Where my NS guitar players at, Taylor vs Martin?

grown-ninja

grown-ninja

Active member


I really dont play much

so my knowledge is limited besides what ive read on line,

Buying my dad a new acoustic

guitar when I get my bonus and trying to decide between the two, looking to

spend under 1,500$. wouldnt mind going used as well as long as its in prime

shape.

I need some first-hand

reviews...

 
depends on the kind of tone you're going for. Both companies make great guitars, but as a general rule they each have a distinctive sound. The "Taylor tone" is generally a bit brighter and thinner, whereas the "Martin tone' is a bit darker and richer.

Again that's just a generality, they both make some guitars that stray from their respective formulas, but it's a decent generality to go by.

So you should really base your decision on what you're going to be playing on it. But for $1500 you can get one hell of a guitar from either luthier.
 
I'm a fan of martins. The little backpacker ones are solid for portable jamming.

Most of my friends roll with them. I honestly don't play much any more. I stick to my hand drums.
 
I've had my Martin DM dreadnought for almost 12 years, and it's a great guitar. Not the most expensive/best model Martin makes, but my parents bought it for me when I was in middle school so I can't complain haha. It sounds great, stays in tune, and always feels great to play. I can't speak for Taylor, as I have very limited experience with them, but I love my Martin. Yay for my totally unhelpful post!
 
You are paying for the name quite a bit. if you want to pay less for a quality guitar look into larrivee 9as one guy mentioned) or even norman. I have one which I absolutely love. Beautiful tone.

If you are set on a Taylor or martin however, I personally prefer martins. The tone seems to me to be much warmer, a trait I look for in acoustics. Really, if you are dropping over $1000 you won't really find a shitty guitar, but you might end up paying more than you need too. Try a bunch out and see which has a better feel/tone.
 
I personally like the way Martins sound, but I also have a Washburn which sounds fantastic. I would just say go to a shop and see which ones sound the best/have the easiest action to play.
 
Take him to several stores to play guitars before you spend any money! It would be such a waste if you dropped $1500 on a guitar that he doesn't enjoy. Honestly though, take him out just to "look" at guitars, he can dream about amazing guitars and you get the exact research you need, the easy way by chilling with your dad. Make a day of it and hit up all of the best shops in your area. Do you know exactly what your dad is looking for in a guitar? Find out exactly what body style will fit your dad's playing style, which tonewoods he prefers for his playing style, both back/side woods and top woods. For every serious player, there is a guitar on a wall somewhere that will scream "Take me home!" as soon as they play it. It's just a matter of finding that guitar...for some people they never find it because they don't look.

Since you asked: Taylor vs. Martin

Taylor guitars are overpriced pieces of shit that produce less tone than most other acoustics I've played. The only guitars that put out less "sound" than Taylor Guitars in my personal yet experienced opinion are Ovation guitars. Taylor guitars use a bolt on neck instead of the traditional all wood dovetail neck/body joint. Think of it this way, if an acoustic guitar's only job is to transmit the vibrations of the strings into beautiful sounds, why would you incorporate metal into the most important connection of the acoustic guitar (neck and body joint)? The answer is, you wouldn't if you had a fucking clue. Yes, a lot of guitar makers are going to bolt on necks for acoustic guitars now, but only because they are easier to make adjustments to the neck instead of performing labor intensive neck resets.

Martin has been in the game for a long long time and still builds pretty decent guitars (again, in my experienced and very biased opinion.) I would definitely make sure you are getting solid back and side tonewoods when dropping around $1000-$1500 for a Martin, as they do use laminates and HPL (high pressure laminates) frequently. Martin does still build guitars in the traditional fashion and does use the dovetail neck/body joint that any purist would require of their instrument.

As mentioned above, Larrivee does make extremely nice guitars, and they can be had for around $1000. I would much prefer a Larrivee over a Taylor, or Martin any day. There are tons of companies worth checking out though, that is my main point. Don't limit yourself to just Taylor or Martin.

For what it's worth, I have been playing guitar for over 16 years, I have a degree in Guitar Repair and Construction and have built my own instruments. My opinions are just that, but I have been fortunate enough to have a hands on approach to most of the guitars on the market and have gone out of my way to play as many guitars as possible. I have also been fortunate enough to have been a part of seminars put on by major guitar manufacturers that shed more light on their instruments and manufacturing processes than a typical consumer could ever learn. If you have any questions regarding things with six strings, feel free to hit me up with questions any time.
 
if you buy a guitar now on guitarcenter.com with the SAVE100 deal you can get 100$ off orders 500$ or more. Call the number up top on the website at 8pm mountain time if you want to buy one i will sell it to you and I will make commission so buy from me!
 
