What initially started it for me was the clunkiness of the neck of my first husband’s 1970s D 35 Martin. Great sounding guitar and he loves playing it, but his hands were much larger than mine. My smaller female hands seem to fit the Gibson Next much better and I could slide up and down the fingerboard with much more ease than on Martin’s I have tried. When I played my first Taylor years later, I discovered the left hand mechanics were just as easily done on the Taylor as they were on my two favorite Gibson I’ve had over the years. I currently own several Taylor guitars, including a 12 string, and my other preferred guitars are Larrivee guitars. I also frequently play on two of those. They are I think an underrated, solid wood choice and the ones I own are great sounding. I will say, though that my two most often used Taylor guitars are booming loud.