Help me decide: Martin DSS-17 or Taylor 327e

[Skarsaune]

Two really different guitars.
You really need to hear & play them.

Me, I’d take the DSS-17. Played one locally. By the time I went back with some trade bait, it was gone. Which is probably good, because a dobro is what I was actually after.

[EllenGtrGrl]

The Taylor 327, and the Martin DSS-17 are both great guitars IMO. When I was trying out 6 string 'dreads several weeks ago (which was covered in a thread I posted in AGF), I tried out both. They're kind of apples vs oranges with regards to each other IMO. I like Taylors (my 12-string is a 150e, that has served me very well in a local church band), and found the Taylor to be a very warm sounding guitar, which I liked.

While I've played Martins in the past, in my 41 years of playing, I have never owned a Martin - I didn't like the necks, and I don't want a bluegrass cannon sound-wise. Well, I ended up realizing that all of the Martins I've played in the past, had 1 11/16" wide necks, which combined with Martin's low oval neck profile, was TOO THIN for my taste. When I tried out a 1 3/4" wide necked Martin, the neck was fine. Also, I liked the sound of the DSS-17 - it's definitely not a bluegrass cannon, and well suited to my hard driving playing style (flatpicking with the rounded corner of a pick, instead of the pointier tip), which made the guitar NOT sound brash. Throw in the fact that the DSS-17 cost a few hundred dollars less than the Taylor 327, and I wound up with my first ever Martin guitar. It's definitely been a keeper for me.

Now if I could figure out how to work my DSS-17 into the church band repertiore (the music director plays fast and loose with music keys, requiring me on the fly to oftentimes resort to bar chords, which sound better on a 12-string acoustic, than a 6-string acoustic).

[jklotz]

This is an easy one. I see so many threads where folks are asking for advice between very similar guitars from different builders. Those can be difficult questions. These 2 guitars are so different. I mean all you need to do is go play each one for 5 minutes and you'll know.

If you had to, you could order one of each from a place with a 30 day return policy and return the one you didn't pick.

As a side note, installing a pickup will require extra hassle, and it's hard to beat Taylor with ES2 for plug and play simplicity. My personal choice would be the Martin, but, given your needs, I suppose that should be factored in.

[RP]

Originally Posted by banjomule

So, what would you do in my shoes?

BTW, closest I can find either guitar is an 8 hour round trip drive. Not impossible, but not convenient either.

Thanks all!

Move closer to the shops. Seriously though, none of us can possibly know which of these is better for you. I have a 327e and think it's pretty wonderful FWIW - great strummer and finger style guitar with a nice full robust tone...

[jemartin]

I had the pleasure of playing both a few weeks ago... and i agree that they are worlds apart. The Taylor seemed quieter and more refined. The Martin was an ...in your face.. and open sounding guitar! (Quite a surprise to me). You could find things to like in either one.
My 12 strings are just the opposite. The Guild F512 has a very deep and refined Rosewood tone... but the Taylor 358e with satin finished Tasmanian Blackwood has a loud and deep bassed... in your face..kind of tone. I love them both!

[lowrider]

Roy, if the 327 is Tom Waits, I'll go buy one this afternoon and I don't even have any gas left since getting the J-17! Those early Tom Waits songs are all masterpieces!

To the OP; a couple of other things to think about. You can get a dss-17 from one of our forum sponsors for just over $1200. You can get a Schatten HFN and put it in yourself for about 100. And GC and MF have a hardshell case that by my estimate should fit. It's about the same level as the cases that came with the Road Series guitars until this year. It's a pretty nice case and when MF has it on sale it goes for as little as $59. GC will match and you can try it in the store.

As to your 8 hour trip to the store. Just do it. It's better to take a day to check out guitars than to take a guess about what you will like and be disappointed.

[bil40272]

I have had my DSS 17 for about8 months now. I love the rawness of the guitar.
With PB strings,it isn't quite as raw, but it is still an in your face kinda sound.
This past weekend, while my wife was out of town, I was out perusing guitar shops.
One of the shops had a CEO 7 that I was very fond of. Enough so that I almost purchased it. I knew another shop he just received a 327, and I wanted to play it .
That shop also had a 322 12 fret, and an x braced 324 Nov over blackwood.
I played those three guitars for quite a while, I even had the shop owner play them for me.
The 327 is a very nice guitar. I loved the sound of it.
It is nothing like the DSS 17.
For me they are as different as a wheated bourbon, and a heavily Peated scotch. Love them both, but they are very far apart.
The next guitar I tried was the 324.
Also a very nice guitar, it still has the sweetness of the 327. But with a few more overtones,and a little more volume. I kinda liked it more than the 327.
Then I tried the 322 12 fret.
Wow,,,,,
I was hooked.
The 322 isn't a real versatile guitar, it is very warm, lots of low end for a concert sized taylor. it has a little bit of boxieness to it, but with a lot of sustain if that makes any sense.
The 322 also has the soft v neck on it.
I fell I in love with it, and it followed me home..
All three of the Taylor's i played that day were awesome guitars.
The 327 is a very nice guitar.
The Dss 17 is a really nasty( in a good way) guitar.
You really have to play them to know which one will talk to you.
If I were to pick one of them for someone who I didn't know their playing style I would go wwiththe 327, it is a lot more versitle, with what I feel is a bit better playability, and you get the taylor neck joint.
My fear with some of the lighter built martins,,,DSS 17 included,,,is that they will be needing some neck resets earlier than most guitars.
That is why Martin beefed them up, and that is one of the reasons that the early Martin's sounded so good, they were very lightly built.
Sorry for the rambling responce,
I cast my vote for the 327 over the DSS 17.

