New to taylor

[Bassman45]

Hi, never owned an Taylor before, but just recently bought a 2003 810, I was actually after a HD28, but this was so much better, and sounded right to my ear.  I always thought of Taylors as rock guitarists acoustics, dont know where I got that idea, so I avoided them, more fool me. I have Gibbos, Martins, but the Taylor is what I prefer to play now. I am in the process of adding a pickup and have decided on LR Baggs Anthem SL, yet to see how that turns out... Yet to settle on strings for the 810, it has Martin Phosphor bronze  on it but they are a bit bright, any suggestions would be welcome.

[Black Beauty]

Hi, never owned an Taylor before, but just recently bought a 2003 810, I was actually after a HD28, but this was so much better, and sounded right to my ear.  I always thought of Taylors as rock guitarists acoustics, dont know where I got that idea, so I avoided them, more fool me. I have Gibbos, Martins, but the Taylor is what I prefer to play now. I am in the process of adding a pickup and have decided on LR Baggs Anthem SL, yet to see how that turns out... Yet to settle on strings for the 810, it has Martin Phosphor bronze  on it but they are a bit bright, any suggestions would be welcome.

Try the non-PB Martin SP Longlife strings... Actually any strings that aren't PBs. At the end of the day because it's a Taylor and because of the Anthem SL your guitar is inevitably going to sound bright. Congratulations on a fantastic guitar! Any pics appreciated.

[michaelw]

hi bassman,
good to see you here
WELCOME !congrats on the 810
sounds like a nice addition to your arsenal of Gibsons & Martins

i find that strings, like guitars & pick ups, are a matter of personal preference -
the good thing about it is that one can experiment in a relatively inexpensive
manner to see which string will provide the most favorable tone & longevity

with 9 years on the 810, i imagine that the tone has likely deepened & warmed up
considerably & with the dreadnought body & standard II forward-shifted bracing
the projection would be strong & rich, while maintaining good clarity in the trebles

for me, i've found that phosphor bronze strings overall seem to have more warmth than 80/20s &
once some playing time has been put on a new set of strings, that the PBs tend to settle-in a good bit

i'm partial to d'addario EXP19s (PB extended play bluegrass gauge, medium E, A, D & light G, B, e) &
i've tried DR Extras (now 'dragon skin'), Elixir nanoweb PBs, GHS infinity bronze, as well as d'addario
EJ19s, Ernie Ball PB Acoustic Slinkys, John Pearse,  GHS PBs & DR Rare uncoated strings

Martin marquis strings have a silk-wrap on the windings above the ball ends & that may  also help
contribute a little more 'warmth', but it's mainly to help protect (possibly reduce wear on) the bridge plate

i've played a guitar with the Anthem SL & i feel it is a very transparent pick up -
the noise-cancelling TruMic & the warmth from the Element (250Hz & below)
make for a bold, clear amplified tone, especially when plugged in a PA, powered monitor
or a bass or keyboard amp that has a separate high frequency driver (tweeter)

looking forward to hearing more from you -
please make yourself comfortable

[jjrpilot-admin]

Hi Bassman45!  Great to have you here, please make yourself at home AND congrats on your 810!!!    I hope it brings you years and years of acoustical joy!   

[CodeBlueEMT]

 Bassman45, welcome to our forum. This is a great site to learn about all things Taylor. Congrats on your first Taylor. Enjoy.

[Strumming Fool]

Welcome to the forum and to Taylor! If you have no objections to coated strings, I recommend D'Addario EXP16s. They work well on all my Taylors below...enjoy!

[Bassman45]

Thank you for making me feel welcome. Thanks for the advice on strings. Maybe I will just comment on what I do: I am a singer/player, I have played in bands, lots of harmony work, switch between acoustic and electric. Standard covers, but my heart is with singer songwriter stuff, particularly like Ray La Montangue, Ricahrd Thompson, John Martyn, I like the dark stuff the best, but no one pays to hear that.. Also like soul and blues like Liz Wright, Mavis Staples, old Eddie Floyd, Meters, Liz's stuff goes real well with the Taylor...

[mgap]

Thank you for making me feel welcome. Thanks for the advice on strings. Maybe I will just comment on what I do: I am a singer/player, I have played in bands, lots of harmony work, switch between acoustic and electric. Standard covers, but my heart is with singer songwriter stuff, particularly like Ray La Montangue, Ricahrd Thompson, John Martyn, I like the dark stuff the best, but no one pays to hear that.. Also like soul and blues like Liz Wright, Mavis Staples, old Eddie Floyd, Meters, Liz's stuff goes real well with the Taylor...

Very interesting career you have.  I had the pleasure to see Mavis Staples at the Snowy Range Music festival, back then it was called the Snowy range Blues Festival.  Mavis did a great show for us, but I think it almost killed her.  The show was at 7200 feet altitude and it was pretty cool(she had to wear he fur coat) that night, I was plain to see that it was affecting her quite a bit.

[Bassman45]

I saw her recently at the Sydney Opera House, double bill with the Blind Boys of Alabama plus Aaron Neville. She was in fine voice. She's got this guy Rick Holmstrom on guitar, fantastic player, all reverb and tremolo.. raised the roof.

[mgap]

Spent a day at the Sydney Opera House.  Had breakfast there, then a tour of it.  Then had the most fortunate opportunity to play with a symphony that day, which was directed by the sitting conductor.  I played a Kazoo as did my wife.  It was a hoot.

Interesting view from inside out.