I want to buy a Taylor but....

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tjohnston

tjohnston

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Im flirting with the Taylor 414 grand auditorium, non cut-away. This guiar is a dream but I think Im paying for all their ads and taylor's stupid little newspaper. Anyone every read that paper? Its full of people saying stuff like, " My life was a mess and my songs sucked. Now I have a taylor and everything is wonderfull-thank you Taylor."
 
I'm not familiar with the specs on the Taylor models, nor the price range you are looking in. And I've never been a fan of the Taylor sound. Nice guitars, but I never could feel like I really wanted to take one home. I played 4 different ones recently and none of them changed my mind. Then I picked up a Tacoma (sorry should have written down the model number) and for the price (around $1100 discounted) it blew away any Taylor I ever played. A nice mix all across the frequency range, neither boomy nor trebly, fine guitar for the money.

Or possibly the Martin 000-16 series which I think comes in both cutaway and non-cutaway.

Or you also may want to take a look at a Santa Cruz, if you are not in love with the typical Martin sound. I played several on the same day as the Tacoma and had some of the same characteristics of some of the Taylors.

Is this for fingerpicking or flatpicking? I love my Lowden O-series, but it's really a fingerpickers guitar, doesn't respond as well to a flatpick. I have a less expensive Martin Road Series DCME acoustic/electric for banging on with a pick.

CK
 
There is a reason Taylor is one of the top dogs of acoustics.
 
I've been looking into Taylors. Very nice sounding guitars. But, from what I'm hearing, I am starting to have some reservations. I don't really like the idea of gold plating on the tuner buttons. That stuff will wear through and look gross. I've also heard that the fret material wears pretty quickly. For the price, I want something that will last. But they do sound great.
 
Martin has been gold plating tuners for a very long time and you're right, it comes off. I have a 1974 D-41 that I bought new and the gold is all but gone on the buttons. About 6 months ago I picked up a Taylor XXV-GA. It blows my Martins away in my opinion. It has gold plated tuners but the buttons are made of ebony. The black and gold is a nice touch. The guitar is a work of art and it sounds glorious.
 
There is no gold plating on the 414, so you don't have to worry about that. Note that the 414 is excellent for chords, but the 314 is usually better for picking. I was making the same decision a little bit over a year ago, and ended up with the 314CE.

I play everday for at least an hour, and fretwear is fine. With Taylors, you don't have to push hard at all on the strings, which definitely helps with the fretwear (although my elixirs still seem to wear out relatively quickly.. hmmm).

My experiences with Taylor have all been positive. Don't let other people tell you what to buy. It's your money, and if you like the sound and feel of the 414, get it. Just remember to take care of your instrument. Any solid-wood guitar that's too dry or wet will sound like crap, as will improperly set up guitars with sh1tty/worn strings.
 
I agree totally with that last post...solid wood acoustics will sound very very different in different climates according to humidity and temperature...a LOT of stores who sell acoustics as perhaps a 'second line' of sales do not adhere to a quality environ to peddle their wares...so some peoples mileage will vary when trying particular brands of acoustics...and of course the age of the strings and the set-up will create a huge variance in the guitars....i have taylors....i like em...i record them and i play them out live...they are quality constructed and they are durable...they are also fairly even in their frequency response across the board...i've owned martins,solid wood ibanez,expensive gibsons,and others and theyre all good....just pick one you like ..dont worry about the marketing hype and play it cause it makes you feel good....a solid guitar will age and mature just like the person playing it...most of them direct from the factory have a long way to go before they become the adult guitar they're destined to be....play a pre world war two martin and compare it to something 'new' and on the shelf right now.....it'll tell the whole story......
 
I played almost every brand of guitar that was at guitar center and mars music one day when I made my mind up to maybe purchase a new acoustic. Too tell you the truth, I had never even heard of Taylor guitars. I tried all the top brands, middle and low end stuff. When I tried a taylor, I new right then that I would buy one of these soon. To me it sounded incredible and it was the easiest to play and just felt the best while playing it.
 
