Essentially, the T5 was what led me to Taylor.
I spent more than twenty years on and off as part of a Celtic-Canadian folk group and while I mostly played acoustic 12-strings during those shows, certain songs just sounded better with different guitars. One thing lead to another and eventually, I was hauling two 12s (one as a backup), a 6-string acoustic and an electric (either a Strat and an Ibanez T300) around the West Coast. I know plenty of other performers who use more than three guitars every night, but still, I wanted to try and find a versatile instrument that would allow me to cut back on the number of guitar cases in the back of my car every weekend.
But it had to be good at both. I tried an Ovation, it was very nice, but didn't completely eliminate the need for the full-on electric "squawk" I needed about three times a night, so it went back where it came from.
One day my dealer happened to get a used early T5 in. It was already spoken for when I laid eyes on it, but he let me play with it for a half hour or so... It came very very close.
A few years later I was at NAMM and played a newer T5. Now I was sold. All I had to do was assemble enough money and make the deal.
Until I ran headlong into a T5Z on a cruise ship in 2014. THAT fit like a glove. It had the sounds I wanted, the neck was nigh on to perfection for my stubby hands, and the acoustic sound through the performers amp was nearly the same as my jumbo Takamine 6!
That was how I came to Taylor. Now my T5z is my current favorite "noodler". My near-permanent practice instrument and No1 couch guitar. Even the mighty Rickenbacker sits on its stand, largely lonely in the dark.
