replaceing ES1 with another pickup

[green eyes]

Im thanking about replacing the es1 in my taylor.I just dont like the sound i get from it,then i found out why,the sencers or magnetic.like in a electric guitar.I read about different pickups that i could put in,but there or so many.want something that would be a good improvement over the es1.ive narrowed it down to kkmini and anthem sl,because thats about my budget range.I need to get it right the first time.I play in my church, and other churches.and nursing homes.sometimes with other players.but nothing loud.none of the places i play or very big.my taylor is a 414ce limited.would like input.thanks

[pieterh]

The KK Pure Mini is a great pickup and I have it in 2 of my guitars and have installed it in 3 others. It is cheap, simple and effective though can be (but isn't always) tricky to eq to get an even acoustic tone. Having the right preamp between the guitar and front of house or a stage amp can work wonders though.

As a former ES1 owner I suggest you check out the newest version of the Taylor ES. I upgraded my 414 to ES1.3 but couldn't get rid of the electric-ness of the setup so last year upgraded again to ES2. The guitar was my 40th birthday present so getting rid of the guitar was not an option as you can imagine!

I couldn't be happier - an extremely natural tone that I find very easy to work with live. Direct recordings sound very good too, the most microphone-like of any pickup I've tried (with the exception maybe of the Baggs Lyric). Unlike the original ES design it is a regular (non-balanced) signal which makes life generally a lot easier matching the guitar with pedals and preamps - I use a Tonebone Pz-pre which struggled to tame the ES1 but works extremely well with the ES2.

[green eyes]

thanks for the info.I dont thank I would want another taylor system,besides I cant afford the expense of sending it to a repair center and having it replaced.im not even sure i want to keep my taylor,i may trade for a used martin d18.but then i may not.also thanking about a baggs anthem sl in my taylor.then i have to wonder if i put an after market pickup in it how bad would it hurt the trade in value if i wanted to trade it in later.o well decisions decisions.

[pieterh]

The choice is yours of course and I understand your dilemma!

Personally I have fallen out of love so to speak with dreadnaught guitars - I still have my old Guild D35 and will never part with it but my Taylor 414 suits me as a much better all round guitar. Which is why it was worth doing the second upgrade. I should point out that it was visiting Musikmesse a couple of years ago and trying a new 614 through a preamp and listening on headphones that convinced me that the switch was worth it. I got to chat to Andy Taylor for a fee minutes too which was great!

If you are thinking of trade value then stick with the system you have - if I were to buy an older Taylor with the ES1 pickup then I would expect to pay a bit less for it as I would factor in the cost to me of upgrading to ES2. But then there are those who will gladly pick up a used 414 with ES1.1. If another pickup was professionally installed I might consider it but tbh there are plenty of other used Taylors out there that I would probably move on, as I suspect would many others.

If you find yourself comfortable with the feel and playability of the Taylor one option is to trade it for a GA4 (414 without electronics) and then you could install whichever system you wanted!