GO Models

[krugjr]

Quote from mgap:

"Yep, I get it.  For me the GO is a bit big and don't want one for that reason.  Some people would like to bring back the Jumbo(Strummin Fool I doubt you would get one.) but not me I would never own another one I bought a 655 and admit it is beautiful sounding, but just to much to handle.  I like the GS size but the GA is what I always play.  I sold a GS. Sitka/Madagascar so I could get a GA Sitka/Madagascar.   I also understand that the hunt is a fun part of our love affair with these stringed instruments."

I'm curious, mgap, you like the GS size but always play GAs, and sold one to get the other.....now it's my turn (and I am seriously interested) what gives?

[MB]

It is very very easy to get sucked into the marketing machine hype...especially at these price points.
As a player, I sometimes put too much emphasis on the guitar instead of the playing.
Is the guitar playing me? Or am I playing the guitar? How many do I need?

I've never had an audience member come up and say "wow that would have sounded better on a new 614". They could not care less whether it's a Martin, a Taylor or a Sigma. Guitar players are different...they might say something about it. But your typical audience member doesn't care at all. So playing live for people, it's all about the playing, not the guitar.

When it comes right down to it, a good song played well will sound great on a legacy 618, a new 814 or a plywood Cort. When I hear Tommy Emmanuel play, I can't tell what guitar he is playing. It doesn't matter. He sounds like Tommy no matter what he is playing. His Maton's are not my favorite...but he would sound like Tommy on any brand he chose.

We guitar players are a funny bunch...and very particular about our guitars. This makes us easy targets for the marketing machine. Sitting ducks if you will. And I quack right along with the loudest ducks out there! AND I love my Taylors...including my HOG 518e. It gives me great satisfaction to sit and play it...all by myself.

[krugjr]

aaahhhhh, MB, you must have heard the wife and I conversing this morning.....lots of wisdom in your words, my friend!

[Guitarsan]

It is very very easy to get sucked into the marketing machine hype...especially at these price points.
As a player, I sometimes put too much emphasis on the guitar instead of the playing.
Is the guitar playing me? Or am I playing the guitar? How many do I need?

I've never had an audience member come up and say "wow that would have sounded better on a new 614". They could not care less whether it's a Martin, a Taylor or a Sigma. Guitar players are different...they might say something about it. But your typical audience member doesn't care at all. So playing live for people, it's all about the playing, not the guitar.

When it comes right down to it, a good song played well will sound great on a legacy 618, a new 814 or a plywood Cort. When I hear Tommy Emmanuel play, I can't tell what guitar he is playing. It doesn't matter. He sounds like Tommy no matter what he is playing. His Maton's are not my favorite...but he would sound like Tommy on any brand he chose.

We guitar players are a funny bunch...and very particular about our guitars. This makes us easy targets for the marketing machine. Sitting ducks if you will. And I quack right along with the loudest ducks out there! AND I love my Taylors...including my HOG 518e. It gives me great satisfaction to sit and play it...all by myself.

Fair point for anyone who is honest with themselves..... about playing live. Most of my playing is as a hobby for myself, so in a quiet environment or intimate setting I can very much tell the difference, and I matter a lot.  I'm about to be at the optimum point (again) as far as number of acoustics, excluding my electrics as this is a Taylor forum:

K24ce - General purpose guitar, flatpicking, strumming, etc.
Custom GC - fingerstyle
GS Mini Koa - travel/couch/outdoors/beach
(soon to be) 656ce-FE - for that 12 string sound (btw, 8 out of 10 could tell the difference live between a 12 string and a 6 string)

And that's it. Don't need no mo'. I view the last two as "utility" guitars with a defined purpose. Could I "get by" without one of the first two? Yeah, but I sure don't know which one I would give up. Well, yes I do, based on how that Custom sounds, I'd kiss that K24 goodbye in a heartbeat if forced to choose. Really. The Custom is that good. But I like having several acoustics when I use alternate tunings. Pain in the butt retuning when you can have one sitting there with regular tuning, one with DADGAD, etc.

Also, besides making a difference in a room, there's also recording. And folks can and would perceive differences there, as the intimacy of recording shines a light on tonal differences.

But live? Yeah, doesn't matter for all intents and purposes.

[timfitz63]

It is very very easy to get sucked into the marketing machine hype...especially at these price points.
As a player, I sometimes put too much emphasis on the guitar instead of the playing.
Is the guitar playing me? Or am I playing the guitar? How many do I need?

