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  #106  
Old 05-05-2021, 01:25 PM
joeld joeld is offline
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I liked my little Taylor. I was very pleased with it and it made me happy. It was bright, but sounded good. Some crack head felt he needed it more than me, so it left my life without my permission.

Since then my taste has moved on to bigger fuller-sounding guitars, so it wasn't replaced by another Taylor.

Hey Rad, we must be neighbors! I'm also within walking distance to Sylvan. Cheers, /jd
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  #107  
Old 05-05-2021, 02:20 PM
Br1ck Br1ck is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zexxor View Post
Martin D18, to my mind, is like the gold standard, just morphine and C4 - you just can't go wrong.
Martin D35, though, I can't even understand why they make them, sorry, but to my ears, not good.
I rebelled against Taylor until recently when my fingers said no more 1 11/16"s.
And when my fingers talk I listen. So, I looked around for a 1 3/4" and found a DN3 (Taylor) that I could afford and nothing in the Martin nor the Gibson line that was affordable, nothing. I have that DN3 guitar now and it is a mighty fine sounding guitar.
I want to try Taylor's 500 series with sitka tops and mahogany sides/backs to see where they are sound-wise as well. For whatever reason, when I hear a rosewood body I get the impression of an ugly, skinny person screaming.
Sorry, no offense meant.
You know, in forty years, I liked just one D 35. Just one. I e mailed Bryan Kimsey and asked if he knew of any D 18s for sale. He replied his friend was selling the best D 35 he had ever played and refered me to a video. It was bright and punchy and had no mud. It was a custom, but it had regular D 35 bracing. So I bought it. I could play 20 more and not like them. Go figure. So if someone says go play that Taylor, I always do. So far no cigar.
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Last edited by Kerbie; 05-05-2021 at 02:54 PM. Reason: Removed profanity
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  #108  
Old 05-05-2021, 05:44 PM
FingahPickah FingahPickah is online now
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Originally Posted by Zexxor View Post
For whatever reason, when I hear a rosewood body I get the impression of an ugly, skinny person screaming.
Any rosewood B/S guitar?

What impression does mahogany give you?
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  #109  
Old 05-05-2021, 06:58 PM
Steve DeRosa Steve DeRosa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by samirguitar View Post
...I guess I am way differently wired in my brain about sound. Because I know that there are millions of Taylor fans and they all can't be victims of hyped up marketing...
The guitar demons have taken over your mind...

They demand your total submission and conformity...

They whisper in your dreams:

"1-3/4" nut...fat prewar neck...rosewood OM...mahogany dread...butterbean tuners...fingerstyle...DADGAD..."

Night after night, you wake up sweating and screaming...

You need an immediate exorcism...

Buy yourself a Taylor...
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  #110  
Old 05-05-2021, 07:50 PM
Zexxor Zexxor is offline
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Originally Posted by Br1ck View Post
You know, in forty years, I liked just one D 35. Just one. I e mailed Bryan Kimsey and asked if he knew of any D 18s for sale. He replied his friend was selling the best D 35 he had ever played and refered me to a video. It was bright and punchy and had no mud. It was a custom, but it had regular D 35 bracing. So I bought it. I could play 20 more and not like them. Go figure. So if someone says go play that Taylor, I always do. So far no cigar.
You are way more open minded than I am, which makes me think I am probably wrong...
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  #111  
Old 05-05-2021, 07:52 PM
Zexxor Zexxor is offline
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Originally Posted by FingahPickah View Post
Any rosewood B/S guitar?

What impression does mahogany give you?
I probably shouldn't have wrote that.

I love mahogany. I love it like I love Doc Watson.

I wish he had been my dad.
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  #112  
Old 05-06-2021, 06:54 AM
Goodallboy Goodallboy is offline
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Originally Posted by Shades of Blue View Post
For me, I have a hard time with Taylor because all I hear is the string. It's the "piano" thing. I just like my guitars to sound woody or honky. Different strokes. My 717 is one of my favorite acoustic sounds, so I know that Taylor "can" do it...

I'm probably also in the minority here, but I find them hard to play. Number 1, because they string them with Elixirs which I find terribly slippery and stiff because the tension is higher than normal strings, and Number 2, there is something about them that makes it harder to press the strings....maybe it goes back to the tension?
Interesting observations that I’ll add something to go along in support of your assessments.

In one of NYC most revered guitar stores I was able to ask the long time manager to give me his personal opinion of Taylor vs most other major brands.

He told me that with Taylors you get more “string sound” than with other well known brands. He pulled one off the wall and demonstrated the obvious difference in tone.

Fast forward a couple of years and I was in NC at a well stocked Taylor dealer and I played three Taylors in a row that were supposedly the “re-imagined” (or some other term, I lose count on the trendy marketing terms) models. They were all very, very good and nothing like any Taylor I’d ever played in terms of their “Martin-like” bass and deep woody tones.

