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Location: Phoenix AZ | Yes, I finally played a TAYLOR guitar that actually does not suck. In fact it’s pretty good. Well, actually very good. Almost too good. Arguably one the nicest guitars I’ve played in a while. Christ what did I just say ??? You see, I enjoy hating Taylor guitars. In general I think they are over-hyped, over-priced pieces of crap. Yes, I know you’ve all got a story – “You’ve got to hear my 914-whatever”, “You need to try a blah, blah, blah”. Ok fine, whatever. We’ve all got our favorites and or non-favorites. I’m a Martin guy and to me Taylor is just a brand I don’t care at all for. Period.
So a friend (a member here who shall remain nameless) contacts me and says “Dude, you’ve got to play this guitar. I know you hate Taylor, and so do I, but this guitar is different. I’ll send it to you to try out for yourself.” Jeff, if it says Taylor on it I’m NOT gonna like it. Maybe one of those new solid bodies, but an acoustic, no fucking way. “Dave, seriously I know what you mean. I’m looking hard for a reason not to like this guitar and I can’t find one.” Well, it’s a fucking Taylor so there’s reason enough for me. Ok Jeff if you want to waste your money shipping it to me fine, I’ll give it a few strums. But I can tell you right now I ain’t gonna like it, no how, no way.
So a week later the damn thing shows up. Model 710-L9. It’s a dreadnaught shortscale, acoustic only with rosewood back/sides and wide neck. Well, hmmm ok so in terms of configuration it’s right down my ally. So what, it’s still a damn Taylor. The fit and finish – beautiful. Binding – beautiful. Craftmanship and quality A +. Jesus man, this is a really nicely built guitar. How the hell can THAT be. Give it a few strums – well THAT doesn’t suck at all, now does it. Maybe I need to leave this out and play it a little more just to satisfy my curiosity. The more I play it, the more I like it. What the hell is happening here? Could this finally be the ONE Taylor that actually does NOT suck? Wow, maybe it is ???
The real fun comes in comparing it to other similar guitars. But hey, snicker snicker, I’ve got Martins, and I’ve got Takamines, and I’ve got Collings. This Taylor one-off might sound OK on it’s own but let’s sick the big dogs on it. Problem is that I actually do not have so many regular old dreadnaughts. My only Martin dread is the HD28VS which is a 12 fretter. Sound is too different from the Taylor to make a fair comparison (note to self – Martin inVENTed the damn 14 fret dread, got to get one of those). The other full dreadnaught is the Collings CW. I did compare them side by side, but it’s not a fair comparison. The CW is a $9k guitar and it sounds like it. If you didn’t know the prices of the Taylor and the CW you would pick the CW 10 times out of 10. But is it worth 4 times the price? Of course NOT. No way. But people who buy these kinds of instruments have a different definition of “value”. So the only real fair comparison I could put the Taylor through was the Takamine EF360 Blewgrass. Which is actually a pretty darn good test because the Tak 360 is one of my overall favorite guitars. If the Taylor could hold its own to the EF360, then THAT would be saying something.
So I put the guitars through their paces, back and forth, back and forth. Inspecting both as closely as I could. Listening as critically as possible. Leads, fingerpicking, cowboy strumming, etc. In the end, I must say that the Taylor represents itself VERY well. The guitars shine in different ways and it’s almost impossible to separate them. Different, yet the same. In terms of SOUND, no clear winner. The Taylor is louder and more crisp. The Takamine had a bigger bottom end, probably due to the longer scale length. The Takamine also sounded more balanced. But the Taylor had a great mid and upper end and just rang like a bell. It probably comes down to what kind of music you play. I would say for single line leads and fingerpicking the Taylor was better. For strumming chords up and down the neck, I liked the Takamine sound better. Setup and playability I would give the nod to the Taylor. It was just PERFECT in every way. The Tak was OK, but it needs a little tweek. There’s a tad of buzz on the low E. I’m sure it could be a good as the Taylor, but on this day the Taylor was the better playing guitar.
Fit, finish and quality is tough to judge because both guitars are damn near perfect. Not a single mark, glue drop, rough edge, etc. The quality of both instruments was just impeccable (Ovation could take lessons from either one of them). As perfect as they both were, I would have top give a slight nod to the Taylor. It just had a little more “sparkle and shine” for some reason. The herringbone trim on the Tak is very nice, but oh-la-la the wood trim on the Taylor was down right tasty. But that being said, I will criticize BOTH companies for making some un-called for compromises in material and design. On the Takamine, the pearloid bridge dots and fretboard markers are about as cheap as you could go. Very low class. They Taylor on the other hand has beautiful snowflake abalone inlays. But Taylor completely dropped the ball on the pickguard and tuners. That pickguard is the cheapest piece of shit I’ve ever seen. A nice guitar like this deserves a beveled and polished pickguard (that is standard on ALL my other guitars). It would add about $5. to the price of the guitar. Also Taylor really cheaped out on the tuners. They look like some kind of Taylor logo’d schallers. They hold tune fine, but are not smooth and look like they weigh a ton. The Tak comes with vintage open gear Gotoh’s which are super classy and high quality. So nobody is perfect.
