Taylor Road Show mega-review (plus AGF Karma Giveaway - Third winner announced!)

[NOTP]

Tonight I attended a Taylor Road Show (http://www.taylorguitars.com/events/road-show) in my area.

I entered the venue to see about 45 Taylors (and about as many attendees) of all sorts, ranging from Baby Taylors all the way up to Presentation Series and Custom Shop models, set up in a close pattern. I live in Taylor-dominated territory but I don't think I have seen THIS many of their guitars packed so closely together before. The photos below show the majority of them. To my right there were a few more GS Minis and Baby Taylors. To the extreme left of the "stage", I'm sure I accidentally cut out of some of the Custom Shop Taylors. More on why I'm calling them "Custom Shop Taylors" a bit further down.







SHAPES COMPARISON AND 2014 8xx SERIES

The agenda for the evening was what I was expecting. Mike (forgot his surname) and Wayne Johnson were our hosts, first explaining and demonstrating the 810e, 812e, 814e, 816e, and 818e. This demonstration was simultaneously an encouraging marketing push for Andy Powers' revoiced 2014 8xx Series and to also show the sonic differences in Taylor's five main body styles (not counting the Baby, Big Baby, GS Mini, 12-fret, etc.) using the same woods (sitka spruce over East Indian Rosewood).

After playing all five shapes, our hosts took an informal poll to see which one was everyone's favorite. Surprisingly, NO ONE raised their hand for Taylor's best-selling body style, the Grand Auditorium (the 814e), even though they claim that the GA shape makes up about 65% of total sales and is by far their best-selling shape. HOWEVER, I am NOT surprised; in at least one previous post, I lamented about my being underwhelmed with the 2014 814.

The company really seems to be encouraging people to try the 2014 8xx Series, and explained that other Series would likely receive revoicing in the future, most likely starting with the 6xx (maple) Series. See http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=361628 for further discussion on Bob Taylor's maple plans.



TONEWOODS AND EXPRESSION SYSTEM

Next on the agenda, our hosts led a discussion and demonstrations of how different tonewoods sounded. We had received a good idea of how the various 8xx Series sounded, so for comparison, they also discussed and played a 714ce (sitka/EIR Grand Auditorium), a 614ce (sitka/maple Grand Auditorium), a 526ce (mahogany/mahogany Grand Symphony), a K26ce (koa/koa Grand Symphony with gloss finish), and a 326ce-FLTD (koa/koa Grand Symphony with satin finish).

Our hosts were also advocating Bob Taylor's leadership in tonewood harvesting of alternative tonewoods (such as sapele and ovangkol) and responsible ebony practices, even highlighting multiple 8xx Series fretboards that had marbled and streaky ebony.

There were brief demonstrations of the ES1 vs ES2 electronics plugged in.



HIGH END AND CUSTOM SHOP PIECES

There was plenty of discussion and demonstrations of the various special models they brought with them, including:

-A Grand Orchestra with Adirondack spruce top and Adirondack spruce bracing (somewhat unusual for Taylor) and a Florentine cutaway (also a less common option). The GO body shape currently is not offered with a cutaway option. The company hopes to introduce this option in the near future.

-A 12-string Builder's Reserve Jumbo, made with master grade koa back/sides, which showed people what the discontinued Jumbo shape looked like (compared with its spiritual successor, the Grand Orchestra) and how a 12-string Taylor sounded and had that famous "Taylor playability" and "Taylor intonation all the way up the neck".

-A Custom Shop 524ce that is supposedly a limited run (I think 60 pieces) collaborative effort between the hosting store (Long & McQuade) and Taylor Guitars. The limited number works out to about one piece for every Long & McQuade store in Canada. This was your basic 524ce (mahogany/mahogany Grand Auditorium) but was stained a wine red burst, and the fretboard inlays were made of maple, in the shape of small maple leaves. The headstock "Taylor" logo was also inlaid in maple.

"Custom Shop" is the name given in Canada for custom orders, since BTO (Build to Order) is the acronym for a certain Canadian band.

-A PS10ce, new old stock from the year 2011, as a visual demonstration of how elaborate a normal production Taylor can be, along with showing people what the arm bevel and cocobolo back/sides looks like.



TAYLOR T5z CLASSIC

Wayne expertly demonstrated the versatility of this hybrid guitar. While the Grand Auditorium shape is normally considered Taylor's "Swiss Army Knife guitar" for its suitability to many playing styles, I think Taylor's hybrid guitars deserve a "Swiss Army Knife" distinction for the incredibly wide range of sonic flavors you can obtain from them. While I have no current plans to add one to my collection, I certainly appreciated the live demonstration of the T5z Classic's tonal palette.



"PETTING ZOO"

There was plenty of petting (trying out anything you wanted) and it certainly was a zoo (congestion and noise).

