Does anyone hate Taylor ES System?

[SprintBob]

Speaking of James May, my last Taylor was a sweet little K-22 all koa 12 fret with ES2. All my other guitars had K&K’s. I bought a Tonedexter to minimize the piezo quack you can hear in a K&K. I used it to create a Wavemap of my K-22’s ES2 and I was really pleased at the improvement to get me a baseline with ES2 that sounded very close to a mic’d sound. James May has stated that others also have had good results pairing a Tonedexter with ES2.

I have no more Taylors. On the outside, the ES2 aesthetics never really bothered me, way cleaner than a barn door look. I did not like the messiness inside and considered removing it and plugging the holes (there is an aftermarket kit to do this). ES2 by itself was not bad but on the K-22, there was always a low background hiss I could never get rid of. I had other Taylor’s with ES2 and did not have that hiss.

[James May]

Originally Posted by jonfields45

One last thought, the basic design of James May's pickup with passive cancellation of the major guitar resonant frequency is something Taylor and the rest ought to be licensing. They might want something that pops in easier with tape, but that architecture is something innovative in a way that provides real value.

Thanks for that comment, Jon. I am in discussion with several of the major guitar makers. They all move very slowly, especially now! Perhaps I can tell Taylor you said so?

To answer the OP, I don't hate the ES2 at all. I think it's pretty good for a UST, and find the three adjustment screws innovative and handy. With a ToneDexter, it sounds amazing.

The earlier ES1 was magnetic and to my ears didn't sound good. Before that version, I have no knowledge and bow to the experts.

[jonfields45]

BTW, this was gifted to me by Taylor...

[Br1ck]

I don't like the ES system, but I admire it for it's utility. Plug a Taylor into anything and you get a credible useful tone. Not at all my favorite, I love Dazzos, but always solid.

[saxonblue]

Originally Posted by Rinaz

Because I'm not using it for now because I play at home. I don't want holes on the wood of my new guitar. Plus pickups sound terrible not just the ES system. I bought the very last 2014 810e so if I choose no E option I dont know what what they're gonna do to fill the holes. It may affect the guitar sound ( I'm not sure about this). What did you say to them? Did they give you for free?

If you chose no E option I presume you'd end up with a Taylor 810 with no holes to fill.

[BluesKing777]

To add a positive note to the thread - I bought my Taylor 717e with latest ES2 last year after conferring with a few Tonedexter users if the ES2 will work with my Tonedexter....a resounding 'Yes' came the reply......

So while I don't mind the ES2 plugged in, pretty pro sound really but I would never, ever play that direct to a PA, while I know lots do...... The sound of my ES2 with a nice Tonedexter soundfile is just....gorgeous!!!! A very good match in sound and ease of use. Vol, bass, treble on Taylor, mute, tuner, DI, tone, gain and lots else on Tonedexter!

So I think of the ES2 as the spark and the Tonedexter as the engine. I guess I am ...the driver!


BluesKing777.

[jonfields45]

And one more ES complaint... Fishman can run an Aura IR for 25 hours on a 9 volt battery, about the same that Taylor gets out of their near featureless ES preamp. At least for the 1.x version with which I'm familiar, that was due to four low noise not particularly low power dual opamps. All of which could have been achieved with a handful of MOSFETs yielding a couple hundred hour battery life.

[JimAltendahl]

I can't stand the ES2, it accentuates any little string noise so much that the finger squeaks, fingernail clicks, pinging, clanking, etc. are intolerable. I've tried adjusting the pickup screws, changing my position and technique, parametric eq, ToneDexter, and multi-band compressor to reduce the string artifacts. All with limited success. I'm seriously thinking about pulling out the ES2 and replacing it with something else. I just can't decide if I should go with the Barbera Soloist, Ultra Tonic, or Trance Amulet.

[Petty1818]

I think Taylor deciding to do their own pickups might have been one of their worst decisions to be honest. If they want to continue, they need some new blood in the pickup department. The original ES in all versions was just terrible and the ES2 doesn’t sound much better than a K&K. That’s not a knock on the K&K. I just mean that for such an involved pickup (built into the bridge), it’s not that amazing. I have long since moved on from Taylor but it’s a bummer that it’s so hard to find one without the ES2 installed.

[lkingston]

Originally Posted by JimAltendahl

I can't stand the ES2, it accentuates any little string noise so much that the finger squeaks, fingernail clicks, pinging, clanking, etc. are intolerable. I've tried adjusting the pickup screws, changing my position and technique, parametric eq, ToneDexter, and multi-band compressor to reduce the string artifacts. All with limited success. I'm seriously thinking about pulling out the ES2 and replacing it with something else. I just can't decide if I should go with the Barbera Soloist, Ultra Tonic, or Trance Amulet.

Coated strings helps a little. Taylors com with Elixirs.

[Guitarg]

I don’t like them at all..I have a 914 with the Fishman system, and it’s awesome...I have replaced all the ES systems with Baggs, and they are much better....companies try to vertically integrate and sometimes it just doesn’t work to the betterment of the end product...great for their bottom line, though...just my opinion....

[Bob Womack]

No. As a matter of fact, I don't hate them.

Bob

[southbeck]

I think it´s a great plug and play system. Can easily hand it over to a soundguy and trust they have a good, clean signal that´s easy to handle and don´t require much eq.
There isn´t a perfect pickup system out there that don´t require some sort of eq/fix at the board. The Es2 is quite close though I would say. To me what needs do be done on them is turning down some mids/high mids. Like at 500-1k or something like that.
Think that´s why the bodyrez works so great with the Es2. It gives it a slight mid scoop and adds a touch of compression. Perfect.

And by the way. I wonder if they have upgraded the pickup. Taylor sent me a new pickup for my 322e 12 fret because I´ve had problems with hum. Well, it didn´t fix the problem but the new pickup sounded much more open.

And then I came across this clip fom May this year. To me this sounds really, really good straight in. And it has that open sound that I think the new pickup I got has:

https://youtu.be/yiEmEVoi4Pc?t=1099

[jamison162]

There was a time when you could buy a Taylor off the shelf (or mail order) without a pickup system. Those days are long gone, unless you want to custom order. Personally, I cant stand the ES2 and have also moved on from Taylor. Just wish I had never sold my 810C. Then again, I'm quite enjoying my Larrivee OM.

[DjFuzzyMcPickle]

Have the ES 1.3 if im correct on my 2012 816 and the ES 2 on my newest 614CE. Different but like them both equally.