[AmericanEagle]

Taylor!
You can’t go wrong.

[banjomule]

Thank you everyone for the additional thoughts! They are greatly appreciated!

I have to admit, Im a bit surprised so many folks consider them such wildly different guitars. I mean beyond the obvious Taylor vs Martin and mahogany vs spruce tops, they are both the makers take on the sloped shoulder dread, 16” lower bouts, I believe they are both 20” long bodies (can’t find the Martin spec to confirm), Martin is 1/4” deeper body. Id say both use a modern substitute for mahogany on the back and sides. Granted they aren’t as close to each other as the 317 may have been to the dss, or even the dss to another Martin dread, but there are some similarities. Maybe the difference in tops and bracing is enough to make them sound dramatically different.

As suggested, I may have to bite the bullet and take a drive one of these days. Or order one on a gamble! Thanks again everyone! Any additional thoughts are of course appreciated!

[lowrider]

Remember, I'm a huge fan of the dss-17. I found a 327 at Sam Ash yesterday and it's just not the guitar for me. It's a beautiful guitar and it's very comfortable to play. It feels like it's much smaller than the dss, which is larger than a standard Martin Dread. But the 327 that I tried was all trebles and not much mids or bass. I played it first, then tried a couple of Yamaha's. I was looking for a Yamaha L series. Played a couple of Martin Dreads, and then went back to the 327. I did tune all of them with a Fishman tuner, but the 327 is just not the guitar for me.

I don't think either of these is the kind of guitar to buy unplayed. You've got to bite the bullet and go play some guitars. Who knows, you just might find something that just knocks your socks off and begs you to take it home!

[banjomule]

Thanks for the feedback lowrider! Interesting that such small dimensional differences can result in such a difference in feel of the guitar. Also very interesting that the 327 had so much high end. Much appreciated!

[banjomule]

Just wanted to revive this thread to let you guys know that I made the long trip to the shop yesterday and was able to play both these guitars along with several others.

I played two dss-17s, a whiskey sunset and black smoke. My first take was this is a big guitar. Noticeably bigger to though my arm over that a standard dread. The good news is is also sounds like a big guitar! Very loud when driven hard, excellent bass. In fact I’d say it had better bass than every guitar I played yesterday except the D-1 authentic 12 fret. If i had any negatives it was that the highs seemed a bit shrill or tinny, I’m not sure the best way to describe it but they weren’t real pleasing to my ear. Cosmetically I liked both the whiskey and smoke from a distance, but up close I didn’t care for the black on the open pore finish.

Moved straight to the 327e from the dss-17. First thought- much more comfortable to get an arm over. Next thought- Much less bass than the dss. But much prettier sounding mids and highs. Don’t know a good way to describe it other than more musical. I liked it enough to keep exploring and trying different things. It does have nice sounding bass when you listen for it, just not as pronounced as the Martin and maybe a bit overwhelmed by the highs.

I also played all the other versions of the grand pacific and enjoyed them all. Played the other mahogany over blackwood Taylors for comparison and preferred the gp. If I were buying a Taylor today it would be a gp. Which one may be a bit tricky to figure out.

I also played a 000-15sm and a Gibson G-45, both of which have been on my list to try. Both were nice guitars but neither were what my ears were digging.

Now the surprise of the day, my wife walked over with a CEO-9 and said play this one, it’s beautiful! She was right, it was stunning to look at and sounded quite good. Not the strummer that the bigger guitars were but very good finger picked. So then I picked up the CEO-7 for comparison since I’ve heard good things and it was $700 cheaper. Now I understand why they are though so highly of. The sound seamed to leap out of the CEO-7! Finger picked it was as good as expected but it also strummed really well for a small guitar! By comparison the CRI-9 sounded slightly muted, but my wife said she preferred its tone. So I had her play both for me, but I heard the same things I did from behind the guitar.

So, which one did I leave with... nothing right now. Well, I bought a shop t-shirt to partially show my appreciation for the opportunity to try so many guitars. I will say I felt the dss was by far the best guitar for the money of all the ones I tried. Just not sure about the somewhat harsh highs.

I’ve got some more thinking to do! But thank you everyone for the recommendation to take the trip!