Taylor GS Mini-E Mahogany

105
summer 2016 Guitarist
reviewTRAVEL GUITAR ROUND-UP
1. The Taylor GS Mini’s
mahogany top has a
lovely striping that
serves to enhance the
elegant, simplistic vibe
1
suits the style but is very nicely and evenly
applied. Okay, the bridge does seem a little
clunky and sharp-edged, but string spacing
is full-width, while the wood-bound
fingerboard is nicely edge-rounded and the
frets mirror-polished. The neck appears to
be three-piece (it’s harder to see the joins
under the finish), and that slotted head and
those smooth open-geared Grover tuners
are highly functional and very classy.
Sounds
Few guitar players will fail to engage with
the GS Mini. Like all our guitars, you have to
get used to the condensed scale length, but
with a really comfortable neck that’s very
slightly V’d in lower positions, the Taylor’s
unplugged sound is expansive with more
bass than many full-size parlours. It’s very
balanced, too, both in the way it sits on your
lap and its sound. There’s a lovely intimacy
(though not huge projection, of course)
that makes any style a pleasure, from Latin
fingerstyle to rockier strummed rhythms.
This is going to be a hard act to follow…
Or maybe not. The Little Martin does feel
a little more industrial, but from the first
strum its more conventional spruce-top
voice has us captivated. If you’re a classic
Martin fan, this is just miniaturised with
a lovely crisp-edged voice. It might lack
a little of the GS Mini’s low end, but we
Few guitar players
will fail to engage
with the GS Mini.
There’s a lovely
intimacy that
makes any style
a pleasure
GIT410.rev_travel.indd 105 7/6/16 7:28 PM