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January 2005
Posts: 167
Location: Waxahachie, Tx | I was just lookin at offerings on the ebay and came across an auction for a Baby Taylor and thought it was actually not a bad deal but the guys story seems to be just as good. Is their an Ovation product similar to compete with the BT I actually think the BT's are nice :D
Baby |
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May 2003
Posts: 4389
Location: Capital District, NY, USA Minor Outlying Islands | You might want to look at one of the trekker guitars. Also, olympia makes a nice instrument called a papoose. Though, strictly speaking it's not a guitar. |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13996
Location: Upper Left USA | Some of my opinions and observations about the "less than full size" guitars and stringed instruments if I may.
Tacoma, and not their offshore brand Olympia, make the Papoose. It was in fact the model that launched Tacoma Guitars with it's non traditional sound and soundhole. the bass bout has a "wing" shaped blowhole. The Papoose has a cedar top and somewhat deep body which makes it sound a lot like a mandolin. It is a an "A" scale guitar. Just like you capoed at the fifth fret.
With hardshell case and electronics expect to spen about $500 used. They have a 12 string unit that I intend to chase down one day!
Olympia put out a solidbody version which has a single seymour Duncan design humbucker. This is a lot of fun. It has an earphone (or PC speaker!) jack for self enjoyment.
Breedlove's offshore make has a "Passport" which is an "A" scale guitar for about $300 new. Haven't played one yet.
Martin's Backpacker is totally useless.
I have an Applause AA12 which is a 1/2 scale roundback. It is OK, not a lot to scream about but rugged and portable.
My aspiration is, folloing the factory Tour, to make my own fiberglass bowl roundback 6/12 doubleneck using Tacoma Papoose Necks.
I advocate that Ovation/Adamas/Hamer need to enter the "A" scale market! |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | I played around with a lot of the minis last week at GC. 2 different Martins, Taylor and Yamaha. The mini Martin (not the backpacker) and Taylor sounded pretty good and played OK, but they weren't much better than the Applause A12 and were lots more fragile, and I only payed $76 for the Applause.
I can't pick up a Taylor anymore without looking at the fingerjointed neck. |
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April 2004
Posts: 13303
Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | Baby Taylor is an excellent sounding guitar for the money. |
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Joined:
January 2005
Posts: 167
Location: Waxahachie, Tx | We'll all points duly noted. My real interest, was how many children this guy has, and how he got them interested into music by using a simple tool such as the baby Taylor. Yeah they are OK, and the applause is probably the best bang for the buck, but what really got me, was how the BT was the Catalyst. makes me wonder. |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 13996
Location: Upper Left USA | On that, I have seen how important it is to introduce beginners to the "right sized" and "not painful" tools of the trade.
Great story! |
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Joined:
December 2003
Posts: 1071
Location: Carle Place, NY | My son's first guitar (at 13) was a Baby Taylor. It was a great little guitar that I probably played more than he did. BT's are well made and sound very good considering the size. They are also somewhat fragile and are easily dinged. What my son didn't like was the utterly plain appearance. From a few feet away a BT could pass for a $75 starter. After a year, I sold it and bought him an 1862 Custom Balladeer. That was the first Ovation that I ever bought. The difference between what I sold the BT for and what I bought the CB for (both on eBay) was about $100.
The differences between the two guitars is huge. The Balladeer has lots more bling, sounds better acoustically, has a cutaway and it's an A/E to boot. From my experience, the Balladeer was a much better guitar playing inspiration to my son than the BT ever was. BT's feel like a very high quality toy guitar. The Balladeer feels like a "real" guitar.
The BT is a great TRAVEL guitar, if that's what you want. Like the other Taylor guitars, they are relatively expensive. For about the price of a BT, you can easily find a used SS Balladeer which IMHO is one of the best guitars for a new young player. |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | If you look in the Gallery,I think there's a picture of my daughter with her new Celebrity Deluxe she got a Christmas. She's a little older than that guy's kids and can handle a full sized guitar, but a full sized box guitar is a little too big. She can't imagine there's a better guitar out there for her. She even did a short open mike performance with it at college.
It has a lot of bling for the money, which was about the same as a BT. It was used and only a year old, so it may have been somebody else's starter guitar that didn't work out. Never can tell what inspires the kids. |
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January 2005
Posts: 167
Location: Waxahachie, Tx | Good Photo, Mark. Nice looking Celeb Deluxe, and Daughter. And for a college student, what could be better. Hope She enjoys it for a lifetime. |
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April 2006
Posts: 2491
Location: Copenhagen Denmark | I`m a total newbee here , so how can I get to that gallery ...Mark ? :) |
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Joined:
March 2005
Posts: 12759
Location: Boise, Idaho | Click on Member Access on the left and go to Photo Gallery. If you don't have the green sidebar on the left, back up to www.ovationfanclub.com and it should show up. Don't ask me anything more technical than that. |
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Joined:
April 2006
Posts: 2491
Location: Copenhagen Denmark | Wow nice guitars Mark , thank you for the help , I`ve gotta get my eldest son to figure out how to make an album for me :) |
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Interesting ! Reading.
