Taylor GS Mini

I'm a bit of a gear head, in everything, so I do my homework before spending money. Following comprehensive research on the Interwebs, I bought a Taylor A12e as my student guitar. It works really well, with a clean sound, but it lacks soul, personality, doesn't really get me excited. So I'm considering switching to another guitar. Since I'm thrifty, I buy used. Contenders are:

1) Taylor 314ce

2) Taylor GS Mini Koa

3) Martin 000-15 (maybe even the 12-fret)

All of these I can get gently used for around $1K. If I sell my A12e for $450, my additional investment is about $550.

Generally speaking, all of these guitars have a proven track record and play well. However, some voices telling the world that the GS Mini is not a good choice as a beginner's guitar as it's simply smaller (nut, scale, etc.) At this time I should probably mention that I'm 6'6" with big hands and fingers and there's no way for me to play a clean A chord with 3 fingers on 3 strings. Luckily I learned that there are 7 ways to play an A chord, and I can pull it off pretty nicely with index and middle finger alone.

Your thoughts and input are appreciated.

With hands, fingers and arms of your extreme proportions, I really think you should try to have a hands on before choosing, just as someone at the other end of the size spectrum should.

Personally, I think advantage of greater choice in what's available goes to you. Single finger (or two barre) A is perfect if you also enjoy the flexibility to avoid inadvertently muting the E string.

I reckon that Taylor 314CE would be enticing for me, if it fitted my budget. ✔ But it doesn't. ✖ 😭

Went to the Guitar Center today to check out their inventory. None of the Martins in my price range rocked my boat, not even the 000-15M Streetmaster, which is over my budget. They didn't have a Taylor GS Mini in stock, but they had 114ce, 214ce, 214ce-DLX, 314ce, 414ce 614ce, and 814ce (one of my dream guitars; if it's good enough for Lindsey Buckingham, it's good enough for me).

Based on that, I'm seriously considering buying a used 314ce that's currently on Reverb (from a guy who upgraded to an 814ce, no less), but I'm still not 100% sure yet.

Got lucky on eBay yesterday and got a 2001 Taylor 414ce without electronics. I always assumed that such a guitar would be a 414c (no "e") then, but Taylor confirmed that it was ordered that way and it is factory

labeled 414ce. Never seen one before, but reportedly they do exist.

It wasn't as cheap as I was hoping for ($913.25 plus $50 shipping), but given that it will continue to age without being outdated -- the main advantage of having no electronics in an acoustic -- it will probably stay with me for a very long time, so I'm quite happy with it.

Nice!

IME onboard amplification be it integral or soundhole isn't a difficult fit for anyone handy if you eventually decide you want to, with the benefit you get to choose what you want to go with.