I've never had an audience member come up and say "wow that would have sounded better on a new 614". They could not care less whether it's a Martin, a Taylor or a Sigma. Guitar players are different...they might say something about it. But your typical audience member doesn't care at all. So playing live for people, it's all about the playing, not the guitar.

When it comes right down to it, a good song played well will sound great on a legacy 618, a new 814 or a plywood Cort. When I hear Tommy Emmanuel play, I can't tell what guitar he is playing. It doesn't matter. He sounds like Tommy no matter what he is playing. His Maton's are not my favorite...but he would sound like Tommy on any brand he chose.

We guitar players are a funny bunch...and very particular about our guitars. This makes us easy targets for the marketing machine. Sitting ducks if you will. And I quack right along with the loudest ducks out there! AND I love my Taylors...including my HOG 518e. It gives me great satisfaction to sit and play it...all by myself.

Fair point for anyone who is honest with themselves..... about playing live. Most of my playing is as a hobby for myself, so in a quiet environment or intimate setting I can very much tell the difference, and I matter a lot...

This is about where I'm at as well.  Not too many folks are shoving recording deals or gig offers my way, so I'm basically a performer and an audience all rolled into one.  And since I'm not a vocalist either, I hear only the guitar that I'm playing (mistakes and all...).  So it's nice to have one that sometimes makes me sound better than I really am...

[Moosedog]

It is very very easy to get sucked into the marketing machine hype...especially at these price points.
As a player, I sometimes put too much emphasis on the guitar instead of the playing.
Is the guitar playing me? Or am I playing the guitar? How many do I need?

I've never had an audience member come up and say "wow that would have sounded better on a new 614". They could not care less whether it's a Martin, a Taylor or a Sigma. Guitar players are different...they might say something about it. But your typical audience member doesn't care at all. So playing live for people, it's all about the playing, not the guitar.

When it comes right down to it, a good song played well will sound great on a legacy 618, a new 814 or a plywood Cort. When I hear Tommy Emmanuel play, I can't tell what guitar he is playing. It doesn't matter. He sounds like Tommy no matter what he is playing. His Maton's are not my favorite...but he would sound like Tommy on any brand he chose.

We guitar players are a funny bunch...and very particular about our guitars. This makes us easy targets for the marketing machine. Sitting ducks if you will. And I quack right along with the loudest ducks out there! AND I love my Taylors...including my HOG 518e. It gives me great satisfaction to sit and play it...all by myself.

I agree to a point MB.  People pay attention more than you may think.   I play out every week (avg 110 gigs per year for over 18 years now) and I get comments routinely on how good my guitars sound.  It is very typical for someone to come up to me and look at my guitar to see what I'm playing and then say "oh it's a Taylor, no wonder it sounds so good".  I don't profess to be the best player out there, but I accompany myself well and I have learned how to eq it properly and balance the volume and eq with my vocals.  I feel it is important for we who play out to produce the best sound we can - and that includes the guitar we play.  My apologies to anyone who plays one, but a Fender or Cort acoustic is simply not going to sound as good at a gig as my Taylors and there are many who will notice. 

I also love my  '13 528 FE GO both unplugged or plugged in with the Lyric p/u (though I do wish it had the ES).  It is as versatile as my GC or GA and has a huge sound if you so choose.  You can also play it lightly and get a very nice sound.  I think Andy NAILED it with this design and Taylor now offers a jumbo that you can play any way you wish.  I'm sure some find it too big but it really doesn't feel that much bigger to me (at 6') than a d box (I've had several) or even my GA when standing and it is more comfortable when sitting as the deeper cut waist allows it to sit nice and low on your leg.  My GC 12 fret has tremendous bass response for the size of the guitar and is very responsive due to the smaller size of the top, but you can't dig in to the GC or the GA like  you can the 528 and get that big rollicking sound.  I play all my guitars both at home and at gigs and can make any of them sound great including the GO. 

[krugjr]

Moosedog.....I agree, when you get after a strong rhythm on a GO it puts out more "sound" than any other Taylor.....and I don't think you could make that sound "break up" if you tried....

[Guitarsan]

I also love my  '13 528 FE GO both unplugged or plugged in with the Lyric p/u (though I do wish it had the ES).

Moosedog - Taylor will retrofit your guitar with an expression system, albeit at a steep price. Wonder if it's an ES2? Doubt it....

http://www.taylorguitars.com/support/service-packages

[Guitarsan]

I agree to a point MB.  People pay attention more than you may think.   I play out every week (avg 110 gigs per year for over 18 years now) and I get comments routinely on how good my guitars sound.  It is very typical for someone to come up to me and look at my guitar to see what I'm playing and then say "oh it's a Taylor, no wonder it sounds so good".

