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Old 01-13-2011, 01:11 PM
nimffish nimffish is offline
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Default Completely New to Guitars and this Site

58 year old and going to try and learn to play some. Looking at the Taylor Big Baby or the Taylor 110. Willing to invest the extra if needed to start.
I'll start with the guitar question first. Good choice? More questions to come I'm sure. Hope I can handle it.

Thanks in Advance to Your Responceses
Pat
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Old 01-13-2011, 01:21 PM
L20A L20A is offline
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Both are good choices. The 110 is full size and has a bigger sound.
The neck on the 110 is also nicer and for me, easier to play.
I owned a Big Baby and while it was a nice guitar, I like the full Dred size better.
Both of the guitars that you are looking at have a solid spruce top and laminated sides and back.
This doesn't hurt the guitar but it makes it cheeper to build.

There are a lot of good guitars out there right now.
You could get very confused with all the choices.
I don't think that many of them would be a better guitar than the 110 but I do hear a lot of love for the Silver Creek guitars offered through Musician"s Friend.
These guitars are all solid wood and very good values.
The only set back to one is that you have to order it and have it sent to you.
You can probably buy a Taylor locally.

Once you get the guitar you want, stay with playing it. You will have many days that you will think that it's just not worth the effort but it is.
You will get over that hump in a short time and a lot sooner if you take lessons.

Best of luck to you,
L-20A
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Old 01-13-2011, 01:28 PM
TwoMartinMan TwoMartinMan is offline
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Hi, Pat. And welcome. You'll find lots of friendly advice and information here.
As far a learning tool goes, either the Taylor Big Baby or the 110 will do fine. There are lots of important dimensions that help make any guitar what it is. Some of the most important are scale length and fretboard size and, basically, both of these guitars are the same (long scale 25.5" and 1 11/16" nut width). The body size of the Big Baby is a tad smaller than the 110, but that might make it more comfortable for you to play.
Taylor makes quality instruments. You can't really go wrong with either one of these. Choose the one that feels right in your hands.
There are thousands of guitars out there. My advice would be not to get too hung up on which one to choose. You'll end up spending more time and energy on choosing rather than learning and playing, which is most important. With either the Big Baby or the 110, you will be well on your way.

Enjoy.
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Old 01-13-2011, 01:40 PM
DrBromiAndufEwd DrBromiAndufEwd is offline
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Welcome!

Either of those guitars would be a fine choice (my personal preference would be for the 110) Before you buy, can you spend some time in a local shop? (big box or otherwise) If you know someone who plays, it would be good to take them along and let them play some guitars around your budget and get their opinions of the feel (since you arent likely to really know what a guitar should feel like) and then you can make your own judgment on the sound.

Again though, you probably cant go wrong with a Taylor.
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Old 01-13-2011, 01:49 PM
slimey slimey is offline
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I hope you have a lot of fun with it.
Don't forget to look into the used market, might be able to find a nice all wood instrument in the same price range as a 110. But the 110's a great place to start, certainly not an instrument that would hold you back.
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Old 01-13-2011, 01:57 PM
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Welcome to the club, Pat
Nice place.
NIce people.
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Old 01-13-2011, 02:11 PM
Jim Jim is offline
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A Big Baby or 110 would be a reasonable place to start, but my suggestion is that you may want to either buy a used guitar or also consider other student model acoustics like the Martin X series or Blueridge (any of their models), Alvarez (any model), Fender (any model), Guild GAD (any model), Seagull (any model), Takamine (any model), Yamaha (any model), - there is not much of a difference in quality, playability, and sound among these especially if you get one with a solid spruce top.

Stay away from Ovation, Recording King, Esteban, local store brands like Rogue, etc. and other off brands.

Once you have decided whether guitar playing is for you, then you should consider stepping up from a student model guitar to an entry level professional quality acoustic made of high grade solid tonewoods, but for that you will be looking at a much higher price since you would be starting with something like a Taylor 300 series or higher, a Larrivee 3 series or higher, a Martin 18 series or higher, etc.

I would also suggest that you try to limit the number of trade-ins/steps up in quality along the way as you will loose money on selling your old guitar and buying your upgrade guitar on each step on the way up and in the long run you will have more cash in your pocket by going for the best quality you can afford and developing your playing skill up to that guitar. Also, compared to other musical instruments of comparable professional quality, guitars are dirt cheap. Think about the cost to own a $2500 guitar over 10 years and it comes out to 68 cents a day.
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Old 01-13-2011, 02:12 PM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Hi Pat, welcome to the forum! I think the Taylor 110 is a good choice. Good luck with making the plunge!

