After a very long string of guitars, both electric and acoustic, I now have an Ibanez PF-40, which is an entry level, all maple dreadnaught that my dad gave me for my birthday in 1992. It was(note tense) a guitar that I learned a lot on, and had a very slender neck, from the fretboard back. That made me develop a Hurculean muscle between my thumb and forefinger, and my left-hand pinch now must be registered as a deadly weapon. That guitar had a life that, between being hoisted into a ceiling fan in Marathon, FL. and dropped down a flight of stairs in college, saw the Blue Ridge Mountains, the Atlantic ocean and pretty much everything around and in between.
My cousin, who lives VERY nearby, adopted a stray dog. But it's not what you think. She allowed this dog to become pregnant on what had to be her first heat by her existing Australian Shepherd, Blue. They had 8 puppies. Or, I should say, WE had 8 puppies, 11 dogs in all(I have a great dog, too). So while dogsitting for some of my pack, they started playfighting, rumbled over to the stand, and long story longer: Broken headstock. Repairable only to the very sentimental and wealthy. I only fit one of those criteria, and not the one that matters. So it sits in it's now tomb of a case in the corner. I just can't put it up in the attic, even though I know it's useless.
So I began guitar shopping. I had a low budget, for various reasons named Nancy, and I travel a lot. Seemed logical to get a travel guitar--I had seen Martin's offering, The Martin BackPacker travel guitar, and it was cool-looking. At the same time, I knew this wasn't going to result in a concert-hall quality sound, but I at least wanted to not sound as if I should be playing at a luau. Time for test drives and research. Two things I'm REALLY good at. And exhaustive, given the time.
I narrowed the search to the BackPacker, the Taylor Baby and the Seagull Grand Parlor Guitar and the Larivee Parlor guitar , until I saw the price. I should say the choices were narrowed for me, because these are really the only contenders in that market. Don't think I haven't made a note of that.
Locating a Seagull where I live was an impossible task, and I wasn't going to buy a guitar I couldn't play, so that was out. I've heard they're very nice, but they only got lukewarm reviews however. There is quite an online debate on this topic-which travel guitar to buy, and the camps seem pretty well divided between the Martins and Taylors. The arguments for a Seagull just weren't compelling enough to go to Atlanta to test drive one, and I would have if more people were raving about them. I was now in the under $400 price range, which seemed steep for a travel guitar that's probably going to see a fair amount of neglect. I had only played the Martin BackPacker at this point. The main problem I had with the Backpacker was that you need to use a strap, and after the novelty of the design wore off I'd start feeling like a Frank Zappa wannabe. Also I don't necessarily want to be approached every time I play it by curious requestors of Jimmy Buffett and James Taylor.
I went to Birmingham and drove a Taylor BT-1, which is the baby with a sapele back, then a BT-2, which is a mahogany back, and was immediately convinced this is what I was looking for, and the price was justified. At the time, Taylor was offering the limited edition BT-3, which is a flamed maple back and sides. I knew I liked the brighter mids of an all maple guitar, so I rolled the dice and ordered one, as there didn't appear to be one for sale within 1000 miles. I learned how these guitars are made, and know Taylor's reputation for quality, so I felt confident I would be pleased.
That's not an abominable snowman holding it for me. It's a giant sheepskin I shipped back from New Zealand over a very old and comfortable (but an eyesore) leather wingback chair. It will eat you, though.
I have owned the guitar for 1 year now and here are my thoughts:
The sound is great for the size. The bass doesn't thunder, of course, but considering the 3/4 size, you get more than some cheap full-sized guitars. The neck is easy to navigate, however, you'll have to relearn how to do bends. The e strings, and b if you're really bending, will slip off the frets. Annoying at first, but you'll learn to work around it. It has bright highs, with the help of Elixir strings, which I've found to be in another league as far as strings go. The mids are bright, due to the maple materials used-mahogany and sapele will sound different, of course.
The guitar has a satin finish, which is great for showing off the maple grain and flame. The rosetta is laser-etched, and is largely unnoticed. There is no pickguard, and I'm seeing quite a bit of wear already. I play a lot, but I have a feeling this thing's going to look like Willie Nelson's remnants of an acoustic guitar by the time we part.
But the guitar is constructed well. It's largely machine made, and all cuts and joints are laser-tight, literally.The hardware seems to be well made, but I'm starting to wonder. My top e string(bass) NEVER stays in tune. I can hear it flipping over the correct note, but it won't keep a perfect "E". I use a KORG Chromatic Tuner CA-30 and it confirms this. I'm going to contact Taylor and see what they say about this. It may just need to have a tune-up done-truss rod adjusted or something(something I don't recommend doing unless you know what you're doing) but I'm always tuning this thing.
Taylor makes a very big deal out of keeping their instruments at a regulated humidity. They're obsessive about it. I also wonder if their instruments are more sensitive to humidity and that's what's causing the frequent re-tunings? Problem is, it's a travel guitar-it's going to be exposed to lots of (and possibly sudden) changes in humidity, depending on where you live. I'm in Alabama, and travel North-South-North a lot, so that's humidity variation for sure, but enough to have to tune the guitar every time I pick it up? Apparently.
Taylor has achieved an admirable feat: they gained a loyal customer. Even with the shortcomings I ponder, for the price and parameters, this is an excellent guitar. It's well-made, nice looking, compact, has a good tone and volume, doesn't need a strap, comes with a gig-bag that is decent, is good for teaching girls on, and comes from a company that believes in quality (even if you have to pay for it). I have played many, many Taylors since buying this guitar and can't wait to upscale. Taylor is a well-run company that makes heirloom instruments. Getting a job there and learning where El Cajon, CA is will be my next challenge.
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