Shape: Big Baby
Top Wood: Sitka Spruce
Back/Side Wood: Layered Walnut
Fretboard Wood: Ebony
Neck Width: 1-11/16"
Taylor Gig Bag Included
The Taylor Big Baby has a simple look but sounds immense! The guitar has
a 7/8th body with a relatively shallow body that along with its slim
neck makes it extremely comfortable. It is the ideal songwriting guitar
to have you all the time and comes with a high quality Taylor Gig bag.
The guitar has a solid spruce top which combined with Taylor's great
bracing gives you a loud, articulate sound ideal for anything from the
most delicate finger style tune to belting out the chords of your
favourite song.
The Big Baby is purely acoustic but if you want to use it as a gigging
instrument we can recommend great pickups to electrify your instrument.
Like all Taylor guitars the Big Baby comes with a peerless setup and
plays amazingly well all over the neck. Taylor believe so much in the
quality of their guitars that they offer a 12 year warranty if you
register your guitar!
by Richard Moss, Reidys Acoustic Specialist
What Taylor say...
"The Baby Taylor's big sibling, a 15/16-scale Dreadnought with a solid Sitka spruce top and Walnut-laminate back and sides, boasts a surprisingly full voice, comes with a lightweight gig bag for easy portability, and makes a trusty companion wherever you go - even if it's just to the couch"
The biggest of our small bodies, the Big Baby is just shy of a full-size guitar.
Slightly bigger than a Baby Taylor but just shy of a full-size guitar, the Big Baby Taylor is ideal for easy-playing, great-sounding guitar fun. The overall size keeps you in the “portable” category, yet with an extra dose of volume and fullness. Like the Baby, the Big Baby has an arched back that provides strength and contributes to its big tonal output.
Bracing
Inside every Taylor guitar is an important source of its unique sound: bracing. Bracing exists to strengthen the top and back of the guitar, while also allowing enough flexibility and vibration to generate tone. Bracing patterns help “voice” a guitar.
Taylor guitars are known for their balanced tonal response, and our bracing plays a role in that. The way that each brace is shaped and positioned on the soundboard contributes detailed nuances that are so critical that even slight alterations of its design, profile or thickness can result in discernable differences in tone.
You're likely to hear about “scalloped” bracing, which has become fairly standard on steel-string acoustics. Scalloping is a shaping technique that helps lighten the bracing to prevent it from being excessively bulky, which can restrict top movement.
X Bracing
All of Taylor's bracing for steel-string models is a form of X-bracing. The “X” provides a continuous flow of strength from the upper bout to the lower bout, which provides rigidity in spite of the soundhole's location in the middle of the soundboard. We currently offer several versions of X bracing:
Standard X (used on laminate models)
This is Taylor's original X pattern, featuring scalloped braces. Standard X bracing is used on the Baby, Big Baby, GS Mini, 100 and 200 Series.
Standard II (used on the 300-700 Series)
This version shifts the X forward (closer to the soundhole) and incorporates Taylor's patented relief rout (see description below). These refinements enable more of the top to vibrate, enhancing the tone.
Advanced Performance (used on the 800 Series)
As part of Taylor's 2014 voicing refinements for the 800 Series, the bracing profiles and placement were customized for each body shape to optimize their inherent strengths. The bracing scheme also incorporates side braces, which add rigidity and help maximize top and back movement. The overall effect on all the shapes is greater warmth, midrange and sustain.
CV (used on the 900 Series and up)
This version incorporates the relief rout and additional refinements, including subtle contouring differences in the scalloping. In general, guitars with CV bracing sound fuller and fatter without giving up articulation. They are also slightly louder.
The Taylor Relief Rout
Our patented relief rout is a tone-enhancing voicing technique in which a groove is carved along the inside edges of the top. This groove is similar in function to the re-curve on a violin - it “loosens up” the edges of the top, generating extra flexibility without sacrificing structural integrity. We first began using this groove in 2002. The result is increased bass and volume with a balanced tone.
Nylon-String Fan Bracing
Fan bracing is a completely different bracing style that is used on our nylon-string models. It was inspired by patterns used by classical guitar builders. Because nylon strings generate less tension, a nylon-string guitar typically has a thinner top and much lighter bracing. Our unique ladder-style pattern produces a signature Taylor nylon-string voice: an “open” sound that's clear and bright, strong on the treble side, and long on sustain.
