Taylor GS Mini-E Mahogany

104
Guitarist summer 2016
review
TRAVEL GUITAR ROUND-UP
TRAVEL GUITAR ROUND-UP£259 to £645
Faith
Nomad Mini-Neptune Electro
Similar in size and style to the GS Mini, the
trimmer-priced Faith is our only all-solid
guitar here, although the mahogany is
paler and less striped than our Taylor. The
unbound edges are a little sharp, but it’s no
deal breaker; likewise, those fingerboard
edges. The fingerboard is edge-bound,
which looks very tidy, and the frets are
a larger medium gauge. Decoration is
minimal with just that 12th fret ‘F’ inlay and
a bound abalone rosette. Internally, we have
spruce X-bracing and conventional kerfed
linings (unlike Taylor’s more hi-tech and
thinner linings), while the truss rod (like the
Taylor) is adjustable at the head. The neck is
three-piece, but the head-splice falls lower
on the neck and, consequently, is more
visible, while the tuners do look a little big
with their large full-size buttons.
Vintage
Viator USB Paul Brett Signature
If the Taylor, Faith and Martin all appear
quite modern, our petite Vintage – the
smallest guitar on review in terms of scale
length and body size – seems to have
dropped back a century in style. It looks like
the sort of thing you might see on Antiques
Roadshow, so we’re not sure whether to play
or put it on display. Hopefully, you’ll chose
the former, because it’s very fit-for-purpose
and really nicely made. The herringbone
purfling and maple edge binding give it
a classy ‘finished’ appearance, and even
the dark brown ‘antique’ finish not only
Taylor
GS Mini-e Mahogany
They’re always beautifully clean – if Taylor
has made a bad guitar, we’ve yet to see it.
There’s lovely striping to the mahogany
top that’s only marginally less detailed on
the back and sides. It’s unbound, but the
edges don’t feel unfinished, and there’s a
crisp purfling around the top edge with
simple multi-band soundhole decoration.
Internally, we have spruce X-bracing, but
due to the laminated arched back there are
no back braces. Small details such as the
rounded fingerboard edges and perfectly
fettled frets add quality to the feel. The neck
is three-piece and perfectly jointed.
Martin
LX1E Little Martin
Another hugely tidy build, the LX1E is again
unbound and the top’s chamfered edge
creates a rather thick-looking impression
that looks a little unfinished against the
Taylor. Conversely, the multi-piece neck
feels more finished and less open-pored
and the fret work and rounded fingerboard
edges give a great feel. The material may
be man-made, but the fingerboard and
bridge look like dense ebony, while the
dark-hued HPL back and sides ape a dark,
rich mahogany with the back’s central
core material giving a dark binding line,
which evokes a classy feel. This one has
a conventionally braced back and – with
less decoration, no position markers to the
fingerboard face and just a single five-band
rosette – does look a little austere.
M
akers large and small usually
like to attach the ‘travel’ label
to shorter-scaled instruments
typically downsized from the standard body
sizes – dreadnought, jumbo and so on – that
we play every day. They’re presumably
intended to pack in a plane’s overhead
compartment or, more likely, a car boot
stuffed with camping equipment and kids/
mates – and unless you’re very lucky, you’re
going to use that guitar for a couple of
weeks a year. Hardly essential, then.
But today’s ‘travel’ guitar is way more than
that. Perfect as a kick-about house guitar,
very handy for practice (not least for those
younger, start-up players), songwriting and
recording, a small-scaled guitar can have
numerous uses. They’re ideal platforms for
Nashville high-strung tuning if you want
to record a delicate, ethereal rhythm track,
for example. Add in a pickup and it’s stage-
and open-mic ready. Above all, it offers the
player a different voice.
Choice is wide: from Martin’s Little
Martin, Taylor’s Baby or, as here, GS Mini,
through to new additions such as Faith’s
recently released Nomad, and the Paul
Brett-designed Vintage Viator that comes
with a USB output for easy ‘around the
campfire’ recording and songwriting.
So, valid instruments or merely
something for the weekend? Let’s find out.
GIT410.rev_travel.indd 104 7/6/16 7:28 PM