Taylor Baby Mahogony electrified

[mutantrock]

I went to an open mic this week which I have not done for a very long time. I have a new project with a female vocalist and it was our debut. I took my Martin GPCPA1 with me which I like very much and it sounded very nice as usual.
What surprised me that night was the guitar that I like second best was this Taylor Baby that a guy was playing that had a surprisingly warm and full sound but was not the least bit boomy. There were a lot of nice guitars but this little Taylor was amazing. I wondered the whole time he was playing what he was using as a pickup.. so afterwards I asked him. He has a Fishman Prefix Pro T installed. The guitar really sounded amazingly good considering he has under $700 in it.

[pieterh]

Asuming the Prefix Pro preamp is working together with the Matrix pickup then I'm not surprised. I have the Matrix in my Guild and though the sound is different from the Taylor ES-3 in my 414CE it is a great live pickup.

I mixed a group a few months ago where the guitarist had a new Gibson (J 200 if I remember rightly) which had a factory installed Prefix. Sounded amazing!

[mutantrock]

Yes it was paired with a matrix UST. I was expecting the guitar to sound like a ukelele but it sounded more like a "cannon".

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by mutantrock

Yes it was paired with a matrix UST. I was expecting the guitar to sound like a ukelele but it sounded more like a "cannon".

Hi mr...

If there is a class of guitars which sound better amplified than acoustically in the room, it is small bodied travel instruments.

The under saddle combined with anything else you want to stuff in it (or just an under saddle alone with a decent preamp) will transfer the string energy under the saddle just as well as it does for larger bodied cousins/brothers.

This is not exactly new ''news'', but it is surprising the first time one sees/hears it. Same is true of Carbon fiber ''Cargo'' small bodied guitars...and Martin Backpackers. Many portable/travel guitars are built around this concept.

I still think it's somewhat of a novelty approach to amplified playing, especially with other viable and same-price-range portable guitar options (like Voyage-Air).

When all is said and done, you still have a guitar that sounds like cardboard in the living room.

Even if I own all the peripheral gear (preamps, cables etc) I find it hard to invest that kind of money into a guitar which only sounds decent plugged in.

[mutantrock]

"I still think it's somewhat of a novelty approach to amplified playing"


I agree Larry. This is setup worked well for the songs and technique of the player but would not be a good all around setup for all styles. He did a good rendition of Honky Cat that was inspiring.