I think they quickly stopped making these for some inexplicable reason, but they were the only Taylors that ever sounded like that, IMO.
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Last edited by Goodallboy; 05-07-2021 at 06:21 AM.
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  #113  
Old 05-06-2021, 08:50 AM
jimmy bookout jimmy bookout is offline
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^^^
I played an 814CE at Gruhns a few years ago. It was the "reimagined" X bracing and I thought it was the BEST sounding Taylor I had ever played. I would have bought it on the spot but it had the Expression system in it...And I have owned a fair number of Taylors and own a Leo Kottke now.
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  #114  
Old 05-06-2021, 09:37 AM
beninma beninma is offline
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Originally Posted by drawshot1975 View Post
Maybe it's just a newbie rhythm player opinion..but I find it funny that people chime in with the 'thin, zingy, brittle, bright' perspective on Taylor guitars.

I can make a Martin, Gibson, Alvarez, Yamaha, Guild, or boutique guitar sound thin, too...if I use a .73mm Tortex pick.

With the Taylors I have, I like to mix and match the pick and guitar choices, to get the kind of sound I want. If I'm in the mood for something a bit bright and 'thin' I'll play with a .73mm Ultex or Primetone. If I want warm and full, I'll play with a Blue Chip TD35 or TD40.

So much cheaper to swap between picks to get the noise I want...and the options are near-limitless (and budget friendly!). Same can be said for strings.
This is so true.

I play a TD35 or a TD50 as well on my Taylor to get a warmer/fuller sound.

And yet there are lots of people who will say Blue Chips are too expensive, better get more guitars instead to get a different sound. My only concession to "Blue Chip is too expensive" is I don't carry one around in my wallet/pockets because it would be a lot easier to lose it that way compared to keeping it in my guitar case. The thing with that is I end up keeping a crappy cheap pick in my wallet that I don't care about. Then if I go in a guitar store everything sounds bad and it keeps me from wanting a new guitar even though I know it's not having my favorite pick and nothing to do with the guitar!

This all gets back to the point though, the guitar is going to sound like you, there are more ways to get a different sound than buying a different guitar, and no one has to like any particular brand of guitar if it doesn't call out to them.

If you don't like Taylor don't worry about it, play whatever you like and forget about hype, advertising, marketing, and forums trying to tell you that you need to like Taylor or any other brand.

Guitar is not about like and acquiring guitars from the largest collection of brands. Just play whatever makes you happy and don't worry about anything else. I doubt many people here stay up at night wondering why they can't get into high gain heavy metal, that's no different from being bothered by not liking Taylor or not like Martin or whatever.
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  #115  
Old 05-06-2021, 07:32 PM
jdinco jdinco is offline
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Of course we all hear and feel different when playing, but to me Taylors just don't seem to have the soul to them that I hear from Martins, good Gibsons and others. Just my take. Now I do have a Taylor N312, that I do like a lot. So what does that mean. LOL
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  #116  
Old 05-06-2021, 07:44 PM
Glennwillow Glennwillow is offline
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Not all Taylor guitars sound the same.

I have a Taylor 12-Fret (essentially a 12-Fret version of the 812CE) and it's got a lot of depth to the sound.

- Glenn
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  #117  
Old 05-07-2021, 12:38 PM
whvick whvick is offline
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Default Why can't I like Taylor?

Quote:
Originally Posted by AZLiberty View Post
”When Taylor started building with the NT neck the Guitars (for whatever reason) got brighter, shriller, and tinnier”

So does that make my 1998 414 more desirable than the ones with the NT necks?

Last edited by Kerbie; 05-08-2021 at 05:17 AM. Reason: Fixed quote.
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  #118  
Old 05-07-2021, 05:36 PM
jimmy bookout jimmy bookout is offline
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^^^^
No, sadly. The "NT neck makes the guitar shrill" goes along with the "Collings are built heavy" and "H&D's are inconsistent", etc...Just a bunch of internet foolishness, that sadly travels around the world, and becomes "fact".
I would LOVE to see someone blind "taste" a pre-NT neck Taylor and an NT neck Taylor and pick the NT neck guitar out.
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Last edited by jimmy bookout; 05-08-2021 at 10:05 AM.
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  #119  
Old 05-07-2021, 09:59 PM
Dbone Dbone is offline
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I love everything about Taylor except the direction they took their bracing in. That’s where they lost me. Taylor as a company, awesome. Taylor design language, absolutely love it.

They obviously know something I don’t, otherwise they wouldn’t be doing what they’re doing.
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  #120  
Old 05-08-2021, 10:04 AM
jimmy bookout jimmy bookout is offline
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^^^
I agree. I have played several "V class" Taylors and did not like them. As I said earlier, I thought Taylor hit the nail on the head with the "reimagined" X bracing of a few years back.
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Ramsay Hauser
Cordoba C10
Chris Walsh Archtop
Gardiner Concert
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Gretsch 6120
Pavan TP30
Aria A19c
Hsienmo MJ

Ukuleles:
Cocobolo 5 string Tenor
Kanilea K3 Koa
Kanilea K1 Walnut Tenor
Kala Super Tenor
Rebel Super Concert
Nehemiah Covey Tenor
Mainland Mahogany Tenor
Mainland Cedar/Rosewood Tenor
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