96 Taylor 510 - second impressions

[jerome]

Well, I had a chance to play the 510 this morning in church. I had to lead the band and give the sermon, so it was a busy morning for me. I installed a new set of DR Rare Phosphor Bronze 13s the other day to replace the Elixir 12s that were on there when I got it, and I spent a few hours last night just playing and going over the songs for this morning.

The other mahogany dread that I've had extensive experience on is the Tacoma DM10, so I'm familiar with that woody tone, good note separation, and punch. The 510 is pretty easy to play, but I use fingers a lot and kind of wish it had the 1.75" nut width. It's still easy to play and the notes are easy to grab. The punch is there, but it is a little bright. Even though this is a 96 model, it didn't look like it'd been played too much when I got it, so I'm guessing it'll mellow out a little bit. The guitar works pretty well in a band mix--the mahogany gives it a tighter bass, as opposed to the sometimes excessive boom on my rosewood/spruce Bourgeois. Since the bass is more controlled, it makes it easier to dig in without worrying about overpowering the other instruments.

Overall, I'm still really happy with this guitar. Did I mention that I sold my Takamine dread? So even if I end up not liking the 510, it's gonna be the dread I'll be working with. Looks promising though.

[LarryH in Texas]

Jerome --

You might wanna try Elixir 13's, especially if you want something a little darker. Check out JW's post (something like "Can You Believe This?"). He was trying to love his 910, trying many different strings, and the E-13's were the magic combination.

just a thought
LHiT