Taylor Guitars : Direct to Consumer

[Gabrielobrien]

V-class bracing is here to stay. I think by and large the naysayers aren't giving those guitars a chance to open up and hear them. My BE 517 is 4+ years old (got it before they came out) and my loaner 814ce DLX is from 2018 - they're outstanding. People play a brand new guitar at the store and dump on it, but even after a month they're so much more open. The biggest benefit to me is the linear decay and not hearing notes warble in and out of tune as they diminish.

I own a 2019 714ce that's V braced, bought it new.  It does have superior sustain, no denying that.  Do I think it sounds any better than my other Taylor's?   Nope, it's currently my least played guitar.  I've played it quite a bit so it's had time to open up.  I find it too easy to overdrive the B string into this annoying pingy harmonic.  I'm also not a fan of the way the bracing telegraphs through the top.  So, my opinion wasn't formulated in a vacuum.  For my money, V bracing is a solution in search of a problem.

I'm still a huge fan of the brand and hey, it's their company so they're totally welcome to make whatever kind of guitar they want.  For now, I'll hang out in their used market...

Thanks for taking time to answer my question.  I appreciate having you on the forum.

Scott

Yeah V-class is simply a different flavor. That's how Andy Powers describes it. I agree sustain is better and the biggest change for me is the linear note decay, which is huge in recording.  I also think the ability to voice guitars specific to wood has really changed. The new koa 700s are a massive improvement over other koa guitars IMO. I normally don't enjoy koa or maple all that much and now I do. And a solid maple top like the AD27e Flametop was unthinkable till a year ago. Is it gonna be for everyone? No. Nothing is gonna be for everyone, but Taylor as a company is about forward direction and trying to find ways to build smarter and improve guitars. That's how they started. Every change along the way has met pushback, like the NT neck, cutaways, etc. That's always the case. They're always made their own way and will continue to.

[Craig]

I went through that exact process with Ted for a custom GS shipped to the UK and I sure wouldn't have bought it without their personal touch.

On a related note, here in the UK a couple of years ago Mesa Boogie announced large price cuts because they were going to do their own distribution, they've been pretty much unavailable here
 ever since.

Craig