12-String Bracing
Twelve-strings generally employ heavier braces than 6-strings in order to handle the increased tension of twice the number of strings, and to prevent the top from being overdriven. Taylor 12-strings have thicker tops, thicker pin plates, and heavier, non-scalloped bracing, to support the top and adequately amplify the tone of the guitar. The one exception to this rule is our Leo Kottke Signature Model 12-string (LKSM), which has scalloped bracing designed to work with fat, heavy-gauge, low-tuned strings, to give the guitar its characteristic, “throaty-piano” tone.
Layered Walnut
Used On: The 100 Series, GS Mini, Baby, Big Baby
We use layered woods for the back and sides of some of our guitars for their blend of sound quality, durability, and affordability. Layered wood construction also enables us to preserve tonewood resources. Although layered wood guitars won’t yield quite the same level of tonal complexity as an all-solid guitar, all are paired with a solid wood top to produce a rich, responsive voice that will continue to improve with time and extended play. Layered walnut provides a strong backbone for our 100 Series, adding subtle touches of high-end sparkle together with midrange presence. An outer layer of walnut is overlaid onto a poplar core (with a layer of Walnut on the other side). The layering process also allows us to bend an arch into the back for extra strength and produces a durable that travels well.
Full Specification
Coronavirus Update
Our chosen couriers are currently operating as normal and all orders should be delivered on time. DPD are also now operating a "contact-free" service as a standard process and customers will not be asked to sign handheld units.
Order before 2pm, Monday to Friday, for same-day dispatch of in-stock orders. Very heavy items such as pianos may take longer to deliver. In-stock orders placed over the weekend will be dispatched on Monday. Estimated delivery times for out of stock items are to be used as a guide only, these items may take longer than estimated to arrive. While we try our best to ensure rapid delivery of your order, delays may occur which are outside our control, and delivery of large or bulky items, or to remote or non-mainland addresses may take longer than estimated.
Courier Tracking
Most UK deliveries are shipped by our trusted courier, DPD. You'll receive an email with a delivery day, tracking and a one hour estimated delivery window on the morning of delivery. While we can't specify the time of the delivery, if it's not convenient, you can arrange directly with DPD for an alternative delivery date or request the parcel be left with a neighbour.
For heavier items, we usually ship UK deliveries by TNT. You will receive an email with tracking details when we ship your order.
Delivery Charges
Delivery to mainland UK addresses is free on all orders over £99. Delivery charges are based on the size and weight of your order and, in some cases, your location. A standard next working day carriage charge for UK mainland addresses is shown on the shopping basket page, but you can change delivery service later in the checkout.
Delivery Couriers
We use a few different delivery couriers, depending on the items being sent, your location, and the delivery service you've chosen:
Most orders will need to be signed for and we advise you make sure to check your parcel/s for any damage before signing. If no-one is available at your address, a card will be left so you can arrange a re-delivery directly with the courier. Redirection of an order after it's been dispatched may incur an extra charge from the courier.
Delivery charges displayed apply to most UK mainland addresses. Deliveries to Northern Ireland, UK non-mainland, and European addresses will cost more, and carriage charges will be shown at the checkout before you place your order. Free delivery offers may not apply to some remote/Scottish Highlands addresses.
There are currently delays for all returns processing due to extra safety procedures. Thanks for your patience during this difficult time.
It doesn't happen often, but occasionally an item can get damaged on the way to you. Don't worry! If your order is received either damaged or faulty, just let us know, preferably using the returns request form within 30 days of receiving the item, and we'll arrange for it its return and for a replacement or refund.
You can return most items bought online or by phone within 14 days for a refund (provided that it is unused and returned to us in New Condition – including packaging). You will need to return the item at your own expense. When we receive the goods back undamaged and with the correct packaging we will refund the cost of the goods.
Software or products that include software that needs to be registered are not eligible for this 14 day return period if opened and installed, and due to hygiene reasons we can't accept certain used in-ear headphones, microphones or harmonicas.
The repair procedure for items which are under guarantee varies from manufacturer to manufacturer - please refer to the documentation which accompanied your purchase or complete the returns request form and we will advise you of the appropriate process.
