There is absolutely no doubt that it is a visual knock-off of the 800 series. That is what attracted me to it. The 800 series Taylors are my favorites by far. That is where the similarities end though. I like Taylor guitars and that is why I went back and tried the 810 and the 816. For this time though, it was just that Martin sound that I was looking for. Not better than the Taylor and I know that most Taylor fans much prefer the Taylor sound over the Martin but this time it was the sound of this guitar that I was after. I will say that playability is similar for both models. The Taylor neck is fantastic and playability, in my opinion, is second to none but Martin did a great job on the neck of this one. For me, playability was pretty much a toss up. I love both guitars but this time, this was the sound that I was looking for. I have to admit that the electronics played no part in my decision. I never even plugged either guitar in to an amp. To be honest, if either of these had no electronics I would have been fine with that. I like the cutaway style though and they just both have electronics. I may use it somebody but for now it will be mostly unplugged.
