Guitars
Taylor GS Mini vs Little Martin
The two small guitars everybody shortlists. One is a shrunken full-size design, the other was drawn small on purpose, and they behave differently because of it.
By Sawyer V. · Published · Last updated
These two dominate the small-guitar conversation, and the comparison is more interesting than most because they were designed from opposite directions.
The GS Mini is a full-size Taylor shape shrunk down. The Little Martin was drawn as a small guitar from the start, using materials chosen for durability rather than for tone. Everything that follows comes from that.
We have not played either. This is our reading of published specifications and named retailer spec comparisons; the method is on how we pick.
Buy the Martin LX1 Little Martin#ad if the guitar will actually travel: HPL back and sides shrug off humidity and knocks. Buy the Taylor GS Mini#ad if it will mostly live at home and you want the bigger, fuller sound. Both are above beginner budget; neither is a first guitar for a child.
Construction: the whole story
Taylor GS Mini. A scaled-down Grand Symphony body, 23.5 inch scale, with a solid top and layered back and sides. Solid on top is what gives it the sound; layered back and sides keep the price and add some resilience.
Martin LX1. A modified 0-14 fret body, 23 inch scale, with a solid spruce top and mahogany-pattern high-pressure laminate back and sides. HPL is a man-made material that does not move with humidity the way solid wood does.
That difference is the reason to choose. Solid wood sounds better and needs care. HPL sounds less complex and tolerates being treated like luggage.
Size and feel
Half an inch of scale separates them, which is close to nothing. Both are genuinely small instruments that adults can play without hunching, and both are more comfortable than a dreadnought for a smaller player.
The body shapes differ more than the numbers suggest: the GS Mini is deeper and rounder, the LX1 shallower. For a player who found a full-size guitar uncomfortable, either is a relief, and the shape argument in general is in guitar body shapes explained.
Who should buy which
The Little Martin suits the traveler, the camper, the person whose guitar lives in a car, and anyone in a climate with big humidity swings who does not want to think about a humidifier.
The GS Mini suits the adult who wants a small guitar for the sofa, the player with a bad back or small frame, and anyone who wants the most sound available from a small body.
Neither suits a first-time buyer on a beginner budget. Both cost considerably more than our floor, and the honest entry-level options are in best beginner acoustic guitars.
The rest of the small-guitar field, including cheaper options, is in best travel guitars, and the cross-instrument version of the travel question is in best instruments for travel.
What we would buy
Taylor GS Mini
TaylorBest for: A travel guitar you would play at home
A scaled-down Grand Symphony body on a 23.5 inch scale. It is the travel guitar people stop treating as a travel guitar, because it sounds like a full instrument.
Published specifications
- Scale length:
- 23.5"
- Body:
- Grand Symphony Mini — scaled-down Grand Symphony
- Top:
- Solid (wood varies by model — koa, mahogany, spruce)
- Back and sides:
- Layered
- Strings:
- Steel
What it gets right
- Noticeably louder and fuller than smaller travel guitars — the extra body depth does real work
- Solid top across the range rather than laminate
- 23.5 inch scale is short enough to be comfortable and long enough to keep string tension feeling normal
- Layered back and sides are far more tolerant of temperature and humidity swings than solid wood
Where it gives ground
- The most expensive guitar in this group by a wide margin
- Larger than a true travel guitar — it will not disappear into hand luggage
- Top wood and electronics vary by model, so 'GS Mini' alone does not tell you what you are buying
- A short scale still means slightly slacker strings than a full-size dreadnought
What it is not good at
Being knocked about. The layered back and sides help, but this is a real instrument with a solid top and a price to match — the Yamaha JR1 is the one to leave in a car.
How the specs score against a beginner’s needs
Scores are our reading of the published specifications above against what a beginner physically needs. They are not test results — we have not played this instrument.
Specifications from Guitar Chalk — Taylor GS Mini vs Martin LX1E published spec comparison, Sam Ash — GS Mini vs Little Martin spec comparison.
Martin LX1 Little Martin
MartinBest for: The one that actually travels
A 23 inch scale on a purpose-designed small body with HPL back and sides. The laminate is the feature: it shrugs off the temperature and humidity swings that ruin solid-wood guitars in transit.
Published specifications
- Scale length:
- 23"
- Body:
- Modified 0-14 fret, no cutaway — designed small rather than scaled down
- Top:
- Solid spruce
- Back and sides:
- Mahogany pattern HPL (high-pressure laminate)
- Strings:
- Steel
What it gets right
- HPL back and sides are close to indifferent to humidity and heat — the single best reason to take this one on a trip
- Solid spruce top, so it still sounds like wood rather than like plastic
- Smaller and lighter than the GS Mini
- Designed from the ground up as a small guitar rather than shrunk from a big one
Where it gives ground
- Quieter and thinner-sounding than the GS Mini — less body means less bass
- HPL looks like laminate up close, because it is
- 23 inch scale makes the strings noticeably slacker, which some players dislike
- Still not cheap for what is a second guitar for most buyers
What it is not good at
Being your only guitar. It is a genuinely good small instrument and it gives up low end to be one, which you will hear the moment you sit next to a full-size dreadnought.
How the specs score against a beginner’s needs
Scores are our reading of the published specifications above against what a beginner physically needs. They are not test results — we have not played this instrument.
Specifications from Guitar Chalk — Taylor GS Mini vs Martin LX1E published spec comparison, Sam Ash — GS Mini vs Little Martin spec comparison.
Questions people actually ask
Which is the better travel guitar?
The Little Martin, if travel means airports, car boots and campsites. Its back and sides are high-pressure laminate, which tolerates humidity swings and knocks far better than solid wood. The GS Mini is the better-sounding guitar to own at home.
Which sounds bigger?
The GS Mini, generally. It is a scaled-down version of Taylor’s Grand Symphony body, so it keeps more of a full-size guitar’s proportions and produces more volume and low end than its size suggests.
Is HPL a downgrade?
For tone, yes, relative to solid wood. For durability, it is the point: laminate does not crack when the air dries out. On a guitar meant to travel, that trade is defensible rather than a corner cut.
Are these good first guitars?
They are good guitars that happen to be small, and both cost well above our floor for a beginner instrument. If the small size is for a child, cheaper 3/4 options exist — see best guitars for kids.
Do either come with a case?
Both are commonly sold with a gig bag rather than a hard case, and the specifics vary by retailer and model year. Check the listing rather than assuming, because on a guitar that travels the bag matters.
Still deciding?
Every recommendation on this site is built the same way, and the method is published in full — including what we do not do and what would get a pick dropped.
Read next
- Best travel guitars
Scale length versus body volume, why laminate is a feature on a travel guitar, and three picks from carry-anywhere to sounds-like-a-real-guitar.
- Best beginner acoustic guitars: solid tops from $200 to $350
Solid versus laminate tops, the dreadnought body-size problem, and picks for adults and children separately.
- Solid top or laminate for a first acoustic?
What a solid top does that a laminate cannot, when laminate is the smarter buy, and how to tell which one you are looking at.
- Guitar body shapes, and which one fits you
What dreadnought, concert, parlor and jumbo actually change, and how to pick a shape by your body rather than by the sound.
- Best instruments for travel
Durability over tone, what airlines and climates do to wooden instruments, and four instruments that genuinely travel.