GS Mini: Spruce v. Mahogany v. Koa v. Engelmann

[jeanray1113]

Originally Posted by billder99 View Post
My Holden story is a fun one. I have a good friend, female singer, who is learning to play guitar... she had a really crappy Baby Taylor, was dreaming of a GS Mini. I organized 11 of our friends, we all pitched in $50 each... I actually drove to Taylor in El Cajon (we were then living 700 miles south of San Diego).

I explained that this was a group gift to a very special person... Taylor set me in a private room playing all the GS Minis for hours. As stated, I can't tell any tonal difference between them except for the Holden Village Mini... distinctly different voice and wonderful smell, very beautiful maple B&S.

I bought one of the last 2 HV Mini's! We gifted to our friend Jill for her birthday... lots of tears. She loves the guitar and it has inspired her in every way.


Beautiful story. We should all be so blessed to have such a wonderful group of friends!

[LisaT]

Actually...and this is verifiable...the last 25 HV's were sent to HV for direct sale. I know, as I have one.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

[LisaT]

I also want to add that a great bulk of those 200+ yo Engelmann Spruce were lost in the 3-4 month long wildfires around Lake Chelan. Very sad.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

[DaveJTR]

My ears have changed. Went from preferring Mahogany when I created this thread to Koa.

[Steelhead]

I’ve owned Koa, Spruce and a few years ago, I bought quite a few “Holden Village “ GS Mini Guitars directly from the folks at Holden Village Lutheran center. I called to see if they had heard of anywhere I could get one. They told me how many they had and I bought them all, brand new in the box, that Taylor had given them. I sampled all of them and they were all very different. Some Loud, some deader than others. I picked a couple out and sold the rest. Sent one into Taylor and had them replace everything with 510s, new ivory Saddle, nut and bridge pins, ES 1.5. They loved that I would spend the money to allow them “Hot-Rod’” their little guitar. The Engelmann Spruce, in my experience, on a GS Mini, makes for a sweet little guitar.

[Greenstar]

I have a spruce / rosewood on back-order that was part of Taylor's $99 deal when I bought my 414ce Custom. After reading this I may change my order to the mahogany model. I have several spruce / rosewood guitars but I just sold my Martin 000 -15 and already miss that tone.

I haven't played either model for any reference, I just had them throw in the spruce / rosewood on a whim. For the folks with experience with the GS Mini does the mahogany stand out as a superior guitar tone wise? The sound clips I have been able to hear on YouTube seem to lean me towards the mahogany but it's tough to trust what you hear after YouTube squashes the bandwidth.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

[Laynej37]

Originally Posted by Steelhead

I’ve owned Koa, Spruce and a few years ago, I bought quite a few “Holden Village “ GS Mini Guitars directly from the folks at Holden Village Lutheran center. I called to see if they had heard of anywhere I could get one. They told me how many they had and I bought them all, brand new in the box, that Taylor had given them. I sampled all of them and they were all very different. Some Loud, some deader than others. I picked a couple out and sold the rest. Sent one into Taylor and had them replace everything with 510s, high-end everything. They loved that I would spend the money to allow them “Hot-Rod’” their little guitar. The Engelmann Spruce, in my experience, on a GS Mini, makes for a sweet little guitar.

Do you have any pictures of this “hot rod” gs mini. I would love to see it

[Toucan]

I purchased a Koa model in December. I used a ToneRite on it for about 2 weeks at about 8 hrs a day. That little box has now become my "Desert Island" guitar.

[Rpt50]

I own a spruce, but prefer the mahogany model I bought my son by a bit. The Koa version has no sonic appeal to me compared to the others, but it does look really nice. I have not tried an Engleman.

Interestingly, while it is very easy to hear the tonal differences between the types when you are playing them, they are surprisingly difficult to distinguish by sound alone from across a room (12-14 feet) in a blind test.

[Elvina]

Owned both spruce top and Koa,my son has played the koa a lot and it is easily my favourite now. I gave hime the spruce version a while back and that is also very good.

[Dbone]

As much as I think I like the Engelmann on my Yamaha, like most single elements of a guitar, I’m always reluctant to zero in on just it. A guitar’s success is the sum of is parts/build. You could say you are an Adirondack guy or an Engelmann guy and find terrible guitars with each, so I find myself questioning the usefulness of these sorts of discussions a lot of the time...

Like a lot of topics though we guitar folks don’t necessarily need something be useful to have some fun and enjoyment discussing

[27R]

Tried all of them (except the HV obvs!) a few years back. This was when ES-2s were still standard, before they changed to ES-B. Not sure if anything else changed, but just noting that for reference.

The Koa and the mahogany were honestly a dead heat - both excellent - sounded a little bit different but not in a better/worse way. I chose the Koa ultimately for the visual appeal, so that's the way I voted, but the mahogany is a sonic peer for sure so definitely worth going either direction.

Note: since then I sold the Mini in favour of an electric guitar I really had to have, but I do miss playing it some days, it was a perfect little couch acoustic for writing/practicing/idle strumming.

[DaveJTR]

Originally Posted by Greenstar

I have a spruce / rosewood on back-order that was part of Taylor's $99 deal when I bought my 414ce Custom. After reading this I may change my order to the mahogany model. I have several spruce / rosewood guitars but I just sold my Martin 000 -15 and already miss that tone.

I haven't played either model for any reference, I just had them throw in the spruce / rosewood on a whim. For the folks with experience with the GS Mini does the mahogany stand out as a superior guitar tone wise? The sound clips I have been able to hear on YouTube seem to lean me towards the mahogany but it's tough to trust what you hear after YouTube squashes the bandwidth.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

There is an appreciable difference between the spruce topped Mini and mahogany topped Mini regarding sound. If you miss the 00015 tone, then the mahogany Mini might fill that void. The spruce is still good, no doubt. But the mahogany is appreciably warmer and not as harsh, for lack of a better word.

[Greenstar]

Originally Posted by DaveJTR

There is an appreciable difference between the spruce topped Mini and mahogany topped Mini regarding sound. If you miss the 00015 tone, then the mahogany Mini might fill that void. The spruce is still good, no doubt. But the mahogany is appreciably warmer and not as harsh, for lack of a better word.

I really appreciate your input, thank you. I think I'm going to head over to one of the local stores tomorrow and play the mahogany they show as in stock. With all the spruce / rosewood guitars I have that mahogany will fill a nice void.

[Steelhead]

Originally Posted by Laynej37

Do you have any pictures of this “hot rod” gs mini. I would love to see it

I found three pics. Funny,I took dozens of pics of the ones I sold, almost none of the one I was going to keep “forever’. Sold it to a gigging musician who fell in love at first sight. I miss it :-(. Not much to see. I originally sent to Taylor to have them fix a dent in the top, I was playing with a group of friends, I turned quickly, right into a corner of a metal desk. I was sick. Sent to Taylor and I just kept adding things to it. Ivory saddle, nut, ebony pins 510s gold, ES1.5 pickup. Oh well.