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Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut
Taylor Academy 20e
VS
Playability
73
Sound
81
Build
69
Value
79
Score
74
FIND IT ON:
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Playability
77
Sound
85
Build
72
Value
83
Score
78
FIND IT ON:
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Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut vs Academy 20e

Reasons to Get
Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut over Academy 20e

Body Shape
Dreadnought Mini vs Dreadnought
Dreadnought but much smaller and shallower
Scale Length
25.5'' (647.7mm) vs 24.9'' (632.5mm)
Lower action and brighter natural tone

Reasons to Get
Taylor Academy 20e over Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut

Body Shape
Dreadnought vs Dreadnought Mini
Prominent low-end tones in a large body
Scale Length
24.9'' (632.5mm) vs 25.5'' (647.7mm)
Easier bending, shorter fret separation and warmer natural tone
Value Score
83 vs 79
Better price/quality relationship

Other Key Differences
Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut vs Academy 20e

Saddle Material
Synthetic Bone vs NuBone
Different Saddle Material

Shared Features
Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut vs Academy 20e

Back Material
Walnut
Same Back Material
Sides Material
Walnut
Same Sides Material
Bridge Material
West African Crelicam Ebony
Same Bridge Material
Body Wood
Walnut
Same Body Wood
Neck Wood
Maple
Same Neck Wood
Fretboard Wood
Ebony
Same Fretboard Wood
Headstock
3-3
Same Headstock
Nut Material
NuBone
Same Nut Material
Strings
6
Same playing style
Body Type
Hollowbody
Warm tone, lighter and acoustic sound
Switch Positions
0
Same pickups versatility
Volume Knobs
0
Same volume control
Tone Knobs
0
Same tone control
Number of Frets
20
Same maximum octave
Nut Width
1.688'' (42.9mm)
Same string separation at the nut
Paint Finish
Poly
Resistant paint that ages well
Bridge
Fixed
Good sustain and needs no set-up
Fretboard Radius
15'' (381mm)
Same fretboard comfortability
Neck Profile Type
C
Comfortable neck that works for most people
Type of Frets
Medium
You'll feel the fretboard when pressing down the strings

Common Strengths

  • Solid Top Wood
  • High-Quality Nut
  • Expensive Wood

Common Weaknesses

  • Solid Side Wood
  • Solid Back Wood
  • Pickup Alter Switch/Knob
  • Locking Tuners
  • High-Quality Frets
  • Compound Radius Fretboard
  • From a High-Quality-Standards Country
  • Luminescent Sidedots
  • Strap Lock
  • Top Pickup Brand
  • 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • Active/Passive Preamp

Table of Contents

Price History Comparison

SET PRICE ALERT
SET PRICE ALERT

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Which One is Better Overall?

After going through our comparison algorithm, the results show that the Taylor Academy 20e is probably the better product overall with its final score of 78 compared to the Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut's 74 score, although not by a lot.

The Taylor Academy 20e wins when it comes to sound, playability, build quality, value for the money. This means that it wins over the Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut in every aspect.

If you got small hands, none of these instruments will make a big difference when it comes to comfortability.

Which One is Better for Beginners?

If you're looking for your first guitar to learn how to play, the Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut is the better choice.

The Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut meets 4 out of our 8 criteria items for beginner friendliness, while the Taylor Academy 20e meets only 3. 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 Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut
  • Comfortable shape
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Soft Strings
  • Locking tuners

New Player Friendliness

Taylor Academy 20e
  • Easy-to-use bridge
  • Tall frets
  • Comfortable neck
  • Comfortable shape
  • Comfortable fretboard
  • Narrow nut
  • Short scale
  • Soft Strings
  • Locking tuners

Nevertheless, when it comes to choosing an instrument, you should pick the one more compatible with your personal style. Still, below we'll try you to give you our results as objectively as it's possible to help you decide.

Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut Overview

  • From Taylor's 2022 Big Baby series
  • Made in Mexico
  • 6 strings
  • 25.5"'' scale
  • 15" Fretboard Radius
  • Solid Walnut top
  • Layered Walnut back
  • Layered Walnut sides
  • Hard Rock Maple neck
  • West African Crelicam Ebony fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: (/)
  • West African Crelicam Ebony bridge
  • Acoustic Taylor Standard Set neck
  • 20 Medium frets
  • Die-Cast Chrome tuners
  • Compare Specs >

Taylor Academy 20e Overview

  • From Taylor's 2022 Academy series
  • Made in Mexico
  • 6 strings
  • 24.9"'' scale
  • 15" Fretboard Radius
  • Solid Walnut top
  • Layered Walnut back
  • Layered Walnut sides
  • Hard Rock Maple neck
  • West African Crelicam Ebony fretboard
  • Bridge pickup: ES-B Electronics (Preamp/Active)
  • West African Crelicam Ebony bridge
  • Acoustic Taylor Standard Set neck
  • 20 Medium frets
  • Die-Cast Chrome tuners
  • Compare Specs >

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

Maple wood pattern used for guitar building
Maple
Ebony wood pattern used for guitar building
Ebony
Walnut wood pattern used for guitar building
Walnut

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.