- Glenn
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Old 01-13-2011, 02:19 PM
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Another warm AGF welcome, Pat. Good to have you with us. You'll get lots of good advice, as you can already see. TwoMartinMan, I think, had some very wise words.
Quote:
Originally Posted by TwoMartinMan View Post
...either the Taylor Big Baby or the 110 will do fine... My advice would be not to get too hung up on which one to choose. You'll end up spending more time and energy on choosing rather than learning and playing, which is most important. With either the Big Baby or the 110, you will be well on your way.

Enjoy.
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Old 01-13-2011, 02:23 PM
imwjl imwjl is offline
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Welcome.

My advice is concentrate on an instrument that is set up well before brand.

I often broadcast this link for a shop that's probably nowhere near you, they don't sell online, but it illustrates the value and importance of setup. A full service shop will have other good guidance for starting out.

When an instrument has the attention illustrated here it will be easier to play and sound its best. It's not something the department and chain stores typically offer.

http://www.sprucetreemusic.com/settingup.html

Enjoy and good luck.
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Old 01-13-2011, 02:33 PM
MartinOM28V MartinOM28V is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim View Post
Stay away from Ovation, Recording King, Esteban, local store brands like Rogue, etc. and other off brands.
y.
Opinions differ. Many of us on this forum would not consider Recording King am off brand. They are making outstanding guitars. So don't put too much stock in what anyone here says and spend some time browsing the forum and you'll learn a lot in no time about what guitars to keep on your short list. Welcome to the forum.
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Old 01-13-2011, 02:41 PM
bluesbassdad bluesbassdad is offline
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Welcome!

Are you planning to take lessons? If so, then picking a teacher may be important than picking your first guitar. (Find one who is interested in what you want to accomplish and who makes you feel comfortable.) Besides he or she can help you with the selection process.

Consider asking your teacher if you can show up for your first lesson without a guitar of your own. If you can use the teacher's, you'll at least have some basis for comparison. Perhaps the teacher could even accompany you to the guitar shop where you plan to buy.
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Old 01-13-2011, 02:52 PM
kente777 kente777 is offline
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Welcome to the forum, Pat!

I would also look at the 114. Same series as the 110, but, IMHO, a more comfortable guitar to hold. I think it's also the same price.
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Old 01-13-2011, 04:36 PM
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Based on absolutely nothing, I'll make some fairly specific recommendations.

First, get a full-scale instrument (in other words, not a guitar with shorter strings intended for travel) but one with a relatively small body. This means avoid a dreadnought and look for maybe something like an OM-sized guitar. they're easier on old shoulders (I'll be 64 next month) and have a great sound.

Go play some guitars, even if you can't play. Go to a guitar shop and get up close and personal with some guitars. Don't be embarrassed about being a beginner. When I first started out, I imagined that more seasoned players were annoyed if I tried to play in a shop. Now that I'm a bit less of a beginner, I actually really enjoy seeing a new player trying stuff out (except perhaps for someone wailing away on an electric through an amp set at 11).

Determine how much you can afford to spend and get as good a guitar as your budget will allow. Yes, you can learn on an inexpensive guitar. When I was 20, I didn't have the resources to get an expensive guitar and I had many decades ahead of me to try different guitars and upgrade over time. (As it happens, I gave up guitar and just returned to it a few years ago). Now, I'm in my 60s and don't have all that many years of guitar enjoyment left -- maybe 20 if I'm lucky? So, I don't want to mess with guitars that I don't really enjoy. Your mileage may vary but give this some thought before assuming that an inexpensive choice is the best place to start.

Be patient and expect frustration. You will be convinced that you simply cannot learn to play. Everyone experiences this at some point. It's not true. Persist and progress will come, sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly.

Have fun. That's the whole point.
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Old 01-13-2011, 04:54 PM
zmf zmf is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nimffish View Post
58 year old and going to try and learn to play some. Looking at the Taylor Big Baby or the Taylor 110. Willing to invest the extra if needed to start.
I'll start with the guitar question first. Good choice? More questions to come I'm sure. Hope I can handle it.

Thanks in Advance to Your Responceses
Pat
Pat,

Probably very important that you have someone who's been playing guitar a while to help you shop. They can give advice on the playability of the guitar, which is of course significant when you're starting out.

The suggestion of a Taylor GA, or x14 size guitar is one I'd agree with. I'd suggest strumming the GA models, seeing which has a tone that sounds good to you, and perhaps buy used if your choice is more than to spend new.

But maybe this is too specific a suggestion?
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