IMO, Taylor electrics are sort of like PRS guitars: both are fine instruments, and both do not sound like a real Strat or a real Les Paul. For example, when I listen to a song I can easily identify a Strat or a Paul, but I've never listened to a song and thought, "that's a Taylor solidbody or "that's a PRS."
When I played a Taylor solidbody I thought it looked great and played wonderfully, but in its stock configuration I thought it sounded a bit generic. I don't know how else to put it. It wasn't a bad tone and it wasn't a great tone, but it didn't wow me. Most guitars sound fine overdriven (and the Taylor was no exception,) but the Taylor clean sound was ho hum to me.
There are plenty of folks who like the sound of a Taylor solidbody or PRS (and I happen to own a PRS Custom 22), so that's fine. But for a FIRST electric guitar I'd have to recommend either a Strat or a Les Paul. There's something really, really cool and magical the first time you play a lick on your guitar and you realize you sound pretty darn close to Clapton or Beck or Jimi or Mark Knopfler. You can get to that place with a Strat, but you can't with a Taylor solidbody.
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