Baby Taylor for my niece? Advice on accessories and string gauge

[Munich_ghoul]

Hello everyone,


Since I’ll be getting a free baby Taylor along with my 414CE-R, I was thinking about gifting my niece the baby for her school enrolment next year (I already own a BT2).

She will be seven by then and has expressed a big interest in guitars since she was about 4-5 years old.

I’ve already read about kids and guitars on the internet and of course the sites often advise to start with a classical guitar, so it had me thinking if the baby would actually be the right choice for a first instrument.

On the plus side I’ve gathered the following:

- I’ll only pay more money for the accessories (don’t get me wrong here, I am considering buying another instrument but not sure yet)
- the overall quality is great, and so is the tone for a small instrument
- comfortable to play for smaller hands
- robust gig bag included
- wide range of musical styles

On the other hand...

- steel strings vs young and small hands

Yes, it’s only one thing against giving her the baby, but it may be that she’d lose interest quick and then the beautiful guitar would only sit in the corner...

So my question is: does anyone here have experience with kids playing the baby Taylor as a beginner’s instrument?

I was also thinking of making the whole thing a “care free” package with the following put into the gig bag:

- a capo (original Taylor capo or a G7th)
- a tuner (a simple one that’s easy to use for a child)
- a microfibre cloth for dust removal
- a variety of picks (light - medium)
- an additional set of strings
- a note book for learning how to write down and read music

and a guitar stand along with it.

Is there anything else you would add so she got everything to start right away?
Which string gauge would you recommend for a child? I was thinking about elixir light to make a compromise between playability and sound.

Also, my sister was very happy to hear about my idea and would gladly pay my niece lessons.

Thank you for reading and I hope to hear from you soon!

- Toska

[Frettingflyer]

At 7 I think anything will be big, but kids adjust. My son has had an interest off and on but has been playing more lately now that he can play my guitars reasonably comfortably. It looks like a great gift, and lord knows she is more likely to keep playing if she has a quality instrument with not too high of action and a good sound when you play it right. I like the idea of including the extra’s so all she needs is lessons. Let’s hope it leads to a lifetime of playing music.

[beachbum205]

I also got the BOGO order and I’m looking at doing the same thing for my granddaughter who is seven also. Right now she has the interest, but I’m not sure she has the attention span or patience it takes. I’m teaching her, and we are starting with one finger chords, so we’ll see.

The factory that makes Baby’s is currently closed, due to the pandemic, so it may be a while before it comes. Best of luck to you and your niece. Let us know how it goes.

[Munich_ghoul]

Hello again,

The baby Taylor arrived yesterday (Germany)!
It’s beautiful, it was totally in tune even tho the delivery service left the package in the burning sun on my porch before I came home and I can’t wait for my niece to get into school

Of course I played it a bit and I immediately noticed its action is much lower than on the baby Taylor I own (BT-2 from 2014). Also Taylor made some adjustments on the gig bag, some of them are useful imo, some show that the company also tries to save money in the production process.

Anyway, I’ll bring my BT-2 to a local guitar dealer to get the neck and action adjusted today.

Also, I’ll be bringing the guitar to my niece’s birthday party on June 22nd to play happy birthday for her. That way I can spark interest in her and see if she likes the format of a baby Taylor without knowing about her luck.

Greetings
- Toska

[TaylorGirl]

Hello again,

The baby Taylor arrived yesterday (Germany)!
It’s beautiful, it was totally in tune even tho the delivery service left the package in the burning sun on my porch before I came home and I can’t wait for my niece to get into school

Of course I played it a bit and I immediately noticed its action is much lower than on the baby Taylor I own (BT-2 from 2014). Also Taylor made some adjustments on the gig bag, some of them are useful imo, some show that the company also tries to save money in the production process.

Anyway, I’ll bring my BT-2 to a local guitar dealer to get the neck and action adjusted today.

Also, I’ll be bringing the guitar to my niece’s birthday party on June 22nd to play happy birthday for her. That way I can spark interest in her and see if she likes the format of a baby Taylor without knowing about her luck.

Greetings
- Toska

Let us know how this turns out.

[donlyn]

Hey MG,

Sounds like you have this one going according to plan. But like Susie asked, do please let us know the story as it unfolds. Many of us have kids or grandkids at 'that age', and we can all learn a few things about this from our own and others' kids. And read some nice stories in the process. My granddaughter chose violin, and I think she's a bit of a natural at it. And I also think she's going to be a multi-instrumentalist. Time will tell.

Don

[Munich_ghoul]

Hello again,

As it has been some very troubled times lately, I couldn’t find the time to keep you updated about this topic.

So - to make it short - I’m sorry, and here’s some good news:

I had my family over in the summer (no real pandemic restrictions at that time) and one evening, we all sat by the campfire and I pulled out my BT2 to play a little while everyone was talking and having a good time. My niece sat next to me and got super excited the minute I started playing. She listened the whole time, not engaging in any conversation. At some point I asked if she wanted to hold the guitar for a moment. Her eyes lit up and she put the guitar on her lap with the strings facing up - quite a big instrument for those small hands still - started plucking some random strings and she seemed just like the happiest little girl I’d ever seen in 25 years. She kept doing that for a while, totally lost in the moment and at some point I asked if she wanted a guitar like this on her own. She yelled “YES”, holding a bit tighter on to the BT2. Sounds super cheesy, but I almost dropped a tear at her bold reaction.

I’ll be sure to bring my guitar for Christmas so we can play and sing together (hopefully, if the pandemic doesn’t go super nuts).

Can’t wait to hand her her own first real guitar!   


Thank you for reading still!

-t

[mgap]

That is a great story.  When I read about the reaction of your niece it brought a big smile to my face also. 
There is nothing better than to bring that kind of gift to life of a young person.  It can be a positive life-changing experience for her.  Good for you.

[Ohio Tom]

I never agreed with the idea of having a Classical guitar as a "first".
They are hard to play IMO. I have small hands. A "G" hurts.. A "Bm" is impossible.

I struggled for years with a Classical/Folk guitar as a kid.
It wasn't until I played my first steel string guitar, that I realized I actually had talent.
Life got so much easier with steel strings.

Recommend a light gage string for starters. The loss of tone won't be significant for the beginner.

Great idea as a gift...

I wish someone had done the same for me as a Kid.....

[TaylorGirl]

Such a great ending to the story......nothing better than bringing musical joy to a child. Truly awesome!

[gustavowoltmann]

My niece sat next to me and got super excited the minute I started playing.

Nice one . wish if we could see the reaction of your niece when she tries to play baby taylor first time.

[Munich_ghoul]

Hello everyone,


I know it

[Munich_ghoul]

Addition: my previous post looks like most of what I wrote was cut off. I hope you can see it!

[TaylorGirl]

Beautiful!