^ha thanks still a few months out, and thanks for the info db, tying to suprise his with it but well see what happens, he wouldnt want me to spend that cash if we went togeher, so id have to give it to him as a gift, onr of the guitars he has now is a 400$ is fender things sucks, sounds full and good but the action BLOWS
 
It never hurts to just go "look" at guitars, I'm sure your dad would agree. Break a string on his guitar and offer to drive him to the shop to buy him new ones then just follow him around and see what he takes interest in or picks up. Anything he touches or finds interesting can help your cause.

There are tons of guitars and companies out there to choose from, but it definitely helps to have a general idea of what your dad likes. It will make the decision making much easier on your end.

Somewhat unrelated story: My good friend took me to a local shop showing me a guitar he wanted to buy but couldn't afford a few years ago. I went later that day and bought it myself. I met up with him the very next day to look at the guitar again. He was so pissed when he arrived and found the guitar gone, I had so much trouble containing my laughter. It took me nearly 10 minutes to convince him that I had the guitar at my house and that it was his, as long as he paid me back within a year. He was absolutely speechless, but now cherishes that guitar more than any of his other guitars.

Bottom line is that buying your dad a guitar is a damn fine thing to do. I'm sure he will be blown away when the time finally comes.
 
I like you division.bell.

Need more legit people out there. Help a friend out and keep the music alive. I actually remember the pink floyd discussions we had so don't worry about me bringing up the same thing for the 4th or 5th time.
 
I saw some test where luthiers compared the acoustic properties of bolt-on vs. set neck. They concluded that bolt on carries more sustain due to there being no softer intermediary (glue) to absorb the vibrations. However the sound was brighter and punchier (likely due to the metal).

Of course, acoustic guitars a bit of a different game; I'm a die-hard strat guy yet I hate the sound of an overly bright/punchy acoustic.

One thing to consider is that refretting Martins is a little bit different than most guitars.

Personally, I'm partial to Martins.
 
don't know much about acoustics, my singer plays a taylor and it has a great, bright sound. I have heard many great things about guilds, too. or just get a gibson :D
 
i don't know much about guitars, but Martins are made like 15 minutes from my house (/endclaim)
 
I definitely prefer Martins over Taylors. I have a Martin and I love the tone. I also own a Breedlove that many of my guitar playing friends have complimented even though it is a relatively inexpensive model. My friend owns a Taylor and it plays well and sounds nice.
 
go used, I bought a used taylor 110 for $399 at my local shop. It looks perfect and plays amazing. both are awesome brands you cant go wrong, like someone said play them first but I highly suggest going used if possible. Its a win-win.
 
i have a taylor dn3 and i absolutely love it. the tone is perfect, very easy to play, and honestly, it just sounds amazing
 
Taylor for sure. But I would also take a look at Breedlove guitars based right here in Bend, Oregon. I bought a super nice acoustic there and I love it. The sound quality is amazing.
 
Out of curiosity, a few questions:

#1: Can you please link me to that test if possible? I am interested in checking that out.

I don't personally consider the "sustain" of an acoustic guitar to be as an important feature as say the "sustain" of an electric guitar. (By the way, which sustains more; a bolt on electric or a set neck electric?) The clarity, and purity of the acoustic guitar's sound are way more crucial in selecting a guitar for myself. Having metal bolts in the neck results in an inferior sound and I will never own one myself. I will always choose the traditional method as it results in the purest sound. Wood on wood contact with no possible distractions for the vibration of the strings. Most quality and handfit dovetail joints offer little room for glue to affect the sound in a negative way. The glue is just used to hold the joint and not used as a gap filler. In fact, a true traditionally crafted guitar would use hide glue which gets extremely brittle when cured and many consider it to be the only way to join a guitar/violin neck to the body. Although a strong shock to the neck/body joint could actually break the glue joint. Plus side, it's non-toxic, made of animals, primarily horse, and is edible if you so choose. But for the main reason of tonal purity and a slight nod to luthier traditionalism, I only ever recommend guitars made with the traditional dovetail neck/body joint. Of course, this only applies to acoustics as I also love Strats and Leo's other company, G&L, but in most situations I would choose a set neck over a bolt on any day.

#2: What makes you think Martins are any more or less trouble for refrets?

#3 Please name your personal favorite acoustic and electric guitar. One each.
 
I have a Little Martin that's pretty sweet. That being said, it's got some tuning issues: the farther you play up the neck sometimes, the strings get a bit out of tune, idk, it's weird. Also, I find it gets out of tune quite easily, and the strings are difficult to get sounding in tune at times. All in all, though, it's a great guitar--high quality construction/parts/materials, and for its size it has a nice deep, rich sound.