So there you have it. A Taylor guitar that I actually do like – a LOT. I’ll have to change my signature line from “Taylor Guitars Suck” to “This Taylor Does Not Suck”. No seriously, if I was in the market for a dreadnaught guitar this Taylor 710-L9 would be high on my list of candidates. The biggest downside is that it says Taylor on the headstock, but other than that I could seriously be in love with this instrument – forever. |
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Location: Marlton, NJ | Dave - I wish I had your "palate" and attention to detail when talking about guitars. I pick one up that I like and it's "mmm... good."
So are you going to keep it? |
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Location: Cicero, NY | The Apocolypse shouldn't be long now...
(Dave, Esteban's on Line 2) |
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Location: big island | paging gulfcoast, paging gulfcoast...
time to shat! |
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Location: Cicero, NY | And where's the link to the AllTaylorsDon'tReallySuckThatBad Gallery? |
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Location: Latitude 39.56819, Longitude -105.080066 | I own and have lauded the sound of my Taylor DDSM (Doyle Dykes Signature Model) for years. It is also the ONLY Taylor I have ever played that I thought was worth a shit.
Just goes to show if we look hard enough there is always a diamond somewhere in the rough. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by CrimsonLake:
So are you going to keep it? No. It belongs to someone else. It was in clandestine transit from one ofc member to another and it took a temporary detour to my house.
Dave |
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Location: Rego Park, NY, | I should have known that something happened to Dave because he is speaking of himself in the third person. There are a few people in the hospital that I work in that do the same thing but they are usually heavily medicated. |
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Location: big island | Originally posted by Tupperware:
It was in clandestine transit from one ofc member to another...
definition of clandestine: Kept or done in secret, often in order to conceal an illicit or improper purpose. |
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Location: Marlton, NJ | This is turning into quite the conspiracy. |
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Location: Keepin' It Weird in Portland, OR | "I’m looking hard for a reason not to like this guitar and I can’t find one."
"Well, it’s a fucking Taylor so there’s reason enough for me."
That's Good Enough For Me, too!
And for me, it's alot easier to hate a guitar that I could never afford to own! :p |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | ... I'm laughing so hard, I have to change my drawers.
oh, and thanks for keeping my name out of all this. |
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Location: UK | Jeff , i really really really hate Lowdens , dont whatever you do send me one to try |
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Location: South of most, North of few | Dave really knows his guitars, and I respect his opinion. He led me to the Martin CEO, and it's a VERY nice sounding guitar. I would only play Ovations for some time, and I still think my FD custom is one of the best sounding guitars I've played, but my Martin is just as good in another way. Just as good but different. Same with my Larrivee. I have not played a Taylor that I thought was worth another look, but I'm sure there are some out there. As many Taylor fans out there, there must be something to it. Guitars are like strings. Every one has a favorite. I like them all. Can't we all just get along? :D |
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Location: Parrish, FL | Andrea,
Just so you know, I hate Lowdens more than anyone, especially those O25's. So get in line!
And Jeff, there is NO WAY you could change my mind, nope, never, ain't happenin'!!!
You just try it buddy.
(Please) |
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Location: Colorado Rocky Mountains | Taylor, or more accurately, the company to whom they sell a license, makes a really pretty neon sign. |
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Location: Cicero, NY | Probably Fender... |
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Location: SoCal | I've played a lot of Taylors that I've like. Just never played one that I thought was worth the asking price to own.
Jeff, I've never liked red custom built Adamii, with mid depth bowls and wide necks. But maybe if I had one to play for a while........ |
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Location: Cicero, NY | Man, I'd better get in line here...Jeff, I hate everything. Guitars (the more expensive, the more I hate 'em), women (do me a favor and let me know in advance if you're mailing one up, k?) and booze too. And it goes without saying cash is the worst of all. |
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Location: NJ | blah,blah,blah,blah,blah,blah,blah, blah,. . . . . . |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | There's one person who really deserves the press here...
I'll give you a hint... he shat himself and lives along the Gulf Coast... |
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Location: Cicero, NY | Are you kidding me?!?