Ah, but they "don't count". They're a guitar player or at least knowledgeable enough and interested enough to know about Taylor quality. I was just thinking of the "general public" on average.....and everything has exceptions of course....

Like, I can pick out a Fender Strat in a song playing on a car radio, but I don't count. 

[Edward]

It is very very easy to get sucked into the marketing machine hype...especially at these price points.
As a player, I sometimes put too much emphasis on the guitar instead of the playing.
Is the guitar playing me? Or am I playing the guitar? How many do I need?

I've never had an audience member come up and say "wow that would have sounded better on a new 614". They could not care less whether it's a Martin, a Taylor or a Sigma. Guitar players are different...they might say something about it. But your typical audience member doesn't care at all. So playing live for people, it's all about the playing, not the guitar.

When it comes right down to it, a good song played well will sound great on a legacy 618, a new 814 or a plywood Cort. When I hear Tommy Emmanuel play, I can't tell what guitar he is playing. It doesn't matter. He sounds like Tommy no matter what he is playing. His Maton's are not my favorite...but he would sound like Tommy on any brand he chose.

We guitar players are a funny bunch...and very particular about our guitars. This makes us easy targets for the marketing machine. Sitting ducks if you will. And I quack right along with the loudest ducks out there! AND I love my Taylors...including my HOG 518e. It gives me great satisfaction to sit and play it...all by myself.

Fair point for anyone who is honest with themselves..... about playing live. Most of my playing is as a hobby for myself, so in a quiet environment or intimate setting I can very much tell the difference, and I matter a lot.  I'm about to be at the optimum point (again) as far as number of acoustics, excluding my electrics as this is a Taylor forum:

K24ce - General purpose guitar, flatpicking, strumming, etc.
Custom GC - fingerstyle
GS Mini Koa - travel/couch/outdoors/beach
(soon to be) 656ce-FE - for that 12 string sound (btw, 8 out of 10 could tell the difference live between a 12 string and a 6 string)

And that's it. Don't need no mo'. I view the last two as "utility" guitars with a defined purpose. Could I "get by" without one of the first two? Yeah, but I sure don't know which one I would give up. Well, yes I do, based on how that Custom sounds, I'd kiss that K24 goodbye in a heartbeat if forced to choose. Really. The Custom is that good. But I like having several acoustics when I use alternate tunings. Pain in the butt retuning when you can have one sitting there with regular tuning, one with DADGAD, etc.

Also, besides making a difference in a room, there's also recording. And folks can and would perceive differences there, as the intimacy of recording shines a light on tonal differences.

But live? Yeah, doesn't matter for all intents and purposes.

Great responses, both, IMHO!  I am the former, and have been sucked into the vortex that is ad copy.  And in this info age where blog this or following that spins the marketing machine even faster, well, let's just say I've been that sitting duck, too.  Which is why I've long since cooled my heels on "gear" and tried to focus on playing.  Sure a guitar may pique my interest here and there (e.g. of late, I've been exploring that abyss known as "vintage" ...now there's a black hole!), a pedal that can do that new thing, or amp that rocks harder or sings sweeter.  But in the final analysis, it's still just me and what I can bring; and hopefully something listenable.

That said, I likewise dig this latter point that the it is also I who must enjoy the tone.  Let's face it, we all play just a little bit better when the instrument ticks our boxes.  Sure Tommy et.al. could easily crank out beauty from a plywood export, but would he choose to?  The intangible element of "I love this tone" is as palpable and credible a consideration as any, arguably more so than mere build specs or the name of the guy who blueprinted it.  Because if the player doesn't dig what's in his hands, there's little point in pursuing that endeavor, IMHO. 

GO old vs new?  or vs Jumbo?  800 pre and post Powers?  Whatever.  Too much ink/electrons spilled on "specs" for my taste.  The final analysis is all about how you feel when those notes spill out under your hands, with or without an audience. 

Edward

[MB]

What Edward said!

[Harley]

Agreed - Taylor could also include a bona fide jumbo model in its lineup by simply narrowing the waist of the current GO, bringing it more in line with Taylor's signature aesthetic and providing better comfort to the player. 12 string jumbos helped put Taylor on the map, while the GO has barely made a ripple in the guitar world....

I was under the impression that Taylor discontinued their Jumbo models (the X15 body shape) because they weren't selling. Not sure why they would want to reintroduce them.

