Musician Gear & Tech Discussion

Has anyone tried this guitar out yet? It looks amazing, I really want to hear how it sounds. If you haven't seen it check this out: http://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/t5 ... l=standard

yeah, one of my buddies tried it out, said it was an amazing guitar. He said the neck was really smooth and easy to play and the tone was just awesome when it was plugged into an acoustic amp at the store. I definitely want to try it for myself. too bad damn taylors are so expensive!

I have one... I had a problem witht the tuning. Its would slip out of tune immed. I had to sand down the peg to get it to hold. Its great, but dont be fooled..its not going to resonate like an acoustic. You will need to plug in if playing with other people. If you play lead and like the acoustic sound.. you are in for treat. If you rythum or finger player spend your money on a traditional guitar.

For one thing, you MUST get the Spruce top if you want it to resonate unplugged at all. I looked at all the specs on this guitar and I was quite impressed. It is set up like a Les Paul (only acoustic) as far as the nut size, scale, fretboard, tuning pegs, and Mahogany neck.........VERY NICE on paper, but how does it sound? I am sure that you can find a way to make that guitar sound great, but I would stay away from the beautiful Flame Maple Top unless you want to always play it plugged in. Acoustic/electric guitars require certain woods and fixtures to sound decent in BOTH genres, and this one seems to have them all. Please let me know how it plays and sounds.

Attended a Taylor sponsored clinic recently where a good fingerstyle guitarist demonstrated the T5s capabilities.
I also plucked around on one unplugged afterwards.
My impressions:
Weaknesses:
Dosn't really compare to the acoustic quality of a real acoustic. I'm comparing it directly with a regular Taylor auditorium style cutaway with the Taylor expression system, thru the same PA. The T5 was not nearly as good.
To get the best of all worlds, your gonna have to run two amps, an acoustic amp(or thru the pa) and electric guitar amp.
Good things:
Plays like a dream, looks great, great workmanship.
The Electric sounds are very good.
Great dark jazz tone, good clean spanky tone. Even sounded good overdriven slightly, a good blues sound.
A nice versatile rhythm and lead axe for a lot of styles.
In short, a great stage guitar for someone who has to cover a lot of territory. Acoustic sounds in a loud band setting and lots of different electric tones, rhythm and lead, for jazz, country or rock. Someone could get by with this one axe and cover a lot of territory.

But its not something I would buy as my one and only guitar.
Myself, I'd still prefer a real acoustic for most of what I do.
It would work as an electric guitar for a LOT of what I do tho.

T5 update, revised opinions:
Yesterday I went back to the store and spent some time alone with a T5, Standard, spruce model, strung with nickel wound Elixer 11s, plain 3rd, like they come from the factory.
First I played it thru an SWR Strawberry Blonde Acoustic Amp.
In my first post I kinda dissed the acoustic sounds. Let me revise that. They are very good. Better than any run of the mill piezo equiped acoustic box I have ever played. It won't match a high end acoustic with a high end mic/pizz or ac/elec Taylor with the experession system, but it comes darn close. Plus you get some extras, like the sound of a J45 with soundhole pickup. Run straight into the acoustic amp. all settings were acoustic in quality, I found I coudn't loose the acoustic tone completely thru the acoustic amp. Closest I could get to an elec guitar sound was something very close to a Archtop jazz box kind of tone. To get any more elec than that would have required some effect pedals.

Then I plugged it into a big ol Peavy 2 channel 100w tube combo w/2 12s.
WOW!!!!!!
I coudn't belive it! Thats where this thing REALLY shines. as an ELECTRIC guitar! For as long as I can remember, I've lusted for a quality 335 or equal semi solid. Not anymore! I want a T5. This thing has that vib TOTALLY covered. Plus it feather light and plays as smooth as a baby's a**. Put some 10s on this thing to make bending a little easier, and this is the electric guitar of my dreams. I fooled around with the eq and switches, and I went from creamy Gibson tone to spanky tele. A few more tweaks, and out came Strat chime!
Then I switched over to the lead channel and dialed in some distortion, an it was rock and roll heaven. With the right amp and effects, this thing can cover just about any style of music you can imagine. Distorted humbucking Gibson tone, cranked P90 tone, or Fenrder-esq. Of course you don't get a whammy bar. I don't know how much feedback would be an issue for extremly high volume, like Metallica thru a stack of Marshalls on 11, but other than that this guitar can do it all.

I am no longer saving for that vintage 335.

I'm saving for a Taylor T5.

I have had one for about 15 months now. I bought the KOA top T5. I have played it at live performances and a lot of studio recording work. My understanding is that it was designed as an electric guitar and therefore will not give you the same sound as a true acoustic, but it does some amazing sounds. I especially like it for recording in my studio. I lay down a lot of the acoustic rhythms and then follow with the electric sounds afterwards. I have recorded two CD's strictly using the T5 for all the guitar work. I agree though in live preformances that you use it for electric guitar work. The KOA top sounds quite different from the maple top and recommend the KOA. The action is extremely fast and good for those get down electric licks. I have not had any problems with the T5. I noticed that someone mentioned problems of staying in tune. I play my guitars hard and many bends and rarely get out of tune. I absolutely love this guitar, and not just because my wife bought it for my birthday!

Smiley

What about the 12 string version? I'd bet it would be awsome and cover alot of ground too....