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View Full Version : New Taylor GS in the house! Short Review and Glamour Shot


lchyi
12-06-2006, 02:43 PM
The Taylor Grand Symphony model is the best Taylor I've heard yet. I think Taylors are known for their bright, punchy acoustics and sometimes lends itself the "brittle" title. A lot of the dreadnoughts I've played are always lacking something (bass?).

For comparison:
Martin's are too murky for me. The bass is often prominent yes, but also less defined and I feel like great Martin's to a lot of folks is just "another" instrument to me.

Larrivee's are the perfect match between punchy, tight bass, and crisp highs. Their cost effectiveness blows away any guitar manufacturer/maker I know and I think they're awesome instruments. However, all the Larrivee's I've played lack the projection that great boutiques have (Goodalls and Collings to be specific).

The Taylor GS?
Absolutely fantastic. It has strong tight basses (my mahogany model at least) and crisp highs and can knock you down from about 10 feet across the room on pure acoustic sound alone. It's really loud and strong. The new body design with a bigger lower bout really has made what I think is the perfect acoustic. Basically Taylor took a guitar I really enjoy like the X14 series and improved on the only thing I wanted it to improve on: bass response.

Kudos to Bob and the design team at Taylor, this new body shape is awesome, I wouldn't be surprised if other makers followed suit.

Besides that, this guitar was a great deal.

:AOK

http://www.lynnchyi.com/taylorgs/1.jpg

kilgorekid
12-06-2006, 05:00 PM
Beautiful guitar and congrats on the acquisition. I've played a few myself and they are great guitars.

DualRectifier
12-06-2006, 05:16 PM
Well personally I think you should have bought my 514CE on the Emporium...but that one's definitely a sweetie. I love the GS's. I'd like to see more with ES, but I think that will happen eventually. Who needs the cutaway.

Awesome bookmatched back--congrats!


.

waxnsteel
12-06-2006, 05:23 PM
Finally got to play a couple this weekend. Big sounding, articulate instruments. Still very Taylor sound and feel-wise. Congrats. Just keep that ES crap away from your perfectly good guitar. ;)

Monkey23
12-06-2006, 05:24 PM
Well personally I think you should have bought my 514CE on the Emporium...but that one's definitely a sweetie. I love the GS's. I'd like to see more with ES, but I think that will happen eventually. Who needs the cutaway.

Awesome bookmatched back--congrats!


.

To me they are easily the best Taylor out there. The best guitar in that price range as well. If only that price range was my price range:o

Is that your guitar in the picture? It kind of looks like one of those R.Taylor guitars. Either way, beautiful guitar!

Ken I
12-06-2006, 05:58 PM
Sweet looking Taylor, congrats and enjoy! I have a rosewood/spruce GS and it sounds fantastic. The build quality is superb. I never really favored Taylors but this is a different sound. They finally got the low end right. I wish I could say the same about the T-5 that lasted one day with me but not to be.

lchyi
12-06-2006, 08:45 PM
Ditto about the T5, I had one too I never got into, great plugged in but definitely uninspiring elsewhere (or anywhere with a bad sound system).

Monkey: this guitar is either the same body shape or extremely close to the new R.Taylors. BTW, if you go to www.buffalobrosguitars.com and look at some of the R.Taylors, I think this one has a lot of them beat in terms of looks.

Out of all the wood combos I tried there (Rosewood/Spruce, Rose/Cedar, Cedar/Mahog, Maple/Spruce, etc.) the one I ended up with spoke to me on the very first try. It was like 'whoa, let me play that chord again, I'm not sure if I heard it right...'

I wanted to describe the sound in this post but after typing one out and using adjectives like deep, woody, response, snappy, etc. I figure it doesn't do it justice until you get one in your hands.

Seriously, do this. Go to a well stocked dealer. Play all the stereotypical Taylors and Martins and then go play the GS. It definitely is something new and has changes that are actually worth noting.

jeremym19
12-06-2006, 11:58 PM
Gorgeous guitar I have wanted to try one since they have been out but have yet to lay hands on one.

Pa'ani
12-07-2006, 02:34 AM
Hey ichyi, Congrats on a beautiful guitar!
Did you get that from Buffalo Bros. Guitars?
Enjoy...

-kk-
12-07-2006, 04:33 AM
Dos anyone know if the GS and the R Taylor Style 1 shares the same shape/ dimensions?

Ken I
12-07-2006, 07:05 AM
Dos anyone know if the GS and the R Taylor Style 1 shares the same shape/ dimensions?

Same shape and dimensions but the R Taylor has many options not available on the standard GS

Antz_Marchin
12-07-2006, 02:26 PM
Very sweet looking guitar. I was seconds away from pulling the trigger on a GSRS but ended up having to go with a Cocobolo 914c Fall LTD....mmmmmm, Coco generates some sweet bass response on a -14 I love it.