and I am thinking about it wrong.
Minor point here, AD in the Taylor catalog is a range/series not a model. It’s their American Dream range, which represents the lowest price Taylor that is built in America from solid wood as opposed to laminate. They lack the fancy bindings and inlays of more expensive guitars. The numbers after the AD tell you whether it’s made from a hard or soft wood, is 6 or 12 strings and the final digit relates to body shape. In the case of my AD11e the first 1 denotes that it has 6 strings and is made from a soft wood, and the second 1 shows it’s the grand theater body shape. As an example with an AD17, the 7 shows it’s a grand pacific body, quite a lot bigger than mine.
Apologies for the wordy reply!
Hi John @Mr_Boy, There was a similar conversation earlier this year on choosing a smaller acoustic guitar. Have a peek over here for lots more input. A very quick summary of my experience: many folks love the playability of the Taylor neck, but I just couldn’t bond with it; I loved the Guild M-20 in my hands, but the all-mahogany body wasn’t the sound I was looking for…bummer; and while I still wish I had been able to find a Larivee to play, I ended up with a Martin 00 body size and couldn’t be happier! Oh - the 000 body size is also pretty compact, and I think there are more options in that size, so you might check those out as well if you’re interested in a Martin.
I’m a relic
I have a ~20yrs old Yamaha dread that was my first guitar that sounded decent. But as I’ve been playing more the past several months, I’ve come to dislike the size for my usual sitting and playing.
I have an Enya Nova Go as well as a Taylor GS Mini. The Enya is great for being compact and easy to hold/play. I bought it in particular as a guitar to take outside camping and having less desirable weather. This is the one that sold me on smaller body sizes. I’ve taken it out backpacking where it poured rain on it. And it was totally fine. The sound isn’t great, but it’s not terrible, either. It’s also cheap enough that I’m willing to beat on it some.
But that lead me to wanting a smaller body size guitar I could play every day. I gravitated towards the Taylor GS Mini and I got one of the 50th Anniversary ones that has some little details like different fretboard inlays as well as the nicer pickup system. I’m not going to play it plugged in much, but I wanted the option just in case. I really like the tone of it. Yeah, it’s not as boomy as my dread, but oftentimes, that boominess is not what I’m after. I’m also finding that the shorter scale length is a nice steppingstone to working on chords that require more stretching. I’ve been working on a lot of fingerpicking lately, and I particularly like its tone for that.
I don’t have a smaller guitar, (well, not totally true. I have an Enya Nova Go that I hardly ever touch. I keep forgetting I even have it.) but I have tried a couple. There have already been several mentions of the Taylor GS Mini. I liked it when I tried it. I also found a PRS parlor guitar to be very comfortable and it sounded great. Worth a look.
I agree with Matt. I bought a Taylor mini for my 12 year old daughter and find myself playing all the time due to great sound and easy on the hands to fret the notes. This one is a koa wood style. I love the full size Martin and would be down to buy a mini Martin too.
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These are the different sizes of Martins compaired to each other. It helped me get a visual with them at least. Does anyone know where the taylor mini would fit into this?
I was having a little Google on this and get the impression the answer isn’t straightforward because it depends on what you measure! A Taylor forum post had this (I have to assume it to be accurate)…
start of copied text
So here is a comparison of sizes between the GS mini and Martin 0 and 00’s
Martin Size 0 (14 fret): Body Depth at deepest - 4 1/4" Body Width at widest - 13 1/2" Body Length - 18 3/8"
Martin Size 00 (14 fret): Body Depth at deepest - 4 1/8" Body Width at widest - 14 5/16" Body Length - 18 7/8"
Taylor GS mini: Body Depth at deepest - 4 7/16" Body Width at widest - 14 3/8" Body Length - 17 5/8"
Of course the scale length of the Martins is longer at 24.9", while the mini is 23.5", but I have a 00-18 Martin and it is nowhere near as loud as my mini mahogany, so it doesn’t seem to suffer for that 1.4".
****end of copied text ****
So the above would suggest that in the body at least the GS Mini might be slightly bigger than the smallest Martins but it’s still definitely at the small end of the spectrum no matter how you look at it. My AD11 is a smidge bigger than a GS Mini but it’s definitely still a small guitar (in a good way). The scale length is important because it makes them easy to play
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It doesn’t fit in It has a 23.5in scale so about the same as a little Martin which is small than an O
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I’m quite happy with my Journey OF660, have also play rainsong and been happy with the sound.
Check out parlor guitars. I have a restored 1927 Harmony Parlor guitar that makes great sound especially for it’s size.
Here’s a video of a buddy of mine playing it
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That was really neat with the old school sound of the blues mixed with the new school era lyrics and vernacular.
What a great song. Thanks for that.
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I just bought a PRS SE P20e P is for parlor, small guitar big mid forward sound. I love it
I’m going to throw a wildcard in plus a couple of agreements with others!
My favourite small guitar is my Harley Benton GS travel (a GS mini knock off, including the gig bag!), it’s small, light and sounds OK especially as a blues box. With the cost it’s nothing to worry about transporting it or general carelessness. No quality or sound quality wise it’s not in the same league but it is playable and one you can sit on a Settee or Hammock in the garden and jam out with it.
Otherwise my thoughts would be for quality the Sheeran by Lowden or the GS mini, if you’ve got deep pockets the Taylor AD11 is gorgeous but I definitely wouldn’t use it as a Travel guitar, it’s too nice to risk anything!
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