Show Full Spec Comparison
Taylor Baby Taylor BT1 | Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel | |
---|---|---|
General | ||
Brand: | Taylor | Fender |
Year: | 2012 | 2020 |
Strings: | 6 | 6 |
Made in: | Mexico | China |
Series: | Baby Taylor | Fender Alternative |
Colors: | Natural | Black |
Left-Handed Version: | Yes | No |
Body | ||
Type: | Hollowbody | Hollowbody |
Body Material: | Solid Sitka Spruce | Laminated Agathis |
Sides Material: | Walnut | Sapele |
Back Material: | Walnut | Sapele |
Bridge: | Ebony | Walnut |
Neck | ||
Neck Joint: | Set | Set |
Tuners: | Die-Cast Chrome | Die-Cast |
Fretboard: | Ebony | Walnut |
Neck Material: | Maple | Nato |
Decoration: | 4mm Dot Italian Acrylic | White Dot |
Scale Size: | 22.75" | 23.3" |
Shape: | Acoustic Taylor Standard | Acoustic C Shape |
Frets: | 19 Medium Nickel Silver | 18 Vintage Nickel Silver |
Fretboard Radius: | 15" | 11.81" |
Nut: | Ivory Tusq | Synthetic Bone |
Nut Width: | 42.9mm (1.688'') | 42.9mm (1.688'') |
Electronics | ||
Pickups: | ||
Hardware | ||
Strap Lock: | No | No |
Hardware Color: | Chrome | Chrome |
Reasons to Get
Taylor Baby Taylor BT1 over Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel
Reasons to Get
Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel over Taylor Baby Taylor BT1
Other Key Differences
Taylor Baby Taylor BT1 vs Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel
Shared Features
Taylor Baby Taylor BT1 vs Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel
Common Strengths
- High-Quality Nut
Common Weaknesses
- Solid Side Wood
- Solid Back Wood
- Pickup Alter Switch/Knob
- Locking Tuners
- High-Quality Frets
- Compound Radius Fretboard
- Luminescent Sidedots
- Strap Lock
- Top Pickup Brand
- 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- Active/Passive Preamp
Price History Comparison
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Hand Size Comfortability
After taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that both favor small hands .
Taylor Baby Taylor BT1:
Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel:
Beginner Friendliness
The Taylor Baby Taylor BT1 meets 5 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel meets only 4. This takes into account the type of frets, scale length, nut width, bridge type, fretboard radius, and neck profile to determine the easiest combination for new players.
New Player Friendliness
Taylor Baby Taylor BT1- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Tall frets
- Short scale
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Narrow nut
- Soft Strings
- Locking tuners
New Player Friendliness
Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel- Comfortable shape
- Easy-to-use bridge
- Short scale
- Comfortable neck
- Comfortable fretboard
- Tall frets
- Narrow nut
- Soft Strings
- Locking tuners
Sound Quality Comparison
The most important thing that will determine the tone of an acoustic guitar is the wood. Let's take a look at the differences between both .
Woods Used in Both
It's a hard wood with a chocolate color that is often used to give an elegant finish. Since it's quite expensive and rare, it's mostly used for guitar tops. Find out more about Walnut.
Woods Used in the Taylor Baby Taylor BT1
Maple is one of the most popular necks for good reasons. It is a strong wood that is relatively cheap to make and looks beautiful. The highest quality maple is the hardest that comes from North America. Find out more about Maple.
Ebony is a high-end wood, so it is not cheap. It's only used for fretboards because it's also very heavy. It does an excellent job as a durable material while looking elegant. Find out more about Ebony.
Spruce has a light color with tight grain patterns. It's very stiff but relatively light. It's known for producing a well-rounded tone with a broad dynamic range. Find out more about Spruce.
Woods Used in the Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel
Nato a hard and dense wood similar to Mahogany, but cheaper and not quite as hard. Tone-wise, it's also similar, but it doesn't have quite the same attack as Mahogany.
Agathis is a softwood similar to Mahogany. It's more affordable, which makes it popular as a way to reduce production costs. People believe it to produce a warm tone with good punch and sustain.
It's similar to Mahogany in both color and tone. It can produce warm tones, and it's known for its beautiful figured grain patterns. Find out more about Sapele.
Winner: Taylor Baby Taylor BT1.
Electronics
Neither of them come with electronics that allow you to connect them to an amp. This makes them completely acoustic, so you'll need to use an external mic to record with them or play live.
Winner:Tie.
Final Sound Quality Scores
Build Quality Comparison
When it comes to build quality, we like to take into account everything used to build the instrument. This includes materials, hardware and the quality control expected depending on the country where it was built. Let's see how the Taylor Baby Taylor BT1 compares to the Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel.
Country of Origin
The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. The Taylor Baby Taylor BT1 is built in Mexico while the Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel is made in China.
Mexico has been for a long time where Fender has built their semi-premium series. If you don't want to overpay for a wellp-built instrument, a guitar built in this country by a good brand always offers good value for the money.
China has a bad reputation when it comes to building quality. However, times have changed and now respectable brands use China's cheap labor to build good instruments for a lower price. Don't discount a guitar only because it was built in China, but also expect more quality from countries like Korea.
Winner: Taylor Baby Taylor BT1
Nut Material
If you want your guitar to stay in tune and sound good, you need a well cut nut. Nut quality can be inconsistent even when comparing two copies of the same model. The best way to make sure you're nut will be well done is by getting a nut made by an expert company like TUSQ or Micarta.
