I first became interested in Taylor for the nice feeling neck and great set ups. But the modern, focused tone has also grown on me. I see the AP bracing as a way to "Martin-ize" the tone, whereas I've mostly gone out of my way to buy Taylor's. I agree with the comments above that it is nice, but different, and skews toward the generic boutique voice (not necessarily a bad thing). I'm pretty happy with my several Taylor guitars, none of which is more recent than 2010.
I did play an amazing new 522 twelve-fret yesterday afternoon at my LGS that was probably the sweetest and nicest sounding Taylor I've ever played. I might have considered it seriously, if only it didn't have the ES2 pickup in it. Those three visible holes in the bridge are a deal-breaker for me. Frankly, I'd rather have a barn door in the side of the guitar. Better still, no pickup at all so I can make my own choice.
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