I’ve been working my way through learning some Alice in Chains acoustic songs on my Breedlove Discovery Concertina SB, the first guitar I bought and only steel string acoustic I ever owned or played. Wondering if maybe I should see what another acoustic feels like, I wandered into one of my local Guitar Centers, and I bought a new guitar on the spot after trying maybe a dozen different guitars.
I bought a Taylor Academy 12e.
It’s not pretty. It is their bare bones entry level guitar, so there are no cosmetic frills. This thing is super comfortable and much easier to play. The action is lower. The neck is perfect, and it has a beveled edge they call an armrest that fits right into my right elbow removing the corner that’s there on most all other acoustic guitars digging into the forearm while strumming. I attached the best image I could find online of this beveled edge.
This was the rare thing where I was actually a better player thanks to a new guitar all from getting something much easier to play. The Taylor was about twice the price of the Breedlove, but this was money well spent.
I highly recommend this Taylor for anyone who isn’t happy with their current acoustic. This is not a paid ad, but I can be bought. Send me money and/or guitars, Taylor!
Happy NGD, Troy. I have a Taylor Academy 10, a forerunner of the 12 series. You will get much enjoyment out of your 12e for many years to come. As you have discovered, the Academy series provides amazing sound and playability at a reasonable price. The ‘armrest’ is finally starting to show up on some of the builder’s edition higher end models. Love that armrest!
Happy NGD Troy, yep the Academy series are nice guitars they punch well above the price!
Enjoy it and savour the difference between it and your other one!
I bought a Yamaha FG700S on amazon back in 2013 with the intention of trying to learn guitar. I messed around for a couple of weeks and then it sat there until this past December when I decided to actually give it a try. A few weeks ago, I went to Guitar Center in search of a new guitar that just felt better. They had some sales going on and I came home with an Alvarez guitar for about $300 or so. Immediately regretted it when I got home and went back with the intention of buying a Martin. My goal was to stay at about $500 and they had a Martin on sale that felt pretty good. Ended up talking with a salesman about my goals and my big hands and he said I should try the Talyor 12e. I tried it in the store and it felt great. He asked what my budget was and I told him and he said he could sell it to me for $540 (it’s $699 there and everywhere online). I bought it and absolutely love it. Came with a really nice bag as well. It just feels great. It’s very forgiving as well.
