#16
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#17
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Maybe you prefer the tone and loudness of a dreadnought. You could change, return or sell the Taylor. Then get a Yamaha LL16, LL16M or FG5 as an upgrade. Yamaha guitars are great. I own a Yamaha FS5.
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#18
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I had to smile a little bit when I read your post. I owned a Taylor 414ce about 10 years ago. Not to long after that I bought a Yamaha ac1m. I would play them back to back a lot and tried to tell myself that the Taylor sounded better then the Yamaha. I finally admitted to myself that it didnt. I sold the Taylor and have never missed it. I would actually play them for other people who could've cared less about the name on the headstock, and every person I played them for said the Yamaha sounded better then the Taylor. I know what your saying about dull sounding, mine just sounded like there was something missing. I just recently bought another A series Yamaha, the AC3M. It is a great sounding guitar. It would easily put my Taylor 414 to shame. The sad part is the Taylor was almost 3 times the price. If you can send it back I would. You might want to trade it for one of the Yamaha AC3M that Sweetwater has in stock. Thats where I just picked up mine. I had them do a set up on it and it plays like butter. The pick up is really good too. For 900 bucks I challenge any body to find a better sounding guitar than this. I didnt really like the pick guard so I removed it and there was no tan line at all. I have ordered a clear one from stew mac. The body depth on the AC3m is the same as most dreads. So you dont lose so much of the dreads volume and low end like you would on a regular OM body size.
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Eastman E10ss Eastman E20D-tc Eastman E20om Last edited by baw3; 11-10-2021 at 11:35 PM. |
#19
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Faith Mars FRMG Faith Neptune FKN Epiphone Masterbilt Texan |
#20
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I agree. I have bought some that I tried to convince myself that it sounded great to me but I was in denial. I’ve found that you should almost always go with you initial gut feeling in life and that has more often than not been the right decision for me.
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2021 Eastman E10SS SB 2021 Eastman E8D TC 1972 Yamaha FG-180 Red Label (Taiwan) 2019 Yamaha FGx5 2020 Yamaha AC3M Deluxe 2019 Yamaha FG800 2005 Taylor 214 Ibanez AEB10E Acoustic Bass |
#21
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I bought the FG180 off of Facebook. Probably paid a little more than I should have for it but I wanted it because of all the comments about them and how they are similar to a Martin sound. I’m no Martin expert but I don’t really see the comparison at least with mine. True to everything I had read about them, it did have high action. My guitar guy did an incredible job of sanding the bridge down and he was also able to tweak the truss rod in which I’ve heard is very difficult on those old guitars. I don’t know if he got the action too low or what but when I play it, the neck feels really flat to me and throws me off. It may be the light gauge strings he put on it that I don’t like. He didn’t want to put anything heavier for fear of it possibly bowing the neck again. But I always put medium gauge strings on all my guitars and think that’s the the issue.
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2021 Eastman E10SS SB 2021 Eastman E8D TC 1972 Yamaha FG-180 Red Label (Taiwan) 2019 Yamaha FGx5 2020 Yamaha AC3M Deluxe 2019 Yamaha FG800 2005 Taylor 214 Ibanez AEB10E Acoustic Bass |
#22
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Quote:
I bought the FG180 off of Facebook. Probably paid a little more than I should have for it but I wanted it because of all the comments about them and how they are similar to a Martin sound. I’m no Martin expert but I don’t really see the comparison at least with mine. True to everything I had read about them, it did have high action. My guitar guy did an incredible job of sanding the bridge down and he was also able to tweak the truss rod in which I’ve heard is very difficult on those old guitars. I don’t know if he got the action too low or what but when I play it, the neck feels really flat to me and throws me off. It may be the light gauge strings he put on it that I don’t like. He didn’t want to put anything heavier for fear of it possibly pulling on it and bowing the neck again. But I always put medium gauge strings on all my guitars and think that’s the the issue. I’m going to try some mediums on it soon. As far as how the FG180 sounds? I think it sounds really good for what it is. It may sound better once I get those medium strings on it. The feel of it has turned me off a bit and little things like that’s can affect the whole guitar to me to where I don’t really get into it enough to focus on the sounds of it. I think it distracts some. As silly as it sounds. I’ll probably keep the FG180 regardless. I just think it’s cool to own a nearly 50 year old guitar that’s in such great shape visually. Only a couple of dings on it but overall it’s in incredible shape for its age. And I still didn’t really spend a lot for it. Good conversation piece. I had a 1919 Gibson L3 that I had gotten from my dad after he died. He’d only had it for 20 years or so. Talk about a conversation piece! It was horrible to play and needed a neck reset. Really didn’t sound that great either. It was a great conversation piece for the several years I owned it but ended up selling it because all it was, was a show piece to me and figured it would be better for someone else to own it that might fix it and play it and appreciate it more than me. It needed somebody to love it so that was the right thing to do. The FGX just sounds so full and woody to me. It’s pretty balanced and loud enough. The playability is wonderful to me. The only knock I have on it is that a couple of the strings, especially the low E string, goes really sharp when I use a capo. I’ve had my guitar guy set it up but it didn’t really help. Not sure if it can be tweaked any better but I may have him or someone else try again. It’s not the end of the world. I just have to do some tuning after I put the capo on. I’ll take that knock on it because everything else makes up for that.
