« Reply #4 on: October 04, 2016, 06:43:40 PM »
Well, the spruce and mahogany tops are going to give you the most 'acoustic' sound. The maple top guitars look gorgeous, but aren't going to sound as good on the acoustic setting. I spent quite a bit of time with both a maple top and a spruce top T5z, and there is a notable difference. When I kicked the selector down to the third position and added in a bit of overdrive, the maple top guitar sounded closer to a solid body electric than the spruce top guitar, which sounded more like a semi-hollowbody guitar.
Marketing information given by Taylor through their dealers suggests that there are no differences acoustically, regardless of the top. However, I tend to agree with you that the tops do provide different sonic characteristics on the T5 guitars. I've got a 2008 T5 with a Spruce top and it has always sounded better to me in the acoustic setting than my T5-C1 with a Maple top; the latter sounds 'brittle' or 'harsh' acoustically, but really has a nice electric guitar sound in the "3" setting. I play my T5-C1 almost exclusively as if it were an electric guitar, partly for that reason.
Logged
DN: 360e, 510ce, 510e-FLTD, 810ce-LTD (Braz RW), PS10ce
GA: 414ce, 614ce-LTD, 714ce-FLTD, BR-V, BTO (Makore, 'Wild Grain' RW, Blkwood), GAce-FLTD, K24ce, PS14ce (Coco, Braz RW, "Milagro"), W14ce-LTD
GC: 812ce-LTD TF, BTO TF ('Sinker'/Walnut, Engelmann/"Milagro"), LTG #400
GO: 718e-FLTD, BTO (Taz Myrtle)
GS: Custom 516e, BTO 12's (Taz Tiger Myrtle, 'Crazy' RW), 556ce, 656ce, K66ce, PS56ce ("Milagro")
GS Mini 2012 Spring LTD (Blackwood)
T3/B: Custom (Cu & Au Sparkle)
T5: C1, C5-12, S (Aztec Gold)