Taylor GS Mini Comparison - Spruce vs Mahogany vs Koa

Sam's here with our acoustic expert, Meg, from our Portsmouth store and in this video they will be showing you a tonal comparison of 3 different Taylor GS Mini's! Featuring the Spruce, Mahogany and Koa models.

All featured models can be found here:

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[tonyzuccaro]

I have been dragging my gs min koa around the US on my trips for over 3 years. ( airline pilot). My guitar has probably over 100 k travel miles on it. Great guitar.

[lizah.]

I have the mahogany and I am just absolutely in love with this little guitar. It really holds it own. Another really nice perk is the wood is so strong! I had moved my guitar out of the way (or so I thought) so it would be safe and my husband wound up detouring his path and knocking it to the floor in the middle of the night. I heard a big "smash" as it fell on our wooden floor and I cringed knowing I would find a bunch of dents and scratches on the guitar in the morning. I was too afraid to look! When I got up, I inspected the whole thing, and there was not one scratch! I can''t believe how durable it is! And it is a beautiful and unique looking instrument. The wood on the sides shimmers in the sunlight. It is just magical in every way.

[alexnismachin]

The first YouTube comparison I can really hear the difference among them.
Congratulations!

[scottm]

I think the Mahogany is the best overall sound for this guitar in my opinion. Koa is second best (first for looks), and lastly the Spruce.

[sparklesbarbapapa]

This is by far the most useful comparison of the gs minis I’ve watched!

[tommypayne]

Great comparison/review! Not too long, not too short, with a good mix of spoken parts and playing parts. You can really hear the difference between the 3 guitars! I’m torn between the Koa and the Mahogany - I prefer the looks and the sound of the Koa but it’s a bit more expensive than the Mahogany, which still sounds really good…

[robertbossart]

I've got the Koa version. Very nice guitar, especially in this price range.

[normadicn]

I closed my eyes and only opened them when the Mahogany was played. Spruce sounds like every other guitar. Koa is deep and lovely but sounds a bit held back. Mahogany has a sweet tone to it

[FastEddieMandolin]

Great comparison! Well done. Thanks for posting.
That Koa GS Mini is one of the best sounding guitars I have heard...Of any size! The warmth of Mahogany with some added high-mid shimmer, and tons of tonal character.
Top shelf stuff.

[Davman]

This is the best review of these guitars currently on YouTube along with Tony's from the acoustic letter. I bought a Mahogany GS mini, since I was missing a travel guitar from my guitarsenal.

[paulthurston]

I bought my spruce top brand new, 10 years ago. Now it has aged beautifully and is a golden honey color. It knocks the socks off the hog.

[johngallacher]

I went in and tried koa, spruce, walnut and mahogany. I purchased the mahogany.

[stephentyndall]

This guy always plays songs that I loved as a teenager! 🎵 Keep on rocking in a free world! 🎵

[junboscas]

Mahogany's my first choice, Spruce next then Koa. Had a plan on buying a Taylor Guitar, taking me some time searching for demos, nice one guys, thank you.

[ArielsSmartyPants]

The spruce is balanced and even across the band, the mahogany seems extra bright and toppy, the koa somewhere between the two but closer to the mahogany. I'd go Spruce myself.

[JeffLearman]

Koa, by a hair. My friend has the mahogany. It's an awesome guitar, especially for the price, and regardless of the size. It nearly competes with my Martin HD28 gunboat, plus for some tunes the compact size makes fingering easier. The two sound great together. In the demos above I liked the koa best followed by the mahogany, which surprised me because I normally don't prefer mahogany to spruce. The koa was only slightly better than the mahogany, so I'd probably go with the latter given the price difference. Thanks for the post!

[EduarFilms]

Just came back from testing the Spruce, I was really impressed by the sound it makes for such a small guitar! I was not aware that they had 2 other models that sound so different from each other, and every comment here is not helping deciding which guitar is better, need to go test them all!

[HI-LOW]

Meg is the main reason I watch your guys videos, she just does something to my soul.

[TheCleft]

Best comparison on every angle!
My favorite is Mahogany. I own one, and I've been seduced by its warm tone. Spruce is definitly too bright. Koa could have been the perfect match but it only comes in electric model (so higher price) and the tone a a bit brighter than mahogany.

But a taylor mahogany guitar sounds always brighter than any other brand in my opinion, and after several tests I can say that it sounds between traditional mahogany guitars and traditional spruce guitars.

[ronbergsma]

Ended up getting a KOA just a beautiful warm tone .... and I love it! With the pick up, it sounds great with an decent amp too. (And the appearance is a bonus but that wasn't my reason for the purchase). Having said that, the word is still: Never buy unless you've tried it, since apparently all KOAs vary in tone.