Guitar upgrade from Fender CC-60S to Baby Taylor BTe-KOA

If youā€™ve not heard a Big baby Taylor you would be surprised, they really do sound nice.

@Carreta Forgot to mention, Justin Johnson did a review on the Cort Gold A6 https://youtu.be/FxdIEh9YUzY?si=rNE3-hbYkggv2Et-

That doesnā€™t necessarily mean, that those guitars are not well crafted :wink:. I had my doubts too, as people sometimes consider ā€œChina guitarsā€ as cheapy or substandard. I have two China guitars (by chance, not a deliberate decision), both of them are very well made and offer a lot quality specs for the money. My thinking was, if it made sense to buy a guitar out of the same factory with a big brand label and pay a lot more, only to say itā€™s a ā€¦

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I would buy that guitar without thinking about it, having played one all I would say is that for the price theyā€™re a steal!
But the Gold A8ā€™s are fabulous if youā€™re ok with the extra cost!

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Of all the options you have mentioned, I would suggest the Taylor GS-Mini over the others. It sounds much better than the Baby Taylor, and I think better than the Big Baby Taylor and the others.

Currently, the used guitar market is kinda slow, and you may have to really discount the Fender to sell it. I suggest putting it in its case and store it for now. At this point in your guitar journey, you may change your mind and want a larger guitar again in the future.

YMMV

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A 700 series Taylor is quite a bit more money than he indicated heā€™s wanting to spend!

Dear all, thank you for all your inputsā€¦ I read it all and checked all informations. I got some favourites that I am gonna check and then decide - I hope I will not get greedy and wont buy it too soon. This is something I would really like to think about. :smiley:
My favorite list - what I am gonna try on shop physicaly if they have it:

  • Cort Gold A6
  • Taylor Big Baby BBTe WN
  • Taylor GS Mini-e Koa
  • Cort GAPF-BV Grand Auditorium

Why this selection - I took out Martin, because it does not offer shape I want and they also using HPL. I dont live in high humidity or high temperature difference country - Czech Republic middle Europe, under Germany if you need a little bit help. :slight_smile: In my opinion real guitar should be from real wood and not from some mixā€¦ its really personal look. I really like Cort high end look in this pricing, so I would like to see those models in real life. I also took out Baby Taylor, because I think it would be maybe too small and want to try Big Baby and GS Mini. Honestly that Big Baby is something I am giving biggest chance - on paper it meets all requirements I want, I will see in real life. Also I understand that big brands like Taylor and Martin wont offer such a great high end like Cort in this priceā€¦ but I honestly think that they wont sell me bad instrument. We are talking about 870 dollars range and I think all guitars would be great here - there it really depends more on personal choice and taste. I think it would be more about quality if we compare guitars about 100 dollars and not this much. Of course you can pay much much more for guitar and also I am not saying 100 dollars guitar is badā€¦ but I just think even ā€œcheapā€ Taylor/Martin will be great. :slight_smile:

I am cursedā€¦

Guysā€¦ I literally studied, watched video and read all materials 6 hours straight and I am on final decision. Its gonna be Cort Gold A8 LB or Cort Gold D8 LB. Just need to try it on store which fits better to me. Pleaseā€¦ I need rest now. :smiley:

Edit: Drednaught version does not have electronics, so its solved. A8 try and pick if it fits.

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Michal the cutaway A8 will serve you well in the long run, factor that it when you test drive.
:sunglasses:

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You have quite amazing local brand Furch, donā€™t you?
Just sayingā€¦ :wink:

@TheMadman_tobyjenner Yes, I think so. I would like to play fingerstyle. Also got cutaway on my Fender. I am not able to use it now but I think Its good to have that option than not. Right now I am thinking about if that A8 isnt overkill for grade 2 beginner. Still checking lower cost with similar quality of wood. :smiley:

@Alexeyd Yes, I do. But their starting price is where my budget ends and I honestly dont know this brand. :slight_smile:

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It sure is an investment that you will enjoy for many years. I guess it depends on your budget ?

Also, would you like to save some money to buy an electric guitar or upgrade your amp when you get to the rock power chords module or blues lead solo in grade 2 ?

Iā€™m asking the question because I started as an acoustic player in grade 1-2 and now I have 2 electrics that I play much more. So, I put more budget into that. But, thatā€™s a personal choice based on my new interests.

