Went to Same Ash Friday eve , do you want to read on ?

Rayk

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Two friends and I planned a trip to the Ritz no wait ,it was Sam ash . It says so in the title.
One friend was a keyboard nut also AKA Animal the other a guitarist .

So me and Paul talked Guitar and Jeff ,well he had to drive . Jeff had long known my guitar obsession and Paul was somewhat aware.

That collection was brought up and neither had seen it and I offered to show them at the end of the evening and they agreed .

Sam Ash closes at 9pm and we were there for 2 hrs at least if not a tad more . Me and Paul hit the acoustic room and Jeff the keyboards section .

I was told Sam ash remodeled , I guess they did but not by much. I was expecting a better lay out of the acoustic room but nope it was still one long room though separate from the main store which was like one huge room , Bam !

Paul likes Taylor’s haha our conversation on the way down had a lot of Paul saying he likes this guitar and that one and I was somewhat pressured to answer though I wanted keep quiet.

I ended up saying I don’t like any of them , haven’t found a Taylor I liked and that Fat sloppy obnoxious acoustic sales guy tech dude I disliked even more along with his constant swaying sales of other brands in favor the all glorious Taylor guitar line . Hmmm how’s the trip going to go now I wonder ?

All good though :) now we arrive and enter the Sam Ash acoustic room . Low and behold there was one long butt wall of nothing but Taylor’s ( hmmm ... one well placed hand grenade and instinct bliss ! )

Ok so Paul was Taylor bound . You figured I’d be all giddy about all those acoustics but not so the feeling was more like “meh “ been there done that.

Paul handed me one Taylor after another Fromm 4,000 + dollars to 2,900 that all different Wood types etc .

He showed me the New V bracing models and OMG !!!
You guys have to , just have to hear these guitars . I never in my life heard a guitar that sounded as
much the same as every other Guit ... err Taylor .

If you ask me did I like it ? Nope . Ok so at first it was very noisy in there as they have a group playing live music in there , gospel , old rock etc . So not the greatest way to hear the fundamentals of a guitar.

I was telling the guys about the Guild OM120 all Sapele I had on ordererd and I was sure they didn’t have one per my last call to them but low and behold there it was and it sounded not to great Ooo look Breedlove’s ! Hey Tom !! Guess what I found !

Ok moving on , I played every bloody Taylor in there except one , lost in the maze I guess . Sorry I mean no disrespect they all shared characteristics of being overly bright and some what thin, yuck !

Now one more Taylor to go . As I played a few breedloves along with few others and one old Ibanez had to be all sold wood its weight was proportionate to a tank wow ! was that thing heavy its sound reflected that mass as well , now I’m thinking how can make it sound better ? Lol

So now the band settled down the store was getting empty and now I can really hear these guitars .
I showed Paul the Breedloves told of Toms story but I did not see that model here Paul says you mean that one , what one , that one ! Dang it man it’s like the ketchup bottle in the fridge you look right past it even though it’s right in front of you !

I over looked it because of its light color . I expected it to stand out a tad more but it’s grain was very light so I just passed over it thinking it was a laminated series . Oops .

I mentioned to Paul that Martin had all hog model but I did not see it at first only the cheap model . I ended up founding it right where the band folks were playing .

The area was like a little room at the end but no walls just little support walls . The Martins had a grand total of maybe 12 LF of wall space going around the corner to the back wall it had a little show case there with 3 high end Martins D45 some triple O model and one other they all used. On the side of that there were 3 more wall mounted Martins the all hog one , it was a tad concealed so I never seen it .

I pulled it down walked over to Paul said I found the Martin give it a play took the Taylor out of hands and hung back up .

I was quick to tell the story of the comparison of the Martin to the Guild OM120 in the vids the Guild clearly one out for my likes but not why did did the one hear not sound good ?

Paul starts playing and right off the bat I said that’s what I don’t like way to brite from top to bottom .
I decided to get the OM again and brought it over to him switched guitars and I immediately said yup the Om is better . I guess the bands noise level made it hard to hear well it’s still a little dull and I can’t say it’s not because if that poly finish it looks thick feels thick if you could say that . Hmmm what if I sand it off ? I decided to still get it see what I get then scheme from there . Lol

You know the whole time in the back of my head the tone of all guitars were playing it was obvious nothing here seems worthy .