Another point: I have a cheap Washburn that I bought a while ago cause it was a good deal. it has shitty plastic tuners and just overall much lower quality build/materials and actually sounds pretty damn good. I don't like how it plays as much as the Martin--I'm smaller so the Little Martin fits me a bit better, but the Washburn is louder, but still sounds good and smooth for the price I paid for it.

I've always wanted to play a Seagull for some reason......one of these days.
 
Can't find an in-depth write up, but I remember this test being circulated around:

http://www.guitar-list.com/comment/890

I agree that set neck is far superior for acoustic, where the object isn't as simple as keeping it sustain, moreso the resonance, tone, and attack. I imagine that the treble boost caused by bolt-on necks are useful in making feedback, which isn't generally desired in acoustic playing.

I was told refretting certain Martins requires a different technique...perhaps its only the vintage ones? I've never worked on an acoustic so I wouldn't know.

My favorite acoustic I've played is probably the Taylor 8-string Baritone. My favorite electric is my highly modded black strat (obviously).
 
A set neck is far superior for both acoustic and electric guitars. Tonal purity and the lack of interruptions in the wood on wood contact areas create the best sound qualities period. That's not to say your taste leaning towards the bolt-on neck's tonal properties on a Strat makes you wrong versus the love I have for the deep sustain and bite of my semi-hollow Les Paul Doublecut, but that we interpret the sound differently (which is the best part of guitars/guitarists.) But if I am searching for the best possible sound for a certain body shape, using the same top/back/side/neck/fingerboard woods, etc...a set neck will always provide the absolute best sounds. Everyone is different and hears things differently but it is what it is.

Feedback is gained in much better ways than relying on a bolt-on neck, and you're right, not desired at all in acoustic playing. This is especially true on mic'd acoustics. But I really don't believe the bolt-on necks contribute much to the feedback or lack thereof of an instrument in comparison to a set neck.

In my teachings and personal experience, the only guitars in general that are any more work in regards to refrets are guitars with old and dried out rosewood fingerboards, or any guitar that has a bound fingerboard (especially Gibson's as they cap the end of the fret with binding. See image below.)

GibsonFRETS_1.jpg


Also, it does depend on the type of fret installed on any particular guitar, especially of age. But a refret always requires care and concentration regardless of the make or model, especially on a customer's guitar. I believe it was Fender that originally fretted guitars from the side using a press instead of pressing them straight down into the fret slot like everyone else. A guitar that had frets inserted this way could be fucked up easily from a repairman that didn't anticipate it and tried to remove the fret in the typical manner. This could be even more disastrous on a guitar with a maple fingerboard as maple requires a finish unlike a rosewood fingerboard. A simple refret could lead to wider fret slots and a respray on a maple fingerboard among other things. Probably a good thing they eventually killed off the idea in favor of the traditional method.

Mod list on the Strat? I have a 50th anniversary Standard Strat (made in Mexico) that I've had for 16 years, it's all stock and sounds ok, nothing like a real Strat unfortunately. but would really love a David Gilmour signature, or a 1969 Custom Shop 3 color sunburst Strat to outfit with the EMG Gilmour pickguard/pickup setup...maybe someday.
 
Also, OP; another brand to check out would be Alvarez. They make some well built guitars using solid tonewoods for well under $1000 that are for sure worth checking out. However, beware they do make some shitty guitars for the budget minded player.
 
My Taylor has a set neck FYI. Do your research before buying. And most importantly, PLAY LOTS OF GUITARS! Buy what one you like the feel, weight, scent, sound, and looks of. I've played nice Taylors, I've played nice Martins. I've also played bad Taylors and Martins. It's all up to you. I ended up choosing my 1994 Taylor 8-10CE because I stole it for $400. ($2000+ guitar brand new today.) It was also a special edition that is made out of Brazilian Rosewood for the fretboard. I absolutely love the thing to death.

 
Its a Fender Classic Player 50's that I modeled the appearance after Gilmour's black strat. I threw in some CS69 pickups, Callaham bridge, shielded pickup cavity, bone nut, black pickguard, and had to refret it once after only 2 years of playing. Apparently I have an aggressive vibrato technique.

250562_10150200461427808_2953196_n.jpg
 
I have a DG fender strat from the Custom shop. Easily my favorite guitar. Soooo clean sounding, and dat maple neck/black body is just so sexy.

Dave Gilmour = Greatest guitarist of all time.

It's not up for debate, other guitarists come close but he's simply the best!

(I'm partial to him so take my opinions with a grain of salt.)
 
Taylor for sure. Martin guitars are very nice, but I have to say from my personal experience that Taylor is definitely the better of the two.

the BEST guitar however, in my opinion, is my American Deluxe Stratocaster ;)

0119000770_frt_wlg_001.jpg


 
Not to be an asshole or anything, but are you 100% sure on that? I've never heard of a Taylor with a standard dovetail neck/body joint.

