taylor acoustics?

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Re: taylor acoustics?

I haven't played a 510, but Taylor's are damn good guitars. I've been wanting a 714ce for years now. I absolutely love Taylors!!
 
Re: taylor acoustics?

I went shopping for my first real acoustic last week. I played $200-$2000 gutiars, Martin, Gibson, Fender, Takamine, Ibanez, Ovation, Yamaha, and everything else in the store and I kept coming back to the Taylors. THey have a brighter, clear and bitey sound to them the others didn't have. I really dug it. The necks also played the most like and electric neck to me than did the others and it had low action - all of the Taylors were like this. I ended up with the 310. I suggest getting pricing information from http://www.buffalobrosguitars.com/ , they have the lowest prices I could find anywhere. But you have to call for their pricing as Taylor will not allow internet or email deals on their stuff. There are big on-line dealers who are Taylor dealers but you would never know because they're not allowed to even mention the name Taylor on the internet. Kinda strange. Anyway, I got my 310 with a bitchin nice hard case for $825 new.
 
Re: taylor acoustics?

I agree with TC. Taylor really rocks. If you like a bit brighter and more resonant tone, they deliver. I like the bite they offer as well. The only other guitar line I really loved was Guild (well, those and Larrivees, but that's a whole 'nuther ball game).

The key is finding a place that takes care of their guitars. Guitar Center ruins their acoustics, every Taylor there sounded horrible so I had a bad initial opinion of them. However, at Gguitars they had humidifiers and the whole nine yards, and one of their middle of the line guitars was unbelievable. Even one of their $700 acoustics sounded great for the money.
 
Re: taylor acoustics?

they are the absolute King of acoustic guitars!!!

i've played almost all of em'...

gibsons, fenders, guilds, takamine, seagull, ovation, larrivee, martin, alvarez, ibanez, and the taylors...for me...were the best, hands down...their 12 strings are a slice of heaven...
 
Re: taylor acoustics?

Pandemonium said:
Easiest acoustics to play that I've had my hands on and they sound great.

yes, I played a 514ce, Excellent, the neck might as well have been electric.
 
Re: taylor acoustics?

I love Taylors. When I was teaching guitar, I should have gotten commission because of the number of students I was bringing into my local shop who left with taylors. I only have one, a Baby Taylor. I play the crap out of that guitar! I take it with me on trips, and all over the place! they play great!
 
Re: taylor acoustics?

kaknight said:
I love Taylors. When I was teaching guitar, I should have gotten commission because of the number of students I was bringing into my local shop who left with taylors. I only have one, a Baby Taylor. I play the crap out of that guitar! I take it with me on trips, and all over the place! they play great!
How much do those babies run? I want a taylor but the price tags are steep even used for a hs student.
 
Re: taylor acoustics?

JOLLY said:
I've been wanting a 714ce for years now.
hahaha .. me too! the cedar top imparts a nice warmth ... another thing I've noticed is that it's easy to switch tunings ... don't know why, but their Grovers are really smooth

I always play one of the 714's when I go into GC or Buffalo Bros. :)

I love their koa stuff, too

I did a factory tour about a year ago, since they're about 15 miles away.
 
Re: taylor acoustics?

proxy said:
How much do those babies run? I want a taylor but the price tags are steep even used for a hs student.
I got mine new from a great shop for about $270 out the door. Considering, it's a solid top with an ebony fret board, that's not a bad price at all. I think that my students have been getting solid top dreadnaughts for about $550 new at that store. All of these come with the taylor super gig bag, which is really like a tank, and has a great pocket on the outside that is really big enough for a couple of music books, a tuner, some picks, and a guitar strap.

the tone one the Baby's is really great for such a small guitar. when you first pick it up and start playing it is noticably somewhat "uke" esque, but after about a minute of playing your ear settles in and it sonds great. I would recommend if you are going to get one, get one with the solid mahogony top instead of solid spruce. the spruce top makes it even brighter and more uke sounding. also, get it set up. those suckers are a little bit tricky because they are smaller scale. My store gave me 6 mo free setup which got me through the real settling in period for the woods.
 
Re: taylor acoustics?

On a budget, try an Alvarez AJ-60SC. Rich, bright and clear sounding with a cheap pricetag.
 
Re: taylor acoustics?

kaknight said:
I got mine new from a great shop for about $270 out the door. Considering, it's a solid top with an ebony fret board, that's not a bad price at all. I think that my students have been getting solid top dreadnaughts for about $550 new at that store. All of these come with the taylor super gig bag, which is really like a tank, and has a great pocket on the outside that is really big enough for a couple of music books, a tuner, some picks, and a guitar strap.

the tone one the Baby's is really great for such a small guitar. when you first pick it up and start playing it is noticably somewhat "uke" esque, but after about a minute of playing your ear settles in and it sonds great. I would recommend if you are going to get one, get one with the solid mahogony top instead of solid spruce. the spruce top makes it even brighter and more uke sounding. also, get it set up. those suckers are a little bit tricky because they are smaller scale. My store gave me 6 mo free setup which got me through the real settling in period for the woods.
Would they be picking up the 100s? I played a 514ce and fell in love, but money is a bitch.
 
