ES2: A better mousetrap?

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by Ed-in-Ohio

I am stunned how good my GS Mini-e Koa sounds plugged into my Carvin AG200. Flat out stunned.

I got this fun little guitar to be a couch guitar, but now think it will get a lot of plugged-in time (both at home and in coffee houses)!

I'm impressed.

+1 for Taylor Mini-e Koa ES2!

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

+1 for Taylor Mini-e Koa ES2!

I have the rosewood model and I'm amazed how big it sounds through a proper PA system.


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[Petty1818]

Originally Posted by jmilkey

I own a number of Taylors and a buddy of mine has an insanely large collection.
We have tested many of these guitars from the early ES1, Doyle Dykes, ES2 etc....

#1. If you are playing solo and/or recording you can get great sounds out of any of these pickups. Most of the sound created by a guitar comes from the players hands. Don't believe me? Put your guitar on a stand and tell me how it sounds? ( I Stole that quote guess who from?)

#2. The Doyle Dykes system was pretty amazing for louder playing and with a band or backing tracks and its unfortunate this system was abandoned. Lots of potential.

#3. The ES1 V3 system Live/electric with the body sensor turned off really sounds great through a great live system (Bose L1 Type II with B2 Bass). There are lots of advantages to using the ES1 system like this. You can also dial up a nice full sound using the Body Res options that are out there today.

#4. ES2 sounds great recorded. Send direct signal Plus Mic signal and they both have amazing qualities that when mixed are magic. But where we found the ES2 to fall short is Live with a band or backing tracks. With only the piezos picking up the body res, all you can do is EQ out the boom and dial back the pickup. Both compromise the overall sound and our conclusion is that the ES2 was developed to optimize the guitars sound recorded and in a purely Solo Guitar Singer Song Writer Situation.

I am in the process of retrofitting all my ES2 Taylors to an alternate system at this time.

Good Luck.

I am going to say that the original ES (doesn't matter which version), might have been one of the worst pickups ever made. It sounded like a terrible magnetic pickup and nothing like an acoustic. I think there's a reason why they hardly ever pop up on stage. That pickup alone really turned me off of Taylor in general. I don't think they fully knew what they were doing when it came to pickups and they used clever marketing to cover up the flaws, especially with version one, which was a piece of garbage.

As for the ES2, it's nice but not good enough to make me ever buy a Taylor with one installed. That's the second reason why I have pretty much stayed away from Taylor. Their obsession with including pickups in every model, except custom orders is just not appealing. If I wanted an acoustic-electric, I wouldn't spend three thousand on one that will be obsolete in a few years.

I can give Andy Powers a bit of credit but a lot of what he has done (thinner bracing & finish) are things that other companies have been doing for years, which results in a more responsive guitar that projects better. However, this coupled with the new bracing has really just boosted the frequencies that Taylor is known for. Upon first strum of the new models, you might think, "wow, listen to that bass." The more I play them personally, the more I realize that yes the bass has been boosted but so too has been the high end, which is the frequency I hate the most on a Taylor. The guitars ultimately become fatiguing.