Taylor switched to their NT style neck in 1999, but before that they used a simple 2 bolt neck/body joint. Guitars before the NT style neck had a label covering the 2 bolts on the neck block, see image below.

taylorreset01.jpg


By the way, I am extremely jealous of your David Gilmour Strat! I want one very badly myself.
 
Damn skippy! I didn't know that the label was covering the bolts! I stand corrected good sir! My guitar has a bolt on dovetail style neck. Still love the guitar!

BTW I love your avatar! Whats your fav song off of The Division Bell?

 
Yeah, it was vintage fret wire too, which I hate. I threw in some StewMac 6105. I've been thinking about getting a rosewood neck too because maple is more work than necessary to refret.
 
StewMac makes some really good stuff, especially tools. Which profile frets did you put on there? I probably have a few lbs of assorted fret wire laying around if you ever need a direct comparison against what you have. Did you press the frets or just tap them in? And did you use glue at all?

Agreed about the maple. As much as I love maple fingerboards, I will always choose rosewood or ebony to avoid dealing with reapplying a finish to the fingerboard. If looking for a replacement Strat neck, avoid Warmoth even though they are a local WA company.

Very sick Strat by the way, that looks exceptionally fun to play. Never had any experience on the Callaham bridges myself, any issues with anything on it? Especially the saddles or intonation?
 
Division Bell is not my favorite album by any means, but it has a lot of meaning to me and overall just has a particular place in my heart. I would say my 3 favorite albums in no particular order would be Meddle, Obscured by Clouds, and either Animals or Atom Heart Mother, but I am a huge fan of Pink Floyd regardless of which song is playing...except for most of the Final Cut, that one just doesn't do it for me like all of the others.

Favorite song on the Division Bell: Wearing the Inside Out (thank you Mr. Richard Wright, RIP)

 
I don't know what you mean by profile...I forget the StewMac nomenclature, but its equivalent to Dunlop 6105. I tapped the frets in since a press isn't in the cards for me right now.

Maple is awesome but I'm starting to realize how uneconomical it is considering how quickly I grind down frets. With rosewood it would be nice to just pop them in and out and be done with it.

The Callaham bridge was probably the most significant improvement to my strat. The heavier block gave it a distinctly improved tone and sustain. Plus, I can go crazy on the vibrato arm and everything still stays in tune. The intonation is about as good as you can get using a traditional bridge design. Certainly not at the level of a compensated bridge/fanned frets or anything...

Why do you say avoid Warmoth? I've heard nothing but good things about them.
 
It looks as though the profile on the 6105 frets is a tall and narrow jumbo fret wire (.055" tall and .090" wide.) I prefer tapping the frets in myself, presses are handy but totally unnecessary unless you are performing lots of refrets.

Have you had to touch up or reapply the finish on your fingerboard at all?

Hmm, that bridge sounds pretty damn cool, I have been looking on their website. I may see if I can track one down to mess around with. I'm not sure it would make sense to put on my own Strat, but maybe. I only asked about the saddles in particular because I personally hate the standard stamped saddles on Strats. Intonation is more precise and an easier task on a tune-o-matic bridge (Gibson) to me.

I had a personal experience with Warmoth, but I'm going to keep that to myself. I will just never support anything he, or his company does ever. I have seen some nice replacement bodies and necks that he has done in the past, it just comes down to morals and business practices in the end.
 
not much of an input, but I recently started to play guitar earlier in the summer and i got a Epiphone pr-150 half off for onle $100 and i love it. My friend who has been playing for his whole life swears by it and says that it sounds just as good as some $1000 guitars, but obviously it sounds as though your dad is experienced enough to deserve a high end model. / pointless post
 
thanks for the replays, I should be picking one up any week now, I know he should pick it out but I'm just going to get one and if he doesn't like it, he can go to the store and exchange it, mainly for the surprise factor.

Some guitars that seem to have good reviews, anyone have experience with these or similar models? Looking for something with pretty great action and intonation.

some possibles:

Taylor 214ce

Rosewood/Spruce Grand Auditorium-999$

Martin Custom Performer

GPCPA4 Rosewood Grand Performance-1399$

Martin DCPA4

Dreadnough-1249$

Any recommendations in the same price range?
 
I can't say I've got tons of input, but IMO one of best sounding, easiest playing acoustics I've ever played was a late 90's Tacoma road king (I think) dreadnought. Nothing fancy (except for an oddly placed sound hole). Unfortunately Fender bought them and then they went out of business. Their pre-fender guitars were awesome though.
 
price is on point, but I'm a little partial to full wood (hahah) guitars in this case, dads wanted one for a while now. Guitar looks great though glad you're enjoying it.
 
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