Bush is responsible for this too?!? WT... |
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Location: Blue Ridge Mountains | Dave,
I think you will find that by in large, on the upper end of the spectrum, Taylor's upper lines - 700 thru Presentation, are very good high quality instruments: I can certainly attest to that...And I am sure that there are exceptions...
I played my 810 2006 Fall Limited Madagascar Rosewood Taylor today at both Church Worship services: I am so impressed how that guitar has opened up as all good wood guitars will with constant play. Besides from being a beautiful instrument (I also love the curly maple binding) it truly plays like a dream and sounds so good run thru the sound system (ESS System w/onboard Neve preamp).
Every guitar has its own voice and to arbitrarily bash one brand w/o giving it a fair shake seems unfair...glad you have had time to give it a whirl and hope you have the opportunity to experience others in the line...sure, some guitars suck: the newer D-1228 for example that I previously owned, but there are some good ones...Thanks Dave for a great review and for being fair! (I agree about the pickguards...a simple beveling step would add a lot).
And I did keep your confidence!
;) |
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Location: Vermont USA | Dave how are your arm pits?
Pauly |
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Location: SoCal | Anybody else here see the ultimate irony going on? I mean, beyond that Dave now likes a Taylor guitar.
All his life, Dave was a slave to Ovations. It was all he bought, all he played. Then, over 5 years ago, he joined the OFC... an early member as well. And it was thru the OFC that he started getting exposed to other guitars, beyond Ovations. First, it was Adamii, but that was ok because it stil had a round back. But then he went towards Martins, then Collings, now Taylors.
And all because he joined the OFC.
Hey Dave, how many of the Ovations that you owned when you joined the OFC do you still own? How many have been sold?
Now, I'm just teasing Dave because I know that he still owns a ton of O's and A's that he'll never sell. He's just expanded his guitar appreciation. And it took the OFC to do that.
Think that's ever been done on a Martin, Gibson, Taylor or whatever else, board? Probably not.... |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | Dave, we've changed the Matt Smith Clinic to June. Bring your Taylor. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Wow. Moody that is a very interesting thing to say and it makes a lot of sense. But let me clear one thing up before this gets out of hand. I have played ONE Taylor guitar that I liked. And I have tried hundreds. Don't make it out like I'm slipping to the dark side. I am NOT. This one guitar was an abberation. I have no desire to ever own a Taylor, never.
Now that that's clear let me get back to your post, because I think you have really hit on something. It's true, I never owned a non-Ovation guitar until I joined the OFC. In my life I think I have purchased 118 Ovation or adamas guitars. All have been resold except for about 25 that I still have. But Paul is right, When I joined the OFC about 4 months after it's inception I had a bunch of guitars but only ONE of those is still around today. Wow, that's interesting. I think Paul it right, it took the OFC to expose me to different brands. I never in a million years could have imagined myself playing wooden box guitars. But that was then, this is now. And it probably never would have happened without the OFC.
Great post Mr. Moody.
Dave |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by Mauvais Beal:
Dave, we've changed the Matt Smith Clinic to June. Bring your Taylor. Now there you go again. I don't HAVE a Taylor and I never will. This was a one off abberation. They still suck.
:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: |
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Location: Vermont USA | Good I would hate to see you wearing a flea collar
Pauly |
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Location: ms | Well i go off to Church tonight and come home to this. Its been hard not to come out and ask Dave how he likes the Taylor, but I wanted to give him some time. I've said before I'm not the biggest Taylor fan but this one and the last 710ce I had are the best two I've played hands down, and I've played and owned a bunch of them. I would like to thank Jeff W. without whom none of this would have happened. We thought if Dave was ever gonna like a Taylor this would be the one, It was all just for fun. If he did'nt like it good but if he did that would change the world as we know it. I knew Dave would be fair but most of all he'd be honest and i think his review is dead on. So there it is, glad you enjoyed the Taylor Dave, hope this don't upset the balance around here too much.
BTW, the Taylor is for sale or maybe trade... |
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Location: Alberta, Canada | Well I thought I felt the world slow down just a bit, but, it seems to be back on track again!
Now I know why! :) |
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Location: south east Michigan | So a friend (a member here who shall remain nameless).... Two lines down... "Jeff"
:D :D
I have played the DDSM Taylor. I liked it. |
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Location: enid, ok | "By in large"? There's a great pun in there somewhere... |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | OK Dave, we moved it back to March! |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | OK, so the cat's out of the bag. The guitar belongs to Ronnie and I am SERIOUSLY thankful to him for letting it come my way.
