Taylors good for fingerstyle?

[ewalling]

I'm certainly no diehard "Taylor guy", but I did work up sufficient interest in the GA8 some months ago to put in an order with Jim at Guitar Rodeo for one with a shorter scale neck (and a snazzy tobacco burst!). Over the last month or so I've found this to be a really excellent guitar for my needs, and I'm wondering if perhaps other models by Taylor tend to suit fingerpickers like me. The thing is, the trademark "brightness", seen as a negative by many AGFers, I find to be an advantage with my brand of fingerpad + nail picking. What I find is that guitars tending towards a darker tone can sound a bit dull in my hands. In fact, I went through a few Martins that were fine-sounding with a pick but which didn't cut it with my fingerpicking. The 12-fret 000-18GE I eventually settled on is perfect, but so is this GA8 - clear, ringing, and very rich-sounding.

This is probably inviting overgeneralizations, but does anyone else find that as a result of their bright sound, Taylors may be particularly well-suited to fingerstyle?

[Fred]

Not trying to be rude, but I thought that's what Taylors were known for from the get-go.

[leeasam]

while I think they can be good for any style of playing but IMO the GA and GC models do seem to shine more with fingerstyle.

[Dru Edwards]

I love my Taylor 314ce for fingerpicking. It's a balanced, bright guitar which helps for me. Not the best strummer but my best fingerpicking guitar. I use my fingernails and not my fingertips though.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by Fred

Not trying to be rude, but I thought that's what Taylors were known for from the get-go.

Curious response ... Why would anyone consider your response "rude"? Are you suggesting I've committed some embarrassing faux pas that everyone who is anyone would never make?

[220volt]

Originally Posted by ewalling

I'm certainly no diehard "Taylor guy", but I did work up sufficient interest in the GA8 some months ago to put in an order with Jim at Guitar Rodeo for one with a shorter scale neck (and a snazzy tobacco burst!). Over the last month or so I've found this to be a really excellent guitar for my needs, and I'm wondering if perhaps other models by Taylor tend to suit fingerpickers like me. The thing is, the trademark "brightness", seen as a negative by many AGFers, I find to be an advantage with my brand of fingerpad + nail picking. What I find is that guitars tending towards a darker tone can sound a bit dull in my hands. In fact, I went through a few Martins that were fine-sounding with a pick but which didn't cut it with my fingerpicking. The 12-fret 000-18GE I eventually settled on is perfect, but so is this GA8 - clear, ringing, and very rich-sounding.

This is probably inviting overgeneralizations, but does anyone else find that as a result of their bright sound, Taylors may be particularly well-suited to fingerstyle?

here is a good article from Taylor's website talking about "bright" vs "dark" hands and which wood is suited for which. It is exactly what you were talking about.

“Bone Tone”
Beyond guitar materials and playing tools, what the player is physically doing to the strings is a huge source of a guitar’s sound. Brian likes to refer to one’s personal technique as “bone tone.” It’s the way we hold a guitar, attack and fret the strings — the overall physics we bring to the guitar. A player’s bone tone might be described in terms of brightness and darkness. It helps to consider how one’s bone tone might match up with the relative brightness or darkness of the shape and woods one chooses.

“Bright players have lots of attack,” Brian explains. “As a result, you don’t hear the midrange bloom as much. A lot of times they’ll complain about a quick decay, that their tone doesn’t have fullness. What can that person do? They can play darker tonewoods. They can try playing more with the pads of their fingers versus nails. I also tell people to beware of the death grip with the fretting hand. Some people squeeze so hard that they pull notes sharp. A bright player who presses really hard into the fretboard is making a bright connection there in addition to his or her attack.”

Fingerstyle players with darker hands, Brian says, can use a little more nail strike in their attack.
Dark players also can play brighter tonewoods more successfully. “A bright player on a bright guitar like koa or maple might sound thin or wimpy, but a dark player will sound fuller,” he says. “So,
by selecting tonewoods, you can take a guy who has really bright, plinky hands, give him a warm-sounding guitar, and he’ll tend to sound really good.”

Brian has also observed that with more experienced players, controlling bone tone is less about the dexterity of one’s fretting hand and more about what one can do with one’s picking/strumming hand.

“The hallmark of a seasoned player is someone who can control their dynamic levels from hard to soft, and create different degrees of brightness or darkness by the way they strike strings,” he says. “I can always tell mature players by what they do with their picking hands.”
http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars...es/woods/tone/

[ewalling]

Interesting article, Volt!

[RoseAdi]

IMO the 714 with cedar top is Taylor's best finger style model. With string choice you can warm/darken it up, or make it brighter. Quite versatile.

Had mine since 2005 and still loving it with no desire to get rid of it. And that's after playing a lot of finger style type guitars. While different, it holds it's own with my Lowden F35. That's saying something!

EDIT: Volt, I couldn''t agree more. Bone tone, hmm, I didn't know it had a name, but it's fitting.

[Redpick]

Yep, gotta say that I tend to use my Taylors for fingerpicking more than other guitars. Also find that I avoid them for heavy strumming. Nature of the beast.

[Fred]

Thanks for not being offended, ewalling. What I SHOULD have said, perhaps, is that Taylor has always been noted for its low setups and easy fingering...key elements for fingerstyle players. And I think that is commonly accepted as true in the guitar world...

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by Fred

Thanks for not being offended, ewalling. What I SHOULD have said, perhaps, is that Taylor has always been noted for its low setups and easy fingering...key elements for fingerstyle players. And I think that is commonly accepted as true in the guitar world...

Well, perhaps it's more accepted within the Taylor fraternity - I'd certainly never come across anything that suggested Taylors were especially suited to fingerstyle. In fact, as recommendations for "fingerstyle guitars" go, I seem to hear Martin OMs and 000s mentioned more than other makes and models.

[Tomo]

This one is going downhill fast.

[pgilmor]

I've always thought Taylors excelled at fingerstyle, especially the 714 cedar/rosewood. Love it!! Then I saw Beppe Gambetta flatpicking his R.Taylor from 20 feet away. Oh man, that was good. So I guess maybe it don't matter so much, maybe more it's all about a good match between the player and the guitar.

[GBYork]

My Taylor 712 (1999) is the best guitar for fingerpicking that I have ever played, especially with Elixir 10s on, whereas my Martim SP00016TR is the most versatile and well balanced guitar I have played. These are the only guitars I consider to be 'keepers'.

[noledog]

I play pretty much flesh/bit o' nail f/s and tho I've been hooked on the Irish for last decade, I found the newer braced Taylor Grand Symphony models to be very lovely with a much deeper bass than their trad. signature tone while still crisp and bright. I especially liked the cedar/hog combo; I think it is a GS7 or maybe GS6. In any case I found it comparable in size and character to my Goodall although not quite as rich or as consistent up the neck, but quite enjoyable and worth the money if I were to buy one. As far as the Martin's go I thought the J. Mayer OM in eir/eng to be very sweet as compared to the darker tones of most other Martins I've played for my style of attack. So I agree and think certain Taylors in general are wonderful for f/s... All nice guitars, but I'm stuck on the Irish, like a bowl of Lucky Charms, they are magically delicious!

noledog