Despite the new Taylor 150e (12-string dreadnought) being available and a model that was just introduced in 2014, there was zero attention paid to it. Since AGF knows I have an interest in the 150e, I was the one who brought the crew's attention to it sitting in the back when they were praising the high-end 12-string Builder's Reserve Jumbo. Anyway, during the "petting zoo", I made a beeline for it, since it was perched adjacent to its next-step-up guitar, a 356ce. I had played both separately before, but FINALLY, I got to play Taylor's least expensive current 12-strings in one place, one after the other. To my ears, I felt like the 150e was the better-sounding guitar and a much better bargain than the 356ce.

I also got my hands on all the high-end stuff, several of the 8xx Series (I am really trying to give them a chance), and even a 110e to remind me of the awesome 110 I recently sold, to reaffirm that the same smooth playability existed across the entire range of products.

Nothing really spoke to me, other than maybe the 326ce-FLTD (koa/koa Grand Symphony with satin finish). There were two of them available, which I compared to the K26ce. At the event, I gained a reputation for being "that koa guy", since earlier in the evening it became known that I owned a K14c. So it felt appropriate that I would finally be trying my first koa-topped guitars, and THREE of them! And three of them which are oh-so-similar for really nuanced listening!

Resisting the urge to buy anything was made easier by the 10% discount (as opposed to some American AGFers who have reported discounts of up to 30%), the fact that this 10% discount DID NOT apply to the 150e, and the fact that nothing REALLY called out to me. Wallet stayed safely inside my pocket. I don't think anyone bought anything either, because I stayed long enough to be the last person still sitting there trying out guitars, and every guitar stand had a guitar perched on it.

This is the last stop on their Canadian tour. The great thing about this is that all these guitars will stay at this store for a little while (instead of being immediately shipped to the next city), so I might return for some more close playing/listening while I have the chance to try out Taylors I've never seen before.



SWAG AND KARMA GIVEAWAY

If, during the seminar, you asked an intelligent question or demonstrated a Taylor fact, the hosts awarded you a Taylor Road Show t-shirt (size large) or a pack of Elixir HD Light strings. When someone asked an intelligent question of what were Taylor's nut widths, Mike responded with "one and three-quarters of an inch" (awarding a shirt to the person asking), which was followed by a pause... like the smart-alek that I am (and nobody likes smart-aleks ), I pointed out that the 1xx and 2xx Series came with narrower nut widths of "one and eleven-sixteenths inch", scoring myself a shirt.

Unfortunately I don't fit a size large. I am offering it as a "Karma Giveaway" for sticking with me through my long-winded typing, and to give back to this awesome forum which I greatly enjoy.

Contest rules are below.

Since I'm the one paying for shipping out to you, I ask that entrants be limited to citizens of Canada and the United States only, please.

One entry per AGFer; all you have to do is post a reply to this thread (hopefully a constructive one with some actual content in it, instead of "pick meee!!!") and I will "pick a winner out of a hat" after the contest closes.

Contest will close Tuesday October 28, 2014, at 11:59pm Eastern Standard Time. I'll then publicly post the name of the winner, who will need to contact me via Private Message with their Canadian/American home address within 24 hours of my announcement. Failure of the winner to seize this opportunity will have me picking another name from the hat and posting the new name in this thread. Repeat until prize is claimed.

Good luck! This should be fun.

Below is the shirt in its packaging. The pictured Taylor headstock sticker is NOT available for grabs; I need it to start decorating the bare case of my newly-acquired Taylor GAMC. All my other cases are plastered with stickers and I'm not going to leave this one feeling naked.

[Mort722]

Thanks for a good read

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Please don't include me in the giveaway, just wanted to thank you for the excellent review.

[Wildgift]

Thank you for including me in this. As the new owner of a 114e, which I adore far beyond its relatively modest price point, I would treasure this. And thanks for the excellent review as well.

[broken thumb]

Excellent review of a road show. I took my son and his friend to one a couple of years ago. I was trying out a 616ce during the petting zoo when one of them came up to me with an all-Koa 12 string, and said, "this is the one I want." Then the other came up with the matching six-string and said the same thing. They were both 13 years old. I said,"that's great, guys. Do you realize that, between the two of you, you have about $11,000 worth of guitars in your hands? No? Well, please, make sure you don't scratch them or bang them into anything."

We took home a sound-hole coaster. To this day, my son talks about that Koa dream guitar.

[44Runner]

I had to work when the road show came through my LGS. Thanks for the in depth review.


So the 326ce FLTD was your favorite that you got to play? I must admit, I have been GASing for that guitar in a bad way since it was announced...

[CodeBlueEMT]

Sam Ash is hosting the Taylor Road Show in Raleigh tonight. I plan on attending. Thanks for the mega-review. Love the Road Show t-shirt. Too bad I wear a 2X.