Re: taylor acoustics?

I absolutely love my Taylor 414 RCE Limited. When I started to look for my first real acoustic I had 2 in mind: Gibson or Guild. I always liked a nice solid guitar. But man they just didn't play well. I hear they're pretty inconsistent but I never got to sample a ton because I'm a lefty! You guys don't realize how much it sucks to walk into a store and smell sweet guitars and realize they're all right-handed!!

Anyway, the 1st time I picked up the taylor I was hooked. Just felt right in my hands. I play a Les Paul and I love the mahogony neck with the ebony fingerboard. I just feels solid and smooth and precise. A lot of people don't realize that the Taylor have bolt on necks! At first I thought it was hokey but it really makes sense. The main attraction is their consistency. The only lefty the store had was an 814 for huge money! But I played it anyway and loved it. But when the salesman told me that EVERY Taylor neck felt the SAME regardless of the series (300 series through Presentation series) I was shocked. So basically you can get a 300 series Taylor for a grand that plays like their $10000 guitars!! Unreal. What separates the series apart is the type of woods and other details such as the pretty inlays, etc. The rarer the wood the more expensive the guitar. Makes sense. Bur regardless they all play the same!! Their website is awesome and does a good job of describing the technical designs.

If I were you I'd find a small knowledgable Taylor dealer and scope the place out for awhile. Taylors are expensive BUT they do a great job of offering special buys through their dealers. I think every season they put a special run out to attract new sales. This is where you'll find your deals. I got a 414CE limited edition with Indian Rosewood and the new Expression System electronics (awesome by the way... worth it just for that) for $1500 custom ordered for me. This was a Summer of 2003 limited run. If I were to buy the comparable guitar (714CE) it would have cost over $3500. You can't beat that! When they offer a deal you HAVE to jump on it.

One other thing... because the Taylor necks are bolted on... they allow each one to leave the shop at the best possible playing action (I did the factory tour too). They purposely maximize the ability to fine tune the neck to enhance playability. However, because these guitars are so "fine tuned" and sensative, they can easily be thrown out of whack if you don't take care of it. These guitars (actually ALL guitars) should be kept between 40-60% humidity and a comfortable temperature. Keep it in your case as much as possible and use a soundhole humidifier if you need to (Super Dampit is good). As long as you do that, the guitar will always return the favor by playing and sounding like a dream.

Good luck!
 
Re: taylor acoustics?

proxy said:
Would they be picking up the 100s? I played a 514ce and fell in love, but money is a bitch.

That's the price range I saw the 100's at recently, so I'm guessing yes on that one.
 
Re: taylor acoustics?

sooperunkn said:
Ibecause the Taylor necks are bolted on

Are you sure? I know the lower end models I saw were bolt-on, and you could see the screws. But the others didn't look to be so.
 
Re: taylor acoustics?

to me acoustics with stainless steel frets(like taylors) really take away from the great choice of the wood that they put on taylors. I really have to say Tacoma's are alot higher quality plus there cheaper.
 
Re: taylor acoustics?

TattooedCarrot said:
Are you sure? I know the lower end models I saw were bolt-on, and you could see the screws. But the others didn't look to be so.

Absolutely sure. I did the factory tour and I also did a ton of research before I bought it. Bob Taylor actually has a video that talks all about the neck and he actually shows one of his techs making a neck adjustment in less than 10 minutes! That's definitely one of the nice things about them... the maintanance. Nobody wants to think about it, but if you've got neck problems with a "dovetail glue joint" guitar (just about all of them) then you're looking at huge $$$ to fix it.

The fact that you're surprised it's a bolt on neck proves the point that tone is not sacrificed because of it, which is the main complaint when people learn this. On the full-size models (300 series and up) you can't see the bolts. If you look in the soundhole up where the neck meets the body, you'll see a square block of wood covered with the Taylor logo sticker. Behind that sticker are the bolts.

One more closing thought for those who are turned off by this. Taylor is constantly trying to "better" every aspect of acoustic guitars. That's all they do. They dump a ton of money into research. The ES system is a revolutionary guitar pickup design that is so incredible sounding compared to the Fishman stuff (and others) that words do it no justice. And its stealth too. All you see are 3 tiny rubber knobes on the shoulder of the body. No huge rectangular block cut from your baby! But the most appealing thing is the sound of this thing amplified. It literally sounds like the guitar... with powered volume!. Walk into the store and A/B it with others and your jaw will hit the floor. A better test is to find an older Taylor (pre 2003) equipped with the Fishman and you'll really see the true difference.

Thumbs up :dance:
 
Re: taylor acoustics?

I have a Taylor 814-C...it's my primary stage guitar when I play out. I use the Jim Kaufman SUNRISE soundhole pickup and preamp...just like Lyle Lovitt and Richard Thompson only they use the Sunrise tube preamp and mine is the Sunrise solid state preamp. Makes for a wonderful set-up...best sounding guitar onstage I've ever used. Lew
 
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