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2021 Eastman E10SS SB 2021 Eastman E8D TC 1972 Yamaha FG-180 Red Label (Taiwan) 2019 Yamaha FGx5 2020 Yamaha AC3M Deluxe 2019 Yamaha FG800 2005 Taylor 214 Ibanez AEB10E Acoustic Bass |
#23
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Nick, Welcome to the AGF!
Perhaps humidity is playing a factor? Do you know what the humidity is like in the room where you keep your Taylor? High humidity will impact the tone. Also, have you put new strings on? Once you have those two questions answered then I would return the Taylor if it still sounds muddy. |
#24
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#25
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A few thoughts:
Trust your ears. A 314 should need no excuses. It has a 16" lower bout same as a dreadnaught. No reason for it not to be loud and sound good. It IS a big guitar. However, some beat-up, old guitars can have some magic in them... again, trust your ears. I'll bet that old Yamaha actually smokes a lot of more costly guitars if you took it into the local store and did some A/B testing. Guitars don't know how much they cost, and you might actually have a really good one there. So your particular 314 may or may not be a dud (probably not, but it could happen). I bought a 714 once that was indeed a dud (bad intonation) I'd suggest seeing if there is somewhere around where you can do some comparisons. However, it is also true that the 314 will "open up" and sound better over time. You also might come to appreciate the different sound of the 314. I would never want two guitars that sounded the same! Guitars that are balanced and less boomy can often be beneficial when recording.
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Alvarez: DY61 Huss and Dalton: DS Crossroads, 00-SP Kenny Hill: Heritage, Performance Larrivee: CS09 Matt Thomas Limited Taylor: 314ce, 356e, Baritone 8 Timberline: T60HGc |
#26
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Trust your ears and your personal preferences.
If you like your Yamaha better, then just return the Taylor. There will be another opportunity to upgrade. Also keep in mind that the environment in which you play a guitar will affect your perception of how it sounds. You will only get a good A-vs-B comparison when you play the instruments in the same room. In my small home office, there can be six acoustics hanging on the hard flat walls. Even after I've finished playing a piece and muted the strings of the guitar in my hands, you can still hear the other six guitars vibrating and "humming". |
#27
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I am also a beginner and have noticed a phenomenon where I play a guitar in a store and love it, but when I go back and play it again I don’t as much. Something about something new and a little different maybe.
I feel like I have to play a guitar several times to feel like I like it or not and only 1 or 2 (where I have done this) have had the initial wonder remain. These were a Larrivee (which I now own) and an old guild f30. Although there are some nice guitars I liked and haven’t gone back to try again, so who knows. I personally seem not to bond with Taylors, or Martins, but haven’t play the nicer ones. Breedloves I thought were fantastic at first but many tries later of entry to midrange Breedloves haven’t gelled with me either. My thought is that I really need to play a guitar several times before I know I will like it. At least at this stage of general cluelessness. Part of it is being a beginner and being inconsistent probably. Maybe there is a set up issue and the new Taylor needs a little adjustment? Strings also matter, as mentioned, as well as time for both the strings and the guitar. |
#28
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Did you try other sting types ?
Which strings do you have on the Yamaha ? Maybe the coated Elixir are not for you... Some D'addario EJ-16 or Ni/Br or ernie ball Al/Br could help. I once owned a Yamaha LS-16 ARE : I finally got fed up of its cristal clear tone. I love my Taylor 322, 412ce and 510 but none is wearing Elixir strings anymore. I tried former basic Martin 140, but now use ernie ball Al/Br on the 322 and D'Addario Ni/Br on the 412 and Dragon Skin on the 510. One should always try different string types when the tone does not meet expectations.
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Needed some nylons, a wide range of acoustics and some weirdos to be happy... |
#29
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I too had a try it before you buy it fail. I went looking for a guitar with a 25" scale length and found a Yamaha FSX800c at my local music store. I played it for five or ten minutes, I liked it and figured it would do fine. When I got it home I just never connected with it. I don't know why and I'm not one to sit there and try to analyze it. I have better things to do than buy strings and hope I can make myself like it. I traded it three months later for a Guild drednaught. Sometimes it is best to cut you losses and move on.
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Please don't take me too seriously, I don't. Taylor GS Mini Mahogany. Guild D-20 Gretsch Streamliner Morgan Monroe MNB-1w https://www.minnesotabluegrass.org/ |
#30
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Put on some $8 D'addario silk and steel lights and tell us what you think.
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Tags |
314ce, fg800, taylor, yamaha |
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