Great Taylor customer service

[Radd]

I traded in my T5z because I could not really find the tones I was looking for.  The neck was amazing and of course so was the workmanship.  I got a T3.  I really like it but in that tone search I wanted an even warmer mellower sound so I ordered the Taylor Alnico pickups.

Plug and play install, gotta love that.  I installed the neck pup and pulled the bridge pup out of the box and noticed it was dented.  Well, they are so easy to install I popped it in anyway.

I just love the new sound....Oh ya, the point of the thread.  I emailed Taylor that night and the next day I had an email with a prepaid mailing label and they stated the replacement pup would be in the mail after mine was returned.  I love fast service like that.

What good is a forum thread without pics.

The assortment of tools needed to replace the pup
Before and after pics
the dent

[timfitz63]

Welcome!  And congratulations on finding the sound you wanted!  Also good to hear Taylor Customer Service is still on the ball!

I too am finding it difficult to wrap my head around the T5/T5z lines.  I've seen the guitar demonstrated, and when in the hands of someone who really knows how to get the most out of it, it really is an astonishingly versatile guitar.  But frankly, I don't really use my T5 as anything but an electric guitar, so I started thinking that maybe I should look at the T3.  I've been eyeing one for several months now -- with the Alinco humbuckers already installed, and a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece to boot!  When I tried it out I thought the thing sounded fantastic; but I'm still debating whether to keep the T5 until I've got some time to properly explore it, or just swap it out for a T3...  Kind-of leaning toward the latter, since I really don't think I'd take advantage of the T5's full potential anyway -- even if I do figure it out...

[Radd]

Thanks Tim

I actually was already here as rad but the forum stopped recognizing my registration and I could not log on to get help from a mod.  After a month or more I gave up and registered with a new name.

Oh well

As for the sound of the T5's, I never could recreate the sounds that I found online.  I could only get one good sound, the jazz sound in the second position with the treble rolled off some and bass rolled on.  None of the other tones were at all passable.

As for the T3, great warm tones and even good single coil sounds when using the coil tap feature.

I can come closer to recreating my strat sound on the T3 than I ever could with the T5z.

I have what I was looking for, great warm smooth tone that has body.

Go for the T3, you won't regret it.


Conrad

[timfitz63]

Duly noted!  Thanks, Conrad!

One of the other things I like about the T3 & T5 is that, although they are considerably thinner than a Taylor acoustic guitar, they have essentially the same shape as a Grand Auditorium or Grand Symphony (I haven't bothered to compare specs to see which is closer).  But the point is I find that when I pick up a T3 or T5, I don't have to do as much adjusting (physically) to the new shape as I would with various dedicated electric guitars (e.g., Les Paul, Telecaster, Stratocaster); the relative positions of the strings to where my arm is positioned is about the same as a Taylor acoustic.  Just another plus for the T3, I think.

[Radd]

I do like the shape; however, one real plus of the small T5z I had was how great it was sitting on a couch and playing.  It was much like my strat or tele.  Shape wise the T3 is much more like my Gibson es-335 that I just sold.

Speaking of the 335, the T3 just crushes it in every regard other than tradition or history.  The T3 has better tone, far better neck, stays in tune (just try to keep a 335 in tune) and the workmanship is so superior to the Gibson.  Straight from the factory my 335 needed a lot of work to be playable. The T3 just needed the action lowered just a tad to make me happy.

Conrad

[timfitz63]

I do like the shape; however, one real plus of the small T5z I had was how great it was sitting on a couch and playing.  It was much like my strat or tele.  Shape wise the T3 is much more like my Gibson es-335 that I just sold...

That was my understanding of the target audience for the T5z:  players who were used to (or preferred) the smaller size if traditional electric guitars, a la Les Pauls, Teles, and Strats.

... Speaking of the 335, the T3 just crushes it in every regard other than tradition or history.  The T3 has better tone, far better neck, stays in tune (just try to keep a 335 in tune) and the workmanship is so superior to the Gibson.  Straight from the factory my 335 needed a lot of work to be playable. The T3 just needed the action lowered just a tad to make me happy.

Yeah, in full agreement with you there.  The T3 I tried was very satisfying in every regard:  feel, tone, action, etc.  In fact, I remember being almost surprised by how good the tone was; better than my T5 as an electric guitar, for certain.