I was surprised to see I never did a learning log. So why not start with a new guitar day?
NGD - Taylor 50th Anniversary AD14CE-SB
New to me anyway, purchased from Dave’s Guitar Shop via Reverb.com
my first American-made Taylor, and I couldn’t be happier! After letting it acclimate, I finally got to crack open the case… and wow. This thing sings. Love the Grand Auditorium shape, and the American Dream series vibe is just right—warm, punchy tone with that signature Taylor clarity. Happy to have snagged a 50th anniversary model as well! I think it will complement my Martin D15 very well! OK, I’m going back to drooling now
I bet you are extremely happy right now & with good reason!!! New guitars sure do inspire one to play & have fun!!! I am very excited for you!!!
Enjoy your new “girl”!!!
You can’t go wrong with Taylor (not with Martin either) they are top builds. I have had some acoustic guitars during 55 years but now I only have two Taylors. One 6 -string and a 12 string both Builders Edition and I love them.
I wanted to share a bit about my current gear setup and what I’ve been working on lately. I first joined justinguitar.com about 10 years ago and went through the old-school beginner course. Over the years, I’ve picked up a few of Justin’s songbooks, which I’ve loved playing through, and it’s been amazing to see how far my playing has come, so much thanks to Justin!
Here’s my current guitar lineup:
• Fender Player Series Stratocaster – got this about a year ago, such a versatile axe.
• Epiphone SG Standard (Inspired by Gibson) – my most recent addition, really enjoying the hard rock tones. Actually, it does clean really well too.
• Taylor AD14CE – bought earlier this year. I keep it in its case with humidification packs year-round because it’s all solid wood.
• Johnny Cash Signature Martin – my beloved go-to for acoustic singing. My wife and kids bought me this one for my birthday a couple years ago, so it has special meaning to me.
The Orange crush 20RT is also fairly new. Perfect little amp for my small office. It’s analog, solid state but sounds really good if I do say so myself. I’ve gone back-and-forth with tube amps over the years I think this is a good set up for now.
For the past few years, I’ve mostly been the Johnny Cash singer and strummer around here, but lately I’ve been leaning more into classic / hard rock. I’ve been really enjoying the challenge of playing power chords, rock techniques, and just exploring that classic rock vibe. I’ve been following a bunch of Justin’s videos on this too. Don’t worry—acoustic singing isn’t going anywhere—but I’m loving diving into something new. Actually, it’s really great just to have something new to work on and focus on.
Also, here’s a pic of my songbooks collection, which has been a huge help on my learning journey:
I wanted to share a quick update on my guitar journey. I originally completed Justin’s old Beginners Course years ago, and since then I’ve mostly focused on learning songs and building a repertoire. Recently, as I’ve been expanding my electric guitar collection, I decided it was the perfect time to get back into structured learning again.
I downloaded Justin’s app and started retaking the entire Beginners Course with the goal of moving through fairly quickly (since most of Grade 1 and 2 are a refresher for me in a different format). After that, I plan to dive straight into the Intermediate Modules on the website.
This week I’m finishing up Module 8 at the start of Grade 2, and I realized I never really spent much time on the stuck 3 & 4 chords outside of Big G and Cadd9. It’s been fun to dedicate practice time again instead of just randomly picking up my guitar and playing/singing something.
I’m also working on “Every Rose Has Its Thorn”, which will coincide as song #2 alongside my Rock Songbook Project, so the timing is good!
Looking forward to continuing this structured approach and sharing progress as I go.
Anyone else revisiting the Beginners Course after a break?