Btw Ronnie, the guitar shipped this morning and I'll PM you the tracking numbers.
Jeff contacted me out of the blue and said - "You may hate Taylors but you're gonna love this one." He was dead on right. Everything positive I said about this guitar is true, and the negative stuff is 50% just for effect. This is a seriously nice guitar by anyones standards. I didn't even know it was for sale. By all means someone should grab it fast.
Thanks again Ronnie.
Dave |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Originally posted by Slipkid:
So a friend (a member here who shall remain nameless).... Two lines down... "Jeff"
:D :D |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | So- Gulfcoast is the man behind the curtain. I have to jump in and say, that this Taylor is a VERY nice guitar. Dave is right.
Gulfcoast was kind enough to lend it to me for a month or so in a little guitar exchange. As I plucked around with it and played it more, I couldn't find any legitimate reason not to like it... in fact, it's a first rate axe. Flawlessly constructed, wonderful bell-like clarity, big dread sound.
Folks interested in a great sounding and playing dread should consider this as it goes up for sale... |
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Location: ms | Thanks Dave, this has been fun we'll have to do it again.
Jeff W. was the mastermind behind this. We thought Dave might like it but neither of us thought he would make it public! O yea sorry the FD got killed......... |
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Location: Omaha, NE | That sets it...I'm bringing my Taylor.
FWIW, I'm with Dave. I've played one Taylor that I liked. And that's the one I bought. |
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Location: SoCal | I don't understand the FD got killed comment....
Dave, what O's did you own when you started with the board that you still own now? Josh White? GCDB? |
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Location: ms | Moody, The FD is great, the "Killed" comment was about the top sinking in, sorry made a bad joke. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | Book Elite and Hurricane.
I owned a JW when I joined plus plenty of other models but those have all been recycled into other purchases. I think Tom_CA actually has that JW. |
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Location: GA USA | Originally posted by Jeff W.:
I couldn't find any legitimate reason not to like it... What about the looks? It's boring to look at, like a piece of white bread that somebody spilled a little jelly on. |
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Location: ms | I really don't like the shape of the headstock on Taylors, but most would say they are less boring than a Martin. |
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Location: GA USA | Well yeah. Like you could get more boring. |
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Location: Germany | In Europe you get the higher end Taylors (700, 800 series) for 2,200 to 2,600 Euros. Adamas guitars are in the same prize range.
I think generally Taylors are worth the money and are not overprized. Martins of the same class cost much more over here.
My 814-CE is an excellent finger picking guitar and for this purpose the built-in electronics is one of the best on the market. Strumming chords and playing leads for me an Adamas (preferably with OP-24) is the first choice.
Karl |
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Location: NJ | ". . Dave Fell In Love With A Taylor Guitar . ."
So, . . did he fall emotionally "in love" with it . . . or just splooje on it?? |
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Location: Tennessee | Originally posted by cliff:
". . Dave Fell In Love With A Taylor Guitar . ."
So, . . did he fall emotionally "in love" with it . . . or just splooje on it?? The bag ought to be a clue ...
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Location: ms | OK now I don't want it back...Thanks Cliff now I've got that picture in my head. |
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Location: NJ | Just think of it as "Witko65" . . . |
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Location: Earth·SolarSystem·LocalInterstellarCloud·Local Bub | Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
I don't understand the FD got killed comment....
The FD suffered some trauma in the course of shipping...
She on the way to the emergency room as we speak. I posted pics a week or so ago....
and just to make you feel a little better after seeing that-- have a pick...
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Location: ms | I have a new picture in my head. I can never find a pick when i need one. |
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Location: Phoenix AZ | My thanksgiviung turkey has more meat on it than that.
Dave
PS - but won't be anywhere near as much fun to stuff |
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Location: SoCal | Her lips have more meat in them than my thanksgiving turkey.
And there are reasons I play with a pick and fingers..... |
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Location: Tennessee | Oh, Paul ... you make it waaayyyyy to easy. I am resisting the temptation ... must resist ... where's Cliff when you need him? |
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Location: Campbell River, British Columbia | Originally posted by moody, p.i.:
Her lips have more meat in them than my thanksgiving turkey. Tofurkey again? |
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Location: GATLINBURG TENNESSEE :) | Wow dave! you actually found a nice Taylor!
Now THAT'S a rare find. |
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Location: 6 String Ranch | The pick in the middle is a Taylor pick. Now I could like that..... |
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Location: Omaha, NE | I find that picture to be very offensive.
Talk about a waste of perfectly good picks. What's the point? Neither the picks nor the model were improved.
Like I said...offensive! |
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Dave Fell In Love With A Taylor Guitar