Purchased From:
The Rock Shop, Auckland, New Zealand
Price Paid:
NZ$2000
Introduction
This is a mid range Taylor with the Grand Auditorium body shape you only get with Taylor. The back and sides are sapele with a beautiful sitka spruce top with black plastic binding to set the whole thing of very nicely. The neck is made of tropical American mahogany with an ebony fingerboard inlayed with pearloid dots. Overall these woods and the beautiful workmanship all lead to an astonishingly good looking guitar. It has a varnish matt vinish which makes it fell very natural and woody yet its very very hard wearing - I dropped a heavy pair of pliers right on the side and after the reflex scream of dispair I realised there was not a dent or scratch in sight!
The tone this guitar has is simply unbelievable. There is a great treble response thanks to the body shape not to mention great mids and a punchy bass range. This guitar lends its self brilliantly to fingerpicking styles but particularly sounds amazing when strummed and really gives a good response when hitting those strings hard!
I have also recorded with this guitar, both strumming and fingerpicking styles and with a decent mic this guitar records very well and is extremely satisfying to hear back over speakers.
The guitar also comes with a beautiful Taylor hard shell case which has a leather like material on the outside which really looks fantastic. I travelled round New Zealand for a year with this guitar and the case stood up to a real beating - in baggage compartments of cars, trains, coaches and planes and it protected the guitar 100% without even getting damaged itself apart from the odd scratch. Its also the perfect hight to lean against if you're hitchhiking down a long road with a massive backpack. the case just sits happily on its bottom while you lean on the top! What more can you want from a case!
Good Points
Sounds amazing
Records brilliantly
Looks astonishing
Very comfortable to play
Comes with a very nice, very durable hard shell case
Bad Points
Nothing at all....whatsoever.
The Verdict
Over the year and a half that i've owned this guitar i've become quite emotionally attached to it - granted I spent a year on the road in a foreign country with it (i'm actually from England) but even so I really cannot fault this guitar. When I was buying it I compared it to a couple of Martins but I much prefered the high end response that the Taylor provides that you dont quite seem to get from a Martin.
Overall, basically, I just can't recommend this guitar highly enough. Astounding.