Did I just become a snob ?

I finally get the last Taylor and I lied I did play it earlier but really couldn’t here it well and I thought I liked it but there was a annoying buzzing . I found out it was something to do with the onboard electronics something was lose circuit board I thought .

It’s a 12 fret model Sitka top with Rosewood B&S
They had another of the same model with Sitka cocabola and I again did like it , what’s up with that !?

I gave the Rosewood a strum and behold I finally have a Taylor I like . I like so much I’d buy one if I thought the price was good but nope this 12 fretter along with the other like models ran 4 grand they were orchestra models to boot , oh well .

Aaaah now how about that Mertlewood ? Well very interesting . To me a bit maple’ish and Koa’ish yet not hard to explain . Very clear tone and note separation . I think I liked it , I’d just have to spend more time with it .

So now we’re done head out for dinner them home . I show Paul one guitar after the other starting with the Contemporaries and moving up from there .

I should have recorded it his expressions were one of surprise . This guitars sounded nothing like what was at Sam ash .

Warm and rich compared to the Taylor’s less that’s 12 fretter .

He was amazed at them all the over tones the sustains . I think I converted him lol we’ll see I guess .

He also mentioned he likes the African black wood and my Custom was the last one out . Once he strummed that it was game over lmao .

So there it is not much really a good night in all , fun to tell maybe not so fun for ya all to read hahaha ..
 

Rayk

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I love my Taylor. :barbershop_quartet_

And there’s nothing wrong that ( being serious) , it’s ok really .😝 ( not being serious) lol
 

GAD

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LOL. If it makes you feel better I have a DV72 and a D46 but I still love my Taylor.
 

JohnW63

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I don't think it is fair to pull out a " You've never heard of it and probably will never get your hands on another " guitar and have someone play it. That's just dirty pool !

"Ben Wilborn Gloria model , Lucky strike , Sequoia (redwood )Top , African Blackwood back and sides .". Yeah. That one. I think Lowden makes one sort of like that.
 

JohnW63

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Oh, on the Taylor note...

I played quite a few Taylors, as I scoured the GC within a 100 miles of my house. I liked them well enough once I got to the 700 series. I think there were 714s with cedar tops and orchestra bodies. For me, a Taylor sounds like a Taylor and just keeps sounding like a BETTER Taylor as you move up. I played a few 500 series "First Editions" in mahogany, at LA Guitar Sales and a 9 string there too. The 9 string didn't make sense until I played it. The high shimmer strings were all doubled, but the bass strings were singles. It make it a LOT easier to get the bass parts clear, but retained a 12 string sound. I would have taken any of those home, if I had the cash. I think the 500s were just over $2000. SO, I can find Taylors I like. Just not the lower cost ones.
 

davismanLV

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I love my Taylor. :barbershop_quartet_
Me too, Gary. I think I have a really good one. Don loves it too. It's his fave to play. I buy guitars I really, REALLY like..... such as my Taylor. Smaller, more intimate guitar. Different guitars for different purposes. So I really don't like BRAND BASHING. There's not really any point to it.

Glad you liked the myrtlewood Breedlove one ray, but they make a lot. Different models. ALSO, they make a whole bunch in China, and although you might find a good one (I have), I'm not gonna buy one just for the resale difference.

What I hope is that you enjoyed your journey with your friends! That's the most important part!! Not SWAYING someone's judgement over to what YOU think, but helping them find something that makes them happy!! Don almost bought a MIM Martin 12 string from GC after he played it. I said, "Don, if you want a 12 string, get a Guild...." but that was a whole, "That's YOUR DEAL and NOT MINE!" deal and so I shut up. But it sounded so thin and whimpy and it was a dread.

So when he came home I showed him the Performing Artist Series 12 strings, made in America and it was a Auditorium sized cutaway. I'm glad I pushed because this thing sounds a million times better than that MIM Martin. See, to him, Martin on the headstock (born and raised in a musical family in West Virginia) means more than what it sounds like.

So we all have different goals and different agendas. It's a nice sounding guitar. Plugged in it's amazing!!