@math07 Thats good point. I think I am more than ready for everything. Got Boss Katana Mk2, Fender Acoustatonic, Fender CC-60SCE, Fender Squirter, my first old acoustic guitar and Harley Benton Custom 3D printed guitar. In this stageā€¦ I dont really need new guitar, butā€¦ you know. :smiley:



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Great collection :slightly_smiling_face: I see that you are already well equipped on the electric guitar side :slightly_smiling_face::+1:

And I went the opposite way!

Iā€™m biased when it comes to acoustic guitars. My first was a Taylor Academy 10 which I bought as a good entry level acoustic as I wasnā€™t sure if acoustic was what I wanted but actually it convinced me that I prefer it to electric (for now at least). Since then Iā€™ve gone on to buy an American made Taylor as well which is the dream guitar I never knew I wanted. I do still play the Academy as well, I have it in an alternate tuning mostly

@math07 Thank you. I guess I will have this some timeā€¦ I was waiting for today stock come to store of that Cort Gold A8 and the changed it to 10.102024. Also Thomann saying it will be in stock in 7 weeks. In this long time I will think about it if I really buy it or if there will be any good deal, I will pick something else.

@mattswain Thats interesting way. I am pretty sure I will stick more with acousticā€¦ I am using electric guitar only for learning something over night or when I want to hear TV, because it does not do much sound. :smiley:
I would like to know how can you know your Taylor is from America? Maybe if I find the way how to not buy it manufactured from China, it will be ā€œback in the gameā€, because Cort A8 has really long stock delay.

Taylor makes guitars in 2 places only, Mexico and USA. In broad terms if one of their guitars is under about $1200 itā€™s almost certainly made in Mexico. They donā€™t try to fool people, each of their guitars has a sticker saying Mexico or USA. My Taylor Academy is made in Mexico, itā€™s very nice guitar

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My local shop is doing action and 700$ Taylor BTe Koa is for 570$. I have to be strongā€¦ but I feel I cant resist. Please help. :smiley:

Dear all, today I was in guitar store. I was here 2 hours and tried 17 guitars across brands like Taylor, Martin, Fursch and Cort. Price range from tried guitars was something between 400-3200$. My budget was up to 1200$. Sadly I was so disappointed after trying guitars from Taylor, BTe is joke - cheap product and tone without soul. Poor base and middles. Really cheap wood on back that was like some backwood of IKEA shelf. This is something that went across all Taylors I had in arms, only Taylor GS Mini E Koa was decent but absolutely not worth for that much money. Corts for half price are better. I pretty like one or two Martins for me itā€™s much better brand from this experience but please take a note itā€™s my opinion and I was ā€œjustā€ around 1000$. Would pick a guitar here if itā€™s the first one but definitely canā€™t beat my Fender CC-60SCE. I have to say that I made upgrade on Fender by myself changing nut, saddle and pins for bone. Pretty nice guitars are from brand Furch, but they are pretty pricey and again I found something decent for 1400$ that is similar to my 350$ Fender. Nonsence. I finally tried Cort A6 and it was really better in 1000$ than anything else, but it still wasnā€™t something different from my Fender. So I did not buy anything and now I value my Fender much more. If you have decent guitar then there is no reason to upgrade in 1000$ range. Big brands are paid here only for name. So I saved bunch of money and I have free mind. There was not any guitar that pick and say this is the one. Maybe I canā€™t hear, maybe I was not lucky, but with this I would like to send love hug to my Fender which took me through grade 1 and will take me for more grades. What is your experience?
Donā€™t trust to all miracle and rainbow reviews on YouTube. Reality is really different and tough. :slight_smile:

Guitar list that I tried (donā€™t mind last digits those are price in my country):

Taylor 214ce 29k
Taylor BT1e 14k
Taylor Academy 12k
Taylor 110ce-s 20k
Taylor 212ce 30k
Furch Violet Masters Choice Gc-SM 30k
Furch Blue Dc-CM 48mm 31k
Furch Blue Dc-SW 29k
Furch Blue G-SW 12 36k
Martin Special X Koa 15k
Martin LXK2
Furch Dark Yellow Gc-RR 66k
Taylor GS-Mini e Rosewood Plus 27k
Taylor BTe Koa 13k
Cort Gold A6 Nat 20k
Cort Core OC-Mahagony OPBB 14k

Interesting experiment :exploding_head:. Thanks for sharing.

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