| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| RWD |
Posted - 07/02/2012 : 03:42:29 AM
As some may know I am a fan of nylon guitars. Last week a guitar shop called me to let me know a special taylor Koa nylon guitar was in stock so I went down to check it out. I have never picked up a Taylor nylon guitar that I found to be worth buying and it included this new special Taylor. Its like they have no resonance--they are dull. I am begining to think Taylor does not have a clue when it comes to nylon.
I think tayor makes a very good steel string guitar and I would own several of there models with no problem.
Could it be that I am finding only the a poorly made guitars? Do they actually make a good nylon guitar?
I am certain someone will be irritated by my opinion but, oh well.
I think Taylor needs to be called out on it. |
| 15 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| RWD |
Posted - 12/21/2012 : 04:04:12 AM
Concerning nylon tuning and stability:
I recently tried D'Addario Dynacore nylon strings and there is a dramatic difference in how quickly they stabilize and also how well they take retuning.
After changing the strings they are good to go within hours. After just a day they still drift, but very little. I can also now consider taking one nylon guitar on stage and changing the tuning--small changes like going from Taropatch to Leonards C for instance. I would even try drop D to Taropatch now.
Hey, nylon players...try These strings, you will be impressed. |
| Earl |
Posted - 12/20/2012 : 5:55:24 PM
Curtis,
Taylor does use thinner wood and a different bracing pattern on their nylon strings, at least according to their newsletters. I have seven Taylor guitars total, mostly steel string. I have pondered selling my nylon string NS34ce since I don't play it very often.
It is a different critter than a regular classical guitar, but that is exactly why I bought it. Familiar neck, 14 frets to the body, cutaway, and a pickup built-in. Admittedly I have heard many classical guitars with a better voice. Nylon strings do not like to be re-tuned a lot, and seem to take quite a while to settle into the new tuning and string tension.
I have been using the nylon recently for hand rehab to recover from surgery. I was away from playing guitar for about a month and lost my calluses and much of my left hand strength. But I am back to steel strings again.
- Earl
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| Curtis |
Posted - 12/20/2012 : 4:10:11 PM
I have two Taylor steel strings that I love. I have tried their classical guitars and are not wowed by them. This is in part because they are hybrid, and I'd rather play a more traditional classical than a hybrid. Love the wide necks and light bodies.
Though I don't have not checked this out, it could be that Taylor is not doing much structurally to the thickness of the wood used in their steel line before making that wood into a nylon string guitar. Nylon string guitars deal with less tension than steel strings; hence nylons have thinner tops, no truss rods, etc.
Curtis |
| Mika ele |
Posted - 07/07/2012 : 3:37:03 PM
I have a Rosewood Taylor nylon string and an all koa Taylor steel string. I like them both just fine and as Chunkey Monkey and Sir Duke can both attest I can make them both sound pretty good. One of the good things about the Taylor nylon string is that the fretboard feels very similar to the steel string -- there is not a huge adjustement when putting one down and picking the other one up (in a different tuning) at an Open Mic.
My ears are bad but I'm very picky. |
| haolebrownie |
Posted - 07/06/2012 : 1:21:17 PM
No problem Terry. I'm glad it was worth the read. |
| TerryLiberty |
Posted - 07/05/2012 : 3:14:45 PM
Joe:
Interesting article. I hadn't seen it. Thanks for passing it along.
Regards. |
| haolebrownie |
Posted - 07/05/2012 : 2:36:14 PM
My 2 cents on stringed instruments opening up (so feel free to ignore): Here is a really good article about instruments opening up. While age isn't necessarily directly related to opening up, most luthiers and players agree that sound does change over time with playing. "Softer" woods open up much faster than "harder" woods. It doesn't really continue at the same rate forever (a 15 year old guitar isn't going to sound significantly different 5 years later, but a brand new guitar will likely sound different even a year later) so take that for what you will. I guess what I'm trying to say is that age does play some role, so it should be given *some* stock.
http://www.acguitar.com/article/default.aspx?articleid=24089 |
| chunky monkey |
Posted - 07/05/2012 : 2:26:29 PM
Regardless of my opinion of all koa steel strings, I would pay a whole lot to have John Keawe's koa guitar. Maybe it's the guy playing that makes a difference? |
| TerryLiberty |
Posted - 07/05/2012 : 05:37:03 AM
quote:
Originally posted by wcerto
But I thought a guitar has to be played over and over and over for it to develop the swell sound it is capable of.