[dodge]

Great review. I won a T-shirt at the road show a couple of weeks ago so don't enter me. Came home with a 512ce 12 fret also

[NOTP]

Thanks all. Another note: Mike revealed that Taylor celebrated its 40th anniversary last week. Huge coincidence that we had this event so close to the anniversary, and that I actually received my first Taylor (K14c) around this time 10 years ago, and very recently acquired my second Taylor keeper (GAMC). There must be something special about Octobers with years ending in 4.

Originally Posted by broken thumb

Excellent review of a road show. I took my son and his friend to one a couple of years ago. I was trying out a 616ce during the petting zoo when one of them came up to me with an all-Koa 12 string, and said, "this is the one I want." Then the other came up with the matching six-string and said the same thing. They were both 13 years old. I said,"that's great, guys. Do you realize that, between the two of you, you have about $11,000 worth of guitars in your hands? No? Well, please, make sure you don't scratch them or bang them into anything."

We took home a sound-hole coaster. To this day, my son talks about that Koa dream guitar.

Great story! Here's hoping a nice koa guitar will be in your future.

Here's a mini koa story from this evening's event. Mike was demonstrating the stunning K26ce in DADGAD tuning, and after his performance, he retuned the guitar back to standard... while turning the tuner button for the high E string, he broke the string! He says that was the first time that has happened to him during a Taylor Road Show. He then introduced the guitar as Taylor's new 5-string model.

He put on a new string off to the side while Wayne was doing one of his demos.

Originally Posted by 44Runner

So the 326ce FLTD was your favorite that you got to play? I must admit, I have been GASing for that guitar in a bad way since it was announced...

Well... I actually still see a 150e in my future, but I've adamantly stated in a few of my previous posts that I'm not desperate for one, and will wait until I get one at less than retail price.

But the 326ce-FLTD was tonally different than anything I had ever heard, since I had never played a koa-topped guitar until this evening. I'm still not quite sure how to even describe the tone. I'll certainly revisit the store to try out all three of the koa guitars and give them another listen.

This is also my first experience playing ANY Limited Edition Taylor. It's nice that the company mixes it up twice a year.

The interesting thing is that I had ZERO interest in the 326ce-FLTD because I didn't think they were that attractive, EXCEPT for ONE photo posted by an AGFer recently (which I can't seem to find now). Most 326ce-FLTDs have pretty boring-looking koa, but that one I vaguely remember had flame koa which was unusual compared to its plainer brethren.

If you see a stunning one, it's likely a rarer example and deserves a loving home! Best of luck finding one.

Even my K14c, which I openly admit (in the photo-loaded link in my signature) has the most boring koa out of all the K14c examples that I've seen online, still has flame and interesting patterns in different spots.

Originally Posted by CodeBlueEMT

Sam Ash is hosting the Taylor Road Show in Raleigh tonight. I plan on attending. Thanks for the mega-review. Love the Road Show t-shirt. Too bad I wear a 2X.

You will have a blast if you know nothing about Taylor and even if you're a longtime Taylor devotee. The hosts really make the material fascinating for everyone. Compared to my Taylor knowledge, I know practically nothing about Martin and Gibson, but if they were to do huge touring seminars like Taylor, actually come to my area, and make them engaging even for newbies, I would be excited to attend.

Hope to read your review after you return from yours!

Originally Posted by dodge

Great review. I won a T-shirt at the road show a couple of weeks ago so don't enter me. Came home the a 512ce 12 fret also

Congrats! How much of a discount did you receive? Was it 30%?

Interestingly, they had no 12-fret Grand Concert models at my event. A pity, because I would have loved to compare it directly with the regular 14-fret version.

[broken thumb]

I just checked on my son. That sound-hole coaster is on his bed! LOL!

[sprucedup]

The 326ce koa spoke to me as well. I replied with some numbers and an expiration date :-/

No regrets though. It plays beautifully and with tremendous articulation. I really think that people will be talking about that model for many, many years.

[SprintBob]

I go to my first road show in New Orleans on Monday night, great preview. I think my GAS is in check but the question I'll ask is whether Taylor might ever produce a GS Mini with a 1-3/4" nut width. That's the only thing I don't like about my GSM. It's amazing how a 1/16" difference feels much larger to your fingers.

[fazool]

Nice writeup. I love the shirt - its my favorite guitar shirt so count me in for Karma.

[Coffeeaddict]

Thanks for the review. No need to include me in the giveaway - already have the shirt.

Did they do their normal joke about Canadian music being in the key of "eh"?

As to not bringing up the 150e - they don't tend to talk about anything below the 300 series, at least not at any Road Show I've been to.

Interesting about the L&M customs - may need to get out and take a look at it.

[Kip Carter]

Review is great... T is cool but way to small for me so leave me out of the drawing... but thanks much for the write up.