Taylor 522 all-mahogany

[Karel]

In May this year I became the owner of a First Edition Taylor 522 (all mahogany Grand Concert). I suppose that, seen the early date of purchase I am among the first who own one, so a short review might help others making their choice. After having played it almost every day since it arrived my conclusion is that the 522 could be a special guitar in my collection. It has a mellow if not intimate warm sound with somewhere sometimes almost a hint of nylon. I play a lot on my beloved 1996 714 (Grand Auditorium) with a cedar top which is also well known for its warmth, but my new 522 beats it in this respect. The 522 has less volume but still has a remarkable sustain. I am a guitar picker and play mainly ‘more subtle’ songs (e.g. Jim Croce, James Taylor, Paul Simon) but even than I feel the back of my smaller new baby vibrating against my chest. I suppose this is also due to Andy Powers’ fresh vision on the all mahogany construction. In fact it was my great small mahogany topped GS Mini travel guitar (what a hit!) which made me decide to look for an all mahogany Grand Concert model – so when I heard about the presentation of the new 500 Series at the Frankfurt Musikmesse I was ‘sold’. The build of this Taylor is flawless and with the off-white ivoroid bindings and extra First Edition inlays simply beautiful. The 522 neck is a delight to play and the guitar stays extremely well in tune. It is in fact the first one I do not have to fine tune when I use a capo. Amplified, plugged into my AER Compact 60, it has a fantastic powerful and balanced acoustic output. I install K&K pure mini transducers in all my guitars and in my 522 they do again a superb job. In fact amplified this way, the 522 shows itself from its most versatile side and handles almost any kind of playing style. Unamplified the all-mahogany is in the first place 'the' instrument for strummers and flat pickers. For them it opens itself to the fullest extent. The search for the right strings took some time. I realize this is a very personal thing and relates a lot to my style of finger picking. With the bronze nanoweb Elixirs (80/20 light gauge) with which it came the 522 did not stand out fully well to my ears. The sound was somewhat ‘muffled’. I changed to Elixir phosphor bronze nanoweb but still wasn’t satisfied (moreover, every G-string of this Elixir wears out – looses its coating? – overnight notwithstanding its high price). The basic (and cheap) bronze D’Addario’s do in my opinion the best job. I recently put on medium gauge strings (D’Addario EJ17) to allow for a slightly lower tuning in Eb which is more convenient to my voice. In short, the 522 is an impeccable new Taylor with a distinctive warm sound. It is less loud than my other Taylors (I admit you have to surrender yourself in a way) but the mahogany offers you some totally different gorgeous tone instead. This Grand Concert is a classic beauty with which you easily fall in love.
If you wish to get an impression how the 522 sounds directly plugged into my DAW (Reason), please check out my short rendition of 'The water is wide': http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYBnUQDzmJ0

[TEK]

Karel,
Thanks for the review of your new Taylor and congrats on a keeper. I have not yet got to see or play any of the new Taylor mahogany guitars. I am curious if you have played any of the 15 series Martins and how the two compare. I am not trying to start any Martin vs Taylor stuff here, just curious how they compare tonally.
I currently own both Taylors and Martins and appreciate what each have to offer. I own one of LA guitars custom 00-15's right now and really like it. I love the tone of a all hog guitar and have always liked the Taylor neck. I could see one of these in my future.

[M19]

Had this 12-fret short scale GC (BTO) for almost a year and agree with most of what you've said. Try some Newtone Masterclass 0.012's for tone.

[SOR]

I have not played that model, but I did play a 524 recently and thought it sounded great, it had a very different balance than most Taylor GA's with a very warm bass and slightly rolled off highs compared to a spruce top or even cedar GA. Based on the one I played I'm sure your 522 sounds terrific. Good luck.

[ataylor]

I played a custom all-mahogany 12-fret GC a few months ago and couldn't believe my ears. It was fantastic -- had the warmth you'd expect from mahogany but was also loud and crisp and just a spectacular guitar.

If your guitar sounds anywhere near as good you have a keeper. I'm seriously considering a 12-fret 522 myself -- I really love the new vintage-inspired Taylors.

Congrats on that guitar.

If you haven't tried them, I recommend either EXP12s (E flat tuning) or the EXP11s (light gauge) for standard. 80/20 options.

With regard to the EXP11s, you will get more defined "traditional" bass and better string separtion, after they settle in...

[Dru Edwards]

Karel, Congrats! Thanks for the great review. #2, wow, now that's a first edition alright.

Regarding your string experimentation, will you continue to try other brands or will you be sticking with the D'addarios?

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Excellent review Karel, and congrats on your new 522. BTW, we Taylor aficionados have always had a soft spot for all Mahogany Taylors going back to the 512 hog top from the mid 90's.

We built our first all Mahogany 12-Fret BTO as soon as it was an option and they were great sellers for us. We tarted with a satin 12-Fret without cutaway or electronics then added gloss versions with cutaway. We actually built an all Mahogany 12-Fret on a Grand Auditorium (GA) body before it was an option. Nice to see Taylor decided to make these all Mahogany guitars available as a standard option, it will certainly get them in more hands.

BTW, below are some of my favorite all hog BTO's that we started ordering back in 2010.

12-Fret GC Satin




12-Fret GC Gloss




12-Fret GA Gloss

[Karel]

Originally Posted by TEK

Karel,
Thanks for the review of your new Taylor and congrats on a keeper. I have not yet got to see or play any of the new Taylor mahogany guitars. I am curious if you have played any of the 15 series Martins and how the two compare. I am not trying to start any Martin vs Taylor stuff here, just curious how they compare tonally.
I currently own both Taylors and Martins and appreciate what each have to offer. I own one of LA guitars custom 00-15's right now and really like it. I love the tone of a all hog guitar and have always liked the Taylor neck. I could see one of these in my future.

No Tek, I haven't had the chance to compare it with the Martins, but what I always read about them leads me to the cautious conclusion that this Taylor hog has some Martin characteristics. The 522 was the first guitar which I ever bought without playing it so it was quite a nervous gamble, but I was not disappointed.

[Karel]

[QUOTE=M19;3567226]Had this 12-fret short scale GC (BTO) for almost a year and agree with most of what you've said. Try some Newtone Masterclass 0.012's for tone.

Nice Rembrandt-like (dog!) picture. Thanks for the sugestion.

[Karel]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

Karel, Congrats! Thanks for the great review. #2, wow, now that's a first edition alright.

Regarding your string experimentation, will you continue to try other brands or will you be sticking with the D'addarios?

Dru, I'm afraid that #2 was what made me take "the risk". It was the first one available on the internet and turned out to be the one that was presented on the Musikmesse.

For the moment I intend to see how the D'Addarios develop in tone and playability. For decades I played extra light because I was convinced that those were the only ones I could handle with my slightly arthrosic fingers. Earlier this year I installed lights on my 714 and to my surprise it went well and, as important (because that's the reason I tried them), my guitar loved them! That's why I recently dared to take the next step (mediums, tuned half a step down) on my 522. The high strings are probably a little too sturdy for my finger picking, so that I will end up with a mix of medium and light (D'Addario JE19).

[Jersey tuning]

As for strings, I've been loving John Pease PBLights on my Taylor BTO GC12-fret Sinker/Rosewood. And as the owner of a 1930 all solid mahogany Martin 2-17 I totally relate to the hogomania.