And I'm also with John here. Play what you like, listen to everything, remember that not everyone has YOUR ear, so what's great to you means very little to others. Plus, if what's on the headstock makes them happy, then that's a success story!! Like it or not!!

Stay calm Ray! Enjoy your friends and their different ears..... this is the amazing part of life..... our differences!!

Here's Don's new Martin.

a9B3Ge.jpg


Is this the 12 string I would've bought? NOPE!! Is this the 12 string that makes Don really happy? YEP!!

It's like some big life lesson, you know?
 

Cougar

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Stay calm Ray! Enjoy your friends and their different ears..... this is the amazing part of life..... our differences!!

Here's Don's new Martin.

Hey, I bought one of those off ebay. Two or three years old, the bidding was lackluster, and I snuck in and picked it up for about half of the cost of a new one. I could have shot arrows with the bow in the neck, but after my guitar guy worked on it, it was like new and played easy. Compared to the Guild jumbos, it's dinky. But I like it, too. It's fun!

I haven't fallen for a Taylor yet, but I did just succumb to the wiles of a 2015 Gibson J-45 custom shop red-stain flamed maple! Sold my prized Epiphone EF-500RAVS to fund it. Arriving next week. I figured I gotta have at least one Gibson, right?
 

Eric P.

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Have played and owned different Taylor guitars since 1992. No problem with them. Just sold my last one off, though as I wasn't playing it. Like the sound and the playability. In fact, had gone searching for a koa GS Mini when I came home with my Jumbo Junior.

Played the myrtlewood Breedloves. Guess the couple I've tried have been bad as I didn't like the sound at all.

After too many years of buying and trading off guitars, have found it's not worth it to bash different brands. While I might not like certain builders, others obviously have enjoyed them, otherwise they wouldn't have been making instruments.

Still have never been to a Sam Ash. We have GC around here and a good selection of independent stores. But the description could work just as well for any box music store. Some hate them, but I find them useful and will buy from them if they have what I need and the price is reasonable.
 

richardp69

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I've owned several upper end Taylors and I thought they were fine guitars. I sold them all, not because they were bad, just because I decided to stay focused on Guild, Gibson and Martin. I can say that at the right price, I wouldn't hesitate to buy another Taylor. Very well built guitars IMHO and I think Bob Taylor's philosophy of protecting scarce tonewoods is admirable and spot on. Must be a tough philosophy to stay true to when many of the imports (and even some domestic producers) aren't anywhere near as diligent.
 

Rayk

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I don't think it is fair to pull out a " You've never heard of it and probably will never get your hands on another " guitar and have someone play it. That's just dirty pool !

"Ben Wilborn Gloria model , Lucky strike , Sequoia (redwood )Top , African Blackwood back and sides .". Yeah. That one. I think Lowden makes one sort of like that.

John just to make sure the “ you never heard it “ comment was a sarcastic reference to the Taylor V bracing guitars . I mentioned that because of all the hype . In actuality out of all the guitars they had and unfortunately they were mostly Taylor’s (and that was kind of unfair to the other brands ) there were a few guitars and liked and Taylor was one .

My words are not reviews just my ears saying nah don’t like it which should be taken with a grain of salt It’s just a thing nothing more . :) I’ll post a vid of a most beautiful guitar player and I’d merry her just to watch her play lol and she plays a Taylor and it sounds great !
From my last visit to the acoustic room and Taylor’s I can say with out a doubt that most all of them would record very well and be easy to separate in a mix situation which is most desirable.

Lastly If true distaste is not Taylor guitars but that salesman never ending over hype of the brand.

I’ll try to find that 12 fretter I liked and post that to so I can a little bit of amends lol

As the my Ben Wilborn , Paul liked it a lot as he was all ready taking in by the ABW bug .

And Lowdon was at the top of my list when I began investigating the ABF . He makes Jumbos with cedar tops and they sound wonderful as well
. In his own words he favors that wood combo .

I’m well over my glee of my guitar lol and certainly don’t have a need to rub it in anyone noises if anyone thinks that’s what I’m doing but if you think about you rarely hear me mention it but you sure have heard me talk about Guilds .

