FUQ (eff -yu - cue) - FAQ's with an EDGE

Tagged As: Big Baby Taylor Guitar

Question:
I tried one of these out in the music store and loved it...but it looks really cheap and, because it has no binding, no bracing *at all*, and a bolt-on neck (two screws through the fretboard hold the neck on), I was wondering if it would hold up. I found a couple of horror stories on google about the guitar literally falling apart just a couple of months after purchase, and all the harmony-central stuff was like I've had it a month and don't know how durable it is...but I think it'll hold up. Has anyone here owned one? How did it hold up? I love the feel of the thing (smoothest action out of all the acoustics I've ever played), it's American made, Taylor has a good rep, and it has a great tone for $300, but $300 is still alot of money to spend on a guitar that might not even make it home in one piece

Answer:
I bought a Big Baby in early 2001, mostly for my wife to play. While it is the least-played guitar in my house except for the coming-apart-at-the-seams vintage Guild I keep in a case all the time, the guitar is perfectly reliable. Factory setup stinks (way high action), and it does indeed LOOK like a very cheap guitar, but it's very hardy. If you're looking for a crisp, punchy guitar, then you cannot beat the Big Baby at that price. I fear you've been somewhat misinformed as to the construction. The top IS braced (or at least my 2001 model is). The lack of binding is more of a cosmetic and cost-saving issue than a reliability issue. The neck joint is rock solid, though seeing screw heads in the fretboard does take some getting used to. The neck is also amazingly stiff to be so skinny. My main concerns when buying it were the tuners (which look horribly cheap) and a fear that I would get tired of the guitar's tone. The tuners still work perfectly. The tone is still what it was at day one: very distinctive, very punchy and clear, and not for everyone. It is a pretty unusual sounding guitar, and you should definitely play it before taking it home. That said, I never got tired of the tone. Even though my wife gave up on guitar and the secondary use I had in mind for it also went away, I haven't traded it off or sold it, so it has managed to worm its way into my heart even though I also own three acoustics that are vastly better (and vastly more expensive) guitars.