The Taylor Baby Taylor BT1 has a Ivory Tusq nut. Ivory used to be considered the best material for guitar nuts due to its beauty, durability, and the rich harmonics and sustain you could get from a guitar with it. However, the way to obtain it is simply unethical. Enter TUSQ ivory nuts, which are made synthetically to imitate ivory. Technically, it's better than ivory because it is consistent piece-to-piece, while natural materials can vary a lot, even if they're made from the same.
On the other hand, the Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel comes with a Synthetic Bone nut. Bone is the best natural material for guitar nuts. However, its tonal properties can be inconsistent. That's the problem that synthetic bone fixes. This is much better than using a plastic nut because the nut is more slippery—which helps with tuning stability—, and it gives your open strings rich harmonics.
Winner: Tie.
Fret Material
Most fret wire is made of nickel silver. This material eventually wears down after a lot of use and most instruments end up needing a complete fret replacement. However, some expensive models come with stainless steel frets. This is what you should aim for if you can afford it.
Unfortunately, none of them come with stainless steel frets.
Winner: Tie.
Tuners
Both come with regular tuners. The Taylor Baby Taylor BT1's are Die-Cast Chrome while the Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel's are Die-Cast
Winner: Tie.
Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:
Taylor Baby Taylor BT1
- Expensive Wood
- Ivory Tusq Nut
- Ivory Tusq Saddle
- Solid Top Wood
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in Mexico
- No Top Brand Pickups
- No Electronics
- Laminated Side Wood
- Laminated Back Wood
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel
- Synthetic Bone Nut
- Synthetic Bone Saddle
- Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
- No Locking Tuners
- Made in China
- No Expensive Woods
- No Top Brand Pickups
- No Electronics
- Laminated Top Wood
- Laminated Side Wood
- Laminated Back Wood
- No Compound Radius Fretboard
- No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
- No Strap Lock
Final Build Quality Scores
Playability Comparison
Let's now compare their playability. Bear in mind that the instrument will feel different depending on your hand size and play style. That's why you should always test before buying. But if you can't or want a second opinion on it, we can still take a look at each of the important measurements of the instrument for you. This way, we can predict how easy a guitar might be to play, or how different it will feel compared to the other.
Remember that, even though the difference might seem small, every inch counts when it comes to feeling of the instrument in your hands. Any variation can completely change how comfortable a guitar feels in your hands.
Nut Width
The nut width will affect the separation between strings at the nut. In this comparison, both have a nut width of 42.9mm (1.688'').
This is within the most common range of nut widths for a 6-string guitar. It offers a good balance of string separation at the nut. It's the size that most guitarists prefer as it gives them just enough space to play open chords without muting the strings, but without spreading the strings too wide and making bar chords difficult to perform.
Scale Length
The scale length is one of the things that influences playability the most. This is the distance between the nut and the bridge and will affect everything from low action allowance, difficulty to perform bends, fret separation, and even tone.
The Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel has the longest scale: 23.3". The Taylor Baby Taylor BT1 is only 22.75" long. This is a 0.55'' (14mm) scale length difference.
This longer scale means that the strings need more tension to get in tune. This is good if you want to avoid fret buzz, which can happen when the strings are too loose and touch the frets while vibrating. This is especially important when playing in lower tunings. This will also let you reduce the gap between fretboard and strings (low action) to make them easier to press down. However, this higher tension will also make it harder to perform bends and vibratos as the strings will feel stiffer.
This also means that the frets have a longer separation between each other, so this will make it harder for people with smaller hands when playing some chord positions.
Another characteristic of a longer scale is that it makes the guitar sound 'snappier' or brighter. This is due to the extra separation between harmonics and overtones produced by the tension. This influences tone more than any other factor (except the pickups).
Lastly, remember that you can also affect the tension of the strings by changing your string gauge. You can use a thicker gauge for more tension and a lighter one for less tension.
Neck Profile
No single neck shape is better than others. However, most people tend to prefer a thinner necks because it doesn't get in their way when playing fast and most hand sizes can adapt to it pretty well. However, some people still prefer thicker necks for a better grip, especially if they have big hands.
Both the Taylor Baby Taylor BT1 and the Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel have a C-shaped neck. This is what you'll find in most modern guitars. Most people feel like the thickness of a C neck is simply the less intrusive one for playing fast, while at the same time allowing you to grab the neck easily for resting if you want to.
Fretboard Radius
Most guitar fretboards are not flat; they usually have a curve or arc across their width. A curved fretboard will make it easier to perform chords without muting strings, while a flatter one will make it easier to play single notes, which is good for bending and soloing in general. The best fretboards have a compound radius that varies across the fingerboard, but they're not common since they take a lot more work to build.
In this case, the Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel's fingerboard radius is smaller, which means it's more curved than the Taylor Baby Taylor BT1's. This extra arc will make playing chords easier in this model. You won't be as likely to mute the strings, especially if you have big hands. However, playing single notes and bending will be easier on the Taylor Baby Taylor BT1.
Fret Size
The Taylor Baby Taylor BT1 has Medium frets, which should be taller than the Fender FA-15 3/4 Steel's Vintage frets.
Some people prefer taller frets because they result in more sustain since the strings get pressed cleanly without interference from the fretboard. However, if they're too tall—like Jumbo frets—, you might change the pitch of the strings accidentally if you press too hard because you won't be touching the fretboard with your fingers. This is also why some guitarists with a heavy grip prefer smaller frets. They like to feel the fingerboard to avoid pressing down too hard and getting out of pitch.