About Taylor V-Class
 

Hi everyone,
I have done some research on the forum existing regarding the v class bracing. I am currently in the market looking at a 414ce-r and do not want the v class bracing. My question, has Taylor done any public addressing as to why the v-models lack bass? Are they doing anything to rectify it? I think for now i will try my luck and try to find a non-vclass 414ce.

V-Class guitars do not lack bass! They are very balanced in their tonality. Compared to Martins they do lack bass but that was never Taylor’s forte.

I agree. I haven't been playing my 517 much in the last two weeks due to out of town work trips. But today I sat down with it, and it was kind of stiff and restrained when I first started playing. But after 45 minutes of heavy flatpicking it just blossomed and was sounding gorgeous. The bass was a pleasing growl and thump, kind of like Gibson but kind of not. I really like it, and the bass notes can be felt as well as heard. The trebles and bass notes blend together very well, and the guitar sounds sweet when playing single note lines over chords.

I remember when I got my new D-28 custom in 2005 - it sounded kind of restrained with a slightly muted bass too. I kind of expected that with the straight-braced Martin. Over the years that guitar has matured and earned the nickname "The Treasure" (from Oh Brother Where Art Thou?). It sounds great now! Many of the GPs being played now were just built a couple of months ago. Torrefied tops or not, I think it's reasonable to expect the GPs to sound much better after some time and lots of playing. Just like my D-28 did.

I have heard of guitars going asleep when they haven't been played for awhile. Especially new guitars. My GP 517 sure proved that to me today. But it was very encouraging to hear the real guitar start to speak like it did after some strumming to wake it up. I have no plans of letting my GP go. Some people want instant gratification. I am willing to make a long-term investment that will pay dividends throughout the years.

V-class or X-brace...
 

Having only played three V-Class Taylor instruments my sample size is small, but I agree that they appear to produce less low-end than the revamped 800 series guitars from I think it was 2014. Those guitars were more noticeably responsive and had much more bottom end than the previous 800 series instruments. You could feel this through the back of the guitars when playing.

However, I think the V-Class 800 series instruments strike a very nice compromise between good string balance and warmth. Less bottom end, but better string balance.

For that reason I have an 814 DLX V-Class.

After playing 5 different V-class 914's side by side with a previous years 914 I don't think they "lacked" bass, but they definitely had less audible low end than the x-braced 914. This wasn't just my ears that noticed this as the two Taylor reps that helped me at both road shows heard exactly what I heard.

Amen. My 324 V Class is perfectly balanced. It makes me think my D18 is a bit too boomy.

No statement from Taylor-I fear it may send the wrong message out, but I agree with your observations

The new V class guitars have less bass presence and openness about them when compared with the X braced models.

that said, perhaps the reason for decreased bass presence is because the new guitars are...well, new? Weve all heard of guitars opening up with age, and some of the x braced models have had years to become guitars, compared to their v class counterparts.

Would be a fair comparison if we compared the LAST x braced and the first V class of the same model!

The reduced bass response/output matches my experience with playing a few different models.

And no, Taylor will never, ever say there is anything lacking anywhere with the new v bracing pattern. That is just not in Taylor's best marketing interest to claim, otherwise.

There are no absolutes, only preferences.
 

The archetypal Taylor sound could be described as favouring the mid and high frequencies. They typically have a cleaner, more focused sound than most Martin instruments I’ve played, with less overtone content.

The 800 and 600 series reworking by Andy Powers in 2014/15 increased bottom end considerably and made for a more resonant instrument. The V-Class braced guitars appear to have brought back a more balanced sound which reduces this enhanced bass. These descriptions apply to the grand auditorium models - I haven’t played any other body shapes with the new bracing pattern.

You can see these as flavours of guitar. People’s preferences will vary. And those individual preferences are also a moving target. Sometimes I want a balanced sounding guitar; other times a complex, overtone-laden, wall-of-sound.

I can absolutely see why Taylor feel the new bracing makes for a better guitar, but what constitutes better won’t bring agreement from everyone. You should try to play guitars with the different bracing pattern; you may be surprised with your preference.

Here we go...again. Time for some popcorn.

This is getting to be like listening to a bunch of cheerleaders argue about a football game, :D

...except that at some point, the football game thankfully comes to a close.

Tony

All I can say is......I have one and love it! ;)

Yep very happy with my 514ce V-class.

This is why here in the UK we don’t have cheerleaders. We just let 60,000 people scream at each other for a couple of hours. If they still disagree after that, they do it again the following week.