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Post by fatfingerjohn on Jun 3, 2013 17:20:30 GMT
Off to see this courtesy of Dave Mann music tomorrow evening. Probably my only change to get my hands on some £5k plus guitars!
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Jun 3, 2013 17:23:15 GMT
Sounds like fun - hope you'll report back! keith
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Wild Violet
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Post by Wild Violet on Jun 3, 2013 17:31:10 GMT
Love Dave Manns. Nice people there. Nice Martins too!
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Post by fatfingerjohn on Jun 5, 2013 11:12:52 GMT
Sounds like fun - hope you'll report back! keith Excellent evening with around 20 different Taylor guitars on show and being demo'd. First part was running through the main shapes with one of each shape with exactly same spec wood etc. Idea was to show the difference in tone between the models and where they fitted into the range. Then ran through example of one shape only, but with a different range of tone woods, from Mahogany through to Koa with Rosewood, Maple, Walnut on the way. A break at half time where you could get hands on (although impossible to hear anything in the hubbub). After break mainly discussed the expression system and how it was 'different' and then a real treat with a thorough dem of the T5, very impressive if you want to bridge acoustic with electric. Demo also of the Baritone (sounded great through speakers) and 12 string. Finished with a handout of some gifts. Overall an excellent and informative evening and thanks to Walter, Rachel and Dave of Dave Mann music for hosting; and the guys from Taylor. Now ........ onto a bit of a hobby horse which no doubt has been discussed many times here and other forums so I know my view will get cries of 'you're wrong'. But, even though the demonstrator was being very fair on how he played each model to try to be consistent, my ears still found it very difficult to pick the sound nuances between many of the shapes. Yes, you could hear the difference between the new Grand Orchestra (largely their Jumbo model) and the small short scale model. But many in between I am convinced that, in a blind test, I would find it extremely hard to pick the subtleties. A quarter inch difference in body width as the main differentiating feature makes THAT MUCH difference?? Then add the difference in each model of the tonewood, which again in a blind test may be too subtle for my ears; the top, with variations of Sitka spruce (from different sources), Engelman spruce, mahogany, etc; then bracing pattern; cutaway or not; then strings used (make, type, gauge etc), location ambience, room acoustics; not to mention the player him/her self. And, of course, even though the expression system may be excellent, if you do play through an amp then many of the nuances will disappear anyway. For me it all boils down to 'what feels right for me'; comfort, sound, and overall playability. In a blind test I hope I'd eliminate some and narrow the field. But whether the reason for me liking a particular guitar is specifically due to one or more of the above factors is difficult. Don't get me wrong; I love Taylor guitars and think they have tried exceptionally hard to cater for most tastes and styles. Also, I'm simply not a good enough player to REALLY be the best judge or do justice to the top end range. But, is there a little 'emperor's new clothes' in this? Having said that, give me a Koa series, Koa top with special tuners and I'd not refuse! The debate continues.
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ian
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Post by ian on Jun 5, 2013 15:04:41 GMT
Re : Hobby Horse.
For what its worth John I totally agree with you.
A mate and I played quite a few Taylors for a couple of hours the other week and we couldn't pick up any significant difference between some of the top and mid range models. I sometimes think I must be listening in a different way to everyone else.
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ian
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Post by ian on Jun 5, 2013 15:07:51 GMT
Re:Koa comment..... yes indeedy
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Post by ocarolan on Jun 5, 2013 16:46:48 GMT
Thanks for the report FFJ - does sound like it was a fun evening - glad you enjoyed it. I thought you described your experience of the instruments well FFJ - no-one could possibly say that you were "wrong" - doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, and I'd certainly agree that deciding on a guitar by shape/size/wood alone is not a great idea, and that as you imply, you do need to play them (preferably in a quiet room and for more than a minute or two) with an open mind and open ears rather than preconceived ideas about what a particular shape, size and wood might sound like. It's also true that evenings such as FFJ describes, although undoubtedly enjoyable, are put on for the primary purpose of advertising, and manufacturers of all kinds tend to go to extremes when extolling the virtues of their particular products, and bigging up even extremely subtle differences between very similar items in their product range...... Keith
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