[Strumming Fool]

Agreed - Taylor could also include a bona fide jumbo model in its lineup by simply narrowing the waist of the current GO, bringing it more in line with Taylor's signature aesthetic and providing better comfort to the player. 12 string jumbos helped put Taylor on the map, while the GO has barely made a ripple in the guitar world....

I was under the impression that Taylor discontinued their Jumbo models (the X15 body shape) because they weren't selling. Not sure why they would want to reintroduce them.

I'm not suggesting that Taylor reintroduce the jumbo they used to manufacture (although I did own a 12 string version years back that was pretty impressive). If Taylor intends to keep the GO (and increase its sales), my point is that they could alter its shape by narrowing the waist thereby broadening its appeal by making it a bit more comfortable to players of smaller stature. That would also remove some of the bass that some have complained about and give it more of a "Tayloresque" look. Add a 12 string version, and they might actually have a winner. I personally don't care whether you call it a jumbo or grand orchestra.

[Harley]

Agreed - Taylor could also include a bona fide jumbo model in its lineup by simply narrowing the waist of the current GO, bringing it more in line with Taylor's signature aesthetic and providing better comfort to the player. 12 string jumbos helped put Taylor on the map, while the GO has barely made a ripple in the guitar world....

I was under the impression that Taylor discontinued their Jumbo models (the X15 body shape) because they weren't selling. Not sure why they would want to reintroduce them.

I'm not suggesting that Taylor reintroduce the jumbo they used to manufacture (although I did own a 12 string version years back that was pretty impressive).

Okay. That's the impression I got, though, with the term "bona fide Jumbo".

If Taylor intends to keep the GO (and increase its sales), my point is that Taylor could alter its shape by narrowing the waist and possibly broaden its appeal by making it a bit more comfortable to players of smaller stature. That would remove some of the bass that some have complained about and give it more of a "Tayloresque" look. Add a 12 string version, and they might actually have a winner. I personally don't care what you call it jumbo or GO...

I've never worked in a guitar factory, but I do have some extensive experience in manufacturing and tooling. Retooling is an expensive proposition, and would require input from more than just "some" people. We would do some pretty extensive market research before we geared up to change anything. It usually ended up being a far more sound business decision to simply cut a product than to try to reinvent it.

And, for what it's worth, I think the GO looks (and sounds!) great!

[mgap]

Quote from mgap:

"Yep, I get it.  For me the GO is a bit big and don't want one for that reason.  Some people would like to bring back the Jumbo(Strummin Fool I doubt you would get one.) but not me I would never own another one I bought a 655 and admit it is beautiful sounding, but just to much to handle.  I like the GS size but the GA is what I always play.  I sold a GS. Sitka/Madagascar so I could get a GA Sitka/Madagascar.   I also understand that the hunt is a fun part of our love affair with these stringed instruments."

I'm curious, mgap, you like the GS size but always play GAs, and sold one to get the other.....now it's my turn (and I am seriously interested) what gives?

I prefer the GA over all other Taylor shapes.  The GS is still a pretty good size for me and can do it over long play sessions, but if I can have it in a GA I would prefer it.

Great responses, both, IMHO!  I am the former, and have been sucked into the vortex that is ad copy.  And in this info age where blog this or following that spins the marketing machine even faster, well, let's just say I've been that sitting duck, too.  Which is why I've long since cooled my heels on "gear" and tried to focus on playing.  Sure a guitar may pique my interest here and there (e.g. of late, I've been exploring that abyss known as "vintage" ...now there's a black hole!), a pedal that can do that new thing, or amp that rocks harder or sings sweeter.  But in the final analysis, it's still just me and what I can bring; and hopefully something listenable.

That said, I likewise dig this latter point that the it is also I who must enjoy the tone.  Let's face it, we all play just a little bit better when the instrument ticks our boxes.  Sure Tommy et.al. could easily crank out beauty from a plywood export, but would he choose to?  The intangible element of "I love this tone" is as palpable and credible a consideration as any, arguably more so than mere build specs or the name of the guy who blueprinted it.  Because if the player doesn't dig what's in his hands, there's little point in pursuing that endeavor, IMHO. 

GO old vs new?  or vs Jumbo?  800 pre and post Powers?  Whatever.  Too much ink/electrons spilled on "specs" for my taste.  The final analysis is all about how you feel when those notes spill out under your hands, with or without an audience. 

Edward

Great response Edward.  I to get sucked into the vortex of ad copy.  Luckly I have been clearing my head.  The latest and newest is not sending me into a headspin and searching for one anymore.  It is after all 99%of your talent and hard work that will get you the sound,tone, and reaction from the audience you desire.