Auntie Wanda:
I wouldn't put much stock in the age of an instrument. There was a study conducted recently with several experienced violinists and a collection of both old and fairly new violins. Each violinist played every one of the instruments blindfolded and was asked for their comments on the tone and percieved age of each instrument. When all the results were tallied it turned out that ther was no meaningful correlation between instrument age and the players' perception of its age. In one case a very experienced player sang the praises of an "obviously old" violin which was relatively new. The study also revealed that the experience level of the players didn't matter much either. The old hands weren't any better at pegging age than the newcomers.
If this is true of violins, I suspect it's true of guitars as well. If a bunch of experienced players can't tell the difference blindfolded, I doubt if I ever could.
Keep in mind that these were blindfolded tests. If someone hands me a vintage Martin and tells me it was owned by Bill Monroe or a veteran 12 string owned by Gabby I will immediately impute all kinds of magical qualities to its sound. It's hard to separate out our perception of an instrument's sound from its story and history.
Aloha. |
| kihoaluatl |
Posted - 07/04/2012 : 10:49:53 AM
I have a Gibson J45 in all koa that sound great when played hard, it is dull and muted when played softly. I have another guitar (Goodall) about the same size with koa back and sides but a spruce top and it is very responsive when played softly. I understand the differences in bracing and top thickness etc, but these guitars are similar size bodies by top shelf makers. My other spruce top guitars though different in sound have similar responsiveness to the Goodall. As far as the sound getting better with age, it is a subtle difference as age and playing alone will not make an average guitar sound great.
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| RWD |
Posted - 07/03/2012 : 10:00:55 AM
I also think Koa is not the best wood to use for a guitar top. However, just to be clear, my comments were not about Koa topped guitars, it was about every one that I have ever picked up and played regardless of the material used. Damn! This is begining to show the extent of my opinion isn't it! LOL!
Hey, sorry for being so extreme.
I consider this like a public service opinion to my fellow TP'ers.
There are plenty of $300-$500 guitars out there that sound pretty good in comparison.
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| sirduke58 |
Posted - 07/03/2012 : 08:47:27 AM
Mahalo for the input & education on tone woods Allen. No wonder I've seen guitars with koa back & sides then what looks like spruce or cedar tops. I always thought why hide that beautiful koa on the back & sides where no one can see it then have a plain looking soundboard. Now I know |
| Allen M Cary |
Posted - 07/03/2012 : 07:42:25 AM
All Koa is a beautiful looking instrument. I just finished building an all koa uke, but I haven't strung it up (should do tonight). As a uke is bright with a sharp attack and not much sustain, the traditional use of koa works well, but for a guitar I think that koa is just too stiff and heavy to make a good sound board. In talking to other luthiers, they have said that you need to really modify the way that the top is thinned and braced when using something like koa for the top. They really look fantastic, but I am not surprised that the tone suffers. There is a reason why most sound boards are conifers rather than hardwoods.
Aloha |
| wcerto |
Posted - 07/03/2012 : 02:28:15 AM
But I thought a guitar has to be played over and over and over for it to develop the swell sound it is capable of. |
| sirduke58 |
Posted - 07/02/2012 : 5:12:43 PM
I'm with you on the All-Koa Taylors Terry. I got 2 friends with high end All-Koa guitars both don't impress me amplified or unplugged. The Expression electronics sucked. When they used the Fishman it was better. From the chatter on other guitar forums it seems a lot of Taylor owners replace the factory electronics wth an L.R.Baggs system. Another friend had a Rosewood (Not sure if Brazilian or Indian) & a Mahogany Taylor and both sounded superb. IMHO I think the Mahogany works best because Taylors are usually bright but the Mahogany warms it up a bit...........Just saying |