Luvs and hugs ;)
 

Rayk

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Me too, Gary. I think I have a really good one. Don loves it too. It's his fave to play. I buy guitars I really, REALLY like..... such as my Taylor. Smaller, more intimate guitar. Different guitars for different purposes. So I really don't like BRAND BASHING. There's not really any point to it.

Glad you liked the myrtlewood Breedlove one ray, but they make a lot. Different models. ALSO, they make a whole bunch in China, and although you might find a good one (I have), I'm not gonna buy one just for the resale difference.

What I hope is that you enjoyed your journey with your friends! That's the most important part!! Not SWAYING someone's judgement over to what YOU think, but helping them find something that makes them happy!! Don almost bought a MIM Martin 12 string from GC after he played it. I said, "Don, if you want a 12 string, get a Guild...." but that was a whole, "That's YOUR DEAL and NOT MINE!" deal and so I shut up. But it sounded so thin and whimpy and it was a dread.

So when he came home I showed him the Performing Artist Series 12 strings, made in America and it was a Auditorium sized cutaway. I'm glad I pushed because this thing sounds a million times better than that MIM Martin. See, to him, Martin on the headstock (born and raised in a musical family in West Virginia) means more than what it sounds like.

So we all have different goals and different agendas. It's a nice sounding guitar. Plugged in it's amazing!!

And I'm also with John here. Play what you like, listen to everything, remember that not everyone has YOUR ear, so what's great to you means very little to others. Plus, if what's on the headstock makes them happy, then that's a success story!! Like it or not!!

Stay calm Ray! Enjoy your friends and their different ears..... this is the amazing part of life..... our differences!!

Here's Don's new Martin.

a9B3Ge.jpg


Is this the 12 string I would've bought? NOPE!! Is this the 12 string that makes Don really happy? YEP!!

It's like some big life lesson, you know?

Oh I’m calm I’m really CALM !! 😠 just kidding lmao .
I enjoyed my trip , I enjoyed writing my little epic tale it was said light hearted . I do speak my mind and sometimes others take my words as there not meant to be taking . I do that to sometimes myself it’s hard when it’s just text not the same as if we’re next to the person .

What stunk with my trip which I kind of touched on in my reply to John was that Samash had limited guitars of other brands and that to me was very unfair .

There’s was a jumbo Takamine for 2 grand but I couldn’t reach it and it looked gorgeous , split saddle nice and thick . It seems some are going to the thicker saddles now.

I was wanting a Martin As well but I could not balance the cost ratio between American brands against the imports so I ended up with my Blueridge ( copy of Martins like many others did even my Ben Wilborn ) full blown Chinese made and I will put that guitar up against any other custom or not on the tonal side to me it’s that good and the reason I sold the D55 .

Anyway I’m very interested in your myrtle Breedlove. I have said a long time back at GC that one of the best sound guitars to me at the time was a Breedlove so I always had an eye and I played another model a dread american and it was very nice indeed but again it was early in my acoustic journey and I had much more to learn .
 

GAD

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Just a note that it's not Sam Ash's purpose to be fair; their purpose is to make money. It seems as though they have a reseller arrangement with Taylor that favors them selling Taylors so that's what they do. I know a lot of people view Taylor as the Bose of guitars, but they're really not. Yes, they sound different than the traditional acoustic which is where I think the dislike comes from, but as is evidenced by their sales, plenty of people like that sound, myself included.
 

Rayk

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Just a note that it's not Sam Ash's purpose to be fair; their purpose is to make money. It seems as though they have a reseller arrangement with Taylor that favors them selling Taylors so that's what they do. I know a lot of people view Taylor as the Bose of guitars, but they're really not. Yes, they sound different than the traditional acoustic which is where I think the dislike comes from, but as is evidenced by their sales, plenty of people like that sound, myself included.

Omg ! Don’t me get started on Bose ! Lmao
 

JohnW63

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I like old Infinity speakers and Carver amps, myself. :)

My local Sam Ash does have a nice selection of Taylors too. And other stuff. I just with they would get the Guilds on the wall out of the direct blast of the room humidifier. Turns their strings to rust.
 

Nuuska

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Hello

Fan of Carver here - