Taylor 618e opinions

[JDraper]

There is a Taylor 618e (2015 model with the brown sugar finish) in my price range. This is a guitar I have always been very curious about, feeling it would suit my style.

Does anyone have any experience with this model? Would love to hear some feedback about owning and living with it.

Thanks

[donlyn]

Taylor 618e opinions

Don't have a 618e, but I do have an 818e spruce/rosewood model and I love it.

I string it with Elixir PB HD Light gauge strings.
{.013, .017, .025, .032, .042, .053}.

And I fingerpick all my guitars using my nails as picks.

Be well and play well,

Don
.

[JDraper]

Originally Posted by donlyn

Taylor 618e opinions

Don't have a 618e, but I do have an 818e spruce/rosewood model and I love it.

I string it with Elixir PB HD Light gauge strings.
{.013, .017, .025, .032, .042, .053}.

And I fingerpick all my guitars using my nails as picks.

Be well and play well,

Don
.

Nice! It must have quite a big dynamic range if you finger pick it.

[Guitars44me]

If you can get along with the sheer size of a Grand Orchestra/18 I expect you will dig the tone and the VOLUME!!!!

Almost as big as a Gibby J200, and deeper with wider hips, so even more box !

As the car guys point out, “no substitute for cubic inches”

Cheers

Paul

[donlyn]

Taylor 618e opinions

Originally Posted by JDraper

Nice! It must have quite a big dynamic range if you finger pick it.

Yes it does.

Thing is, it will transfer as little or as much energy as I put into it. The 'xy8' Taylors are a replacement for their discontinued Jumbo 'xy5' series. And are better guitars. That string gauge I favor is essentially Medium gauge in the treble half and Light gauge in the bass half. I like balanced guitars and Jumboes have that naturally. So the big bodies don't need heavy strings. Especially the rosewood body on mine. The light bass strings keep the sound balanced; the sheer size of the body will provide plenty of bass with the lighter strings and not overwhelm the sound.

While not exact, the 818 sounds very similar to my rosewood Gibson J-200. And I mean that in a very good way. And the 12 string rosewood Taylor 458e-R sounds incredibly smooth with its {.010 - .047} strings.

While I won't attempt to compete with bluegrass pickers in volume, my nails do provide a good tone and volume for me.

Be well and play well,

Don
.

[martingitdave]

The 618 from that time period were excellent. They had more of a rosewood tone than Maple. Big sound.

[edward993]

Big, yeah, that it is!

I had tried all of the GOs side by side long ago. As said, if you're ok with the size, then they are great guits that have a big voice that is still clear and articulate. But of the GO line that I had tried (mahog, rw, maple), I thought the maple was the best for my taste: best string and tonal balance, and the most articulate of the three.

Edward

[pvfederico]

I love mine -- easy to play, sweet sound, incredible sustain, and well built. I have a light touch, and this guitar really projects with little effort. I almost never strum it. I use it for finger picking only.

And (shock), I use extra light strings.

[s2y]

I liked the one I played. Should have bought one. Haven't tried the V braced variant yet.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by JDraper

There is a Taylor 618e (2015 model with the brown sugar finish) in my price range. This is a guitar I have always been very curious about, feeling it would suit my style.

Does anyone have any experience with this model? Would love to hear some feedback about owning and living with it.

Thanks

I have that exact 2015 model and I love its tone, and even the ES2 works well as I received it right out of the shipping box at The House Of Guitars, here in Rochester, when I bought it new in May 2015. I've often referred to the Grand Orchestra Taylors as America's "Irish Guitar" as its tone is so rich and hauntingly beautiful.

[Rickytuk]

I was playing mine this morning and reminded of what an incredible guitar this is. I was lucky enough to get one of the first editions models, number 54 of 100. I have a few guitars and this one being so big, it does spend quite a bit of time in it's case. I restrung with 11 - 52 to reduce the tension while in storage but it still sounds massive and didn't need to change anything about the setup. I've never touched the guitar in terms of setup, it plays beautifully. If you want a big guitar, this is one you must try.

[noledog]

Originally Posted by martingitdave

The 618 from that time period were excellent. They had more of a rosewood tone than Maple. Big sound.

I found the same experience... I was pleasantly surprised at lovely this model sounded, quite enjoyable to play and listen to. The brown sugar finish is very beautiful imo.

[RP]

I had a 614 of the same vintage, and it was a wonderful guitar. While many folks extol the virtues of the 1990s Taylors, I truly believe that they produced their best after Andy Powers came on the scene and prior to the advent of V-bracing...

[Biosphere]

As a frequenter of guitar stores and having played around 3 or 4 618s from that era, as well as the same number of 614s, the 614s were superior in my opinion. Somehow the 614s sounded like they had more bass. The 618s had a nasally bright midrange that did not have as much of a scooped tone as the 614s.

[pvfederico]

I absolutely love mine. Its base strings are incredible, its treble strings so sweet and clear. Wonderful sustain. Easy to play.

My favorite guitar is my Martin 000-28, but my 618e is the only guitar that I own that occasionally takes my breath away.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KoRKYIjtjCQ