Well, maybe not crap. I just wanted that word in the title. They do leave much to be desired in an acoustic guitar however. Let's take this back a few years, well, a lot of few years. Back to the time when you could pick up a Taylor, and hear a beautiful balanced sound. A nice range of mids and highs, with a sublte low end that was part of the Taylor sound. Back then, Taylor wasn't a house hold name in the guitar world.
Fast forward to the days of the Futon. Go to your local Rip-Off (read: Guitar) Center and pick up one of their Taylors. Strum a few chords, picks a few licks. Put it down. Pick up another one. Notice anything? Anything like INCONSISTANCY? The Taylor sound is hit and miss. Some of their 6-stringers got it, and others just don't. Not to mention, that they are slowly losing their low end. A Taylor in my mind is becoming a mix of mids and highs with a nice 'tinny' high end that sounds like... well, Futon.
So, dare say MotherFoo... what guitar do you recommend? I can name a few high end models that will make any Taylor tucks it strings and run. My personal favorite (perhaps b/c I own one) is Collings. These guitars are all hand crafted down in Texas by Bill Collings. Each guitar emboddies the definition of what an acoustic should sound like. Smooth as all Futon. The action is perfect, the design is beautiful, and the sound is undescribable. Just look at a Collings and it sings. Lowden is another high end guitar maker of exceptional guitars. These guitars have a beautiful look and a bellowing sound. Perfect for those more into strumming and rhythm. Once you see a Breedlove guitar, you'll have no choice but to pick it up and play it. These guitars have a unique eye catching design that draws you in initially, and after you play one, it draws you in musically. And finally the Larrivee guitar. These guitars are more of a traditional styling dreadnought, with an untraditional sound. That is, good! Before I bought my Collings, I was considering a Larrivee D-9 with Brazilian Rosewood sides and back and a Sitka Spruce top... the thing that kept me from making that mistake was that while a Larrivee is an exceptional guitar, I feel that it didn't have the chops in sound quality to keep up with the Collings. That and the Brazilian Rosewood was an extra 2G's on top of the normal price of a D-9.
In the end I strummed a Collings D-3 twice. One. Two. I then went on to tell the man to wrap it up, this was the one.
Shiloh says,
They may have lost their dopeness. But most rookie guitar players have a hard time arguing with the buttery Taylor neck. How do I know, because I am one (rgp not a buttery Taylor neck). Unfortunately most guitar stores don't stock great guitars because the customers just hack on them all day. So, they need a high volume Taylor that will still feel special on the neck and some Elixer (sucky) strings that will not sound horrible after 357 people have messied them up. Where can you go to play a great guitar? Unfortunately, not many places.. thus guitar center.. thus taylor-ville. I used to want a Larrivee as well, until i realized that I couldn't find a great one anywhere.
Posted @ March 30, 2005Noah says,
Ah, the buttery neck. A nice feature indeed. But just because your neck is smooth, doesn't mean you're gonna sound like Stevie Ray Vaughn!
Posted @ March 31, 2005Shiloh says,
I wouldn't want to sound like SRV anyhow. But you know our society, if it feels good, enjoy it. Thus the Taylor mainstream phenom. My neck is actually quite prickly. Ever since i got the step haircut in 10th grade I grow some mondo burley neck hair. If i don't keep it trimmed with my xtra strength hedge shears it grows long and dark, begging to be braided and begging to connect the gap that separates my back hair from my neck hair thus turning me into an official neanderthal. I'm curious to your take on the other guitar center mass produced axe - martin.. also on gibson (though the GC only has a few of those at any given time).
Posted @ March 31, 2005Savannah says,
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Posted @ April 2, 2005pw says,
Taylors may be somewhat inconsistent, (but not like Martins where if you want one you have to try hundreds to find one you like) because a lot of work is still done by hand and well wood has different characteristics especially top wood (spruce and cedar) and at the rate they are made (over one hundred a day) they won't be as consistent as some of the smaller shops (like Collings, Lowden, Breedlove and Larivee to name just a few) which are all great guitars and mostly those guys are good friends of Bob Taylor's and he agrees that they make great guitars too - still Taylor makes some (most) of the best acoustic guitars in the world and you just have to pick one up and play it to know that. How's that for a sentence?
Posted @ January 7, 2006Dude says,
You don't know what you are talking about
Posted @ January 16, 2006CN says,
Yeah, that guy doesn't know what he's talking about. Its obvious. Larivee isn't a one man shop, and these guys aren't all best friends with bob taylor, and they don't all mutually respect each other. Personal opinion, guitar making is kind of like the bat in the movie "The Natural." Sometimes there's just a special something in one of these higher end guitars that sets it apart, like lightning... you've just gotta play one by one. Saying Taylor guitars are crap, and then backing it up by saying some are crap and some aren't would only be bad if you had to play every taylor. Do YOU have to play every taylor? Is it going to kill you to play a couple crappy ones until you find a good one? I've got a story for you... Once upon a time I played a larivee and it sucked, so all larivee's suck. The end.
Posted @ March 4, 2006Chuck Norris
Billy says,
Taylors are the best no matter what some teanager like you says
Posted @ May 14, 2006Jeff says,
I bought a Taylor 414ce over a year ago and it has been the greatest acoustic I have ever touched. I couldn't disagree more with the title of this page. You can argue all day about inconsistency but play it before you buy it, you can find some of the greatest acoustics ever manufactured.
Posted @ May 14, 2006Noah says,
Billy and Jeff -
You two must both be pretty mature guitarists. You're right, I'm wrong.
Posted @ May 15, 2006