I also spent a day playing everything.
The Martins were nice but when I played a Taylor..................
It BOOMED!
I never played an acoustic that put out sound like that guitar.
Trouble was I couldnt afford one :mad:

Maybe some day..............................:(
 
At this point I'm Taylorless. Sold the 855 last year and later got an NS62CE (I think thats right) that was very dissapointing and was returned. They've got a way to go with nylons but some of their guitars are great. My favorite is a non cutaway non electric 810, but I'm into vintage guitars for home use, so unless some bargin comes up I'll remain without a Taylor for awhile.
 
Try out some Larrivees. I have a DV-05E, and have yet played a guitar that surpassed the great tonal quaility of this guitar...of couse IMO. If you don't want all the aesthetic bells and whistles, try out the D-03 series. They sound just as nice...except maybe a bit less high tones due to the finish difference. Anyways, I hope you find a keeper!
 
I've got a Larivee D03E and it's pretty sweet. The fishman pickup on it sounds pretty good also.
 
That's MY guitar!!

Im flirting with the Taylor 414......
Click to expand...

i love it.

here's a link to a song i recorded with only the taylor......

http://artists2.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/Trouble/

click on "Lake Katherine"

this was recorded with one mic on the guitar, a AT4033, through a midiman audiobuddy pre, straight into a roland vs880ex, then a little reverb/delay was put.....

3 tracks.
 
here's another song with the taylor 414....

http://artists2.iuma.com/IUMA/Bands/Trouble/index-2.html

click on "Daybreak"

the download works better than the stream......

this one was the first song i recorded when i first got it, it had the Elixer strings on it, and sounds a lot brighter...... maybe too bright....
i put phospor bronze on, but still don't like that sound the best.....

there are 4 tracks here, and the preamp was different.... a tube mp.
 
Taylors are very nice.

So are Martins.

So are Larrivees.

I prefer Larrivees. I feel they offer better value, but the quality control is not as good as Taylor.

Actually, for around $1600 you can pick up a used hand made Webber or Santa Cruz Pre-war. Both of these guitar makers produce superior instruments IMO.

But ya gotta play what ya like.
 
most of the new taylors i've played have felt very responsive, but sounded very thin. i love the design ideas, but i think ol' bob could shift his focus on construction and action to sound on some of the models and make me a happy camper. what i'd really like is a 12-fret dreadnaught cutaway, like a (collings, is it?) big goose built as such. talk about a cannon!
 
tjohnston said:
Im flirting with the Taylor 414 grand auditorium, non cut-away. This guiar is a dream but I think Im paying for all their ads and taylor's stupid little newspaper. Anyone every read that paper? Its full of people saying stuff like, " My life was a mess and my songs sucked. Now I have a taylor and everything is wonderfull-thank you Taylor."
Click to expand...


This might be up your alley:

03 Taylor 414ce with fishman stereo blender still in box! was built january 8th '03 i'm asking $1229 retails at $2,248.00! that's $1019.00 off


.............a local recycler ad. Contact me if you need more info.
 
No matter how much you like the sound, if it dosen't feal 'right' you probably wont play it enough to get your money's worth out of it. If when you pick it up and a guitar screams at you to 'PLAY ME'....you'll know what I mean.
 
Taylor

Taylor makes nice guitars. To me they sound thin, and not near full enough, but that can work good. They are very easy to play and put together very well. I think for the money you can find somthing better sounding. I would for sure look in the used market. AS for Taylor's frets wearing out quicker...that is not so. They use the same type of frets as 99% of everyone else. I think it is a %5 nickel fret. Unless you use stainless steel frets then your frets will wear for a nice long time even with lots of play. Stainless steel frets last much longer but are a pain in the rump to work with. And the gold plating on the tuners will also be fine. True if you have it for a long time then yes the gold plating may wear off but a new set of buttons for the grovers used on taylors would only set you back like $25. There are a lot of great guitars out there and Taylor makes a nice one.

John Mayes
www.mayesguitars.com
 
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