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.

Winner: Tie.

Electronics

The Taylor Academy 20e comes with a preamp that allows you to connect it to an amp, unlike its competitor. This allows it to have more versatility and sound quality if you want to record with it or play live.

Winner:Taylor Academy 20e.

Final Sound Quality Scores

Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut
Sustain 75
Versatility 80
Tuning Stability 70
Sound 81
Taylor Academy 20e
Sustain 85
Versatility 85
Tuning Stability 70
Sound 85

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 Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut compares to the Taylor Academy 20e.

Country of Origin

The manufacturing country can tell a lot about the build quality of an instrument. Both in this comparison where made in Mexico.

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.

Winner: Tie

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.

In this case, both have NuBone nuts. It's made by the same company that makes TUSQ nuts. It's slightly softer but hard enough to give you a brighter sound when playing open strings. It's also self-lubricating, so it's good for tuning stability.

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. Both come with Die-Cast Chrome.

Winner: Tie.

Here is the list of features that were considered when choosing the winner in the Features subcategory:

Strengths & Weaknesses
Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut
  • Expensive Wood
  • NuBone Nut
  • Synthetic Bone 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
Strengths & Weaknesses
Taylor Academy 20e
  • Expensive Wood
  • NuBone Nut
  • Electronics
  • NuBone Saddle
  • Solid Top Wood
  • Cheap Fret Wire (NS)
  • No Locking Tuners
  • Made in Mexico
  • No Top Brand Pickups
  • Laminated Side Wood
  • Laminated Back Wood
  • No Compound Radius Fretboard
  • No 21:1 Tuner Ratio
  • No Strap Lock

Final Build Quality Scores

Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut
Quality of materials 71
Features 65
Quality Control 70
Build Quality 69
Taylor Academy 20e
Quality of materials 71
Features 75
Quality Control 70
Build Quality 72

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

Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut Nut Width
Both Guitars Have The Same 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

Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut's Scale Length
Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut's Scale Length
Taylor Academy 20e's Scale Length
Taylor Academy 20e's 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 Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut has the longest scale: 25.5". The Taylor Academy 20e is only 24.9" long. This is a 0.6'' (15.2mm) 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

Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut Neck Profile
Both guitars have the same 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 Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut and the Taylor Academy 20e 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

Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut Fingerboard Radius
Both Guitars Have The Same 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.

Both the Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut and the Taylor Academy 20e have the same fretboard radius of 15". This radius y closer to the 12'' that most Les Paul guitars have, but a bit flatter. It'll make it easier to play single notes than chords, but it's still comfortable for playing chords without muting strings.

Hand Size Comfortability

Everyone has a different hand size, and that's why it's recommended to try a guitar before buying, even if others tell you that it's comfortable to play. However, we can know whether a guitar favors small or large hands just by knowing its exact measurements.

After taking into account the scale length, nut width, neck profile and fretboard radius, we can conclude that both in this comparison favor small hands .

Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut:
Big Hands
Small Hands
Taylor Academy 20e:
Big Hands
Small Hands

Fret Size

Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut and Taylor Academy 20e Frets Size
Both have a similar Medium fret size

Both have a Medium fret size. If you like feeling the fretboard when you play, but also appreciate some easiness to press down the frets, this size offers a good balance for that.

Final Playability Scores

Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut
Bending & Vibrato Ease 75
Chord Playability 65
Solo Playability 80
Playability 73
Taylor Academy 20e
Bending & Vibrato Ease 80
Chord Playability 70
Solo Playability 80
Playability 77

Specs Side-by-Side

Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut vs Academy 20e
General Taylor Big Baby Taylor BBT Walnut Academy 20e
Brand: Taylor Taylor
Year: 2022 2022
Strings: 6 6
Made in: Mexico Mexico
Series: Big Baby Academy
Colors: Natural Natural
Left-Handed Version: Yes Yes
Body
Type: Hollowbody Hollowbody
Body Material: Solid Walnut Solid Walnut
Sides Material: Walnut Walnut
Back Material: Walnut Walnut
Bridge: West African Crelicam Ebony West African Crelicam Ebony
Neck
Neck Joint: Set Set
Tuners: Die-Cast Chrome Die-Cast Chrome
Fretboard: West African Crelicam Ebony West African Crelicam Ebony
Neck Material: Hard Rock Maple Hard Rock Maple
Decoration: 4mm Dot Italian Acrylic 4mm Dot Italian Acrylic
Scale Size: 25.5" 24.9"
Shape: Acoustic Taylor Standard Acoustic Taylor Standard
Frets: 20 Medium Nickel Silver 20 Medium Nickel Silver
Fretboard Radius: 15" 15"
Nut: NuBone NuBone
Nut Width: 42.9mm (1.688'') 42.9mm (1.688'')
Electronics
Bridge Pickup: ES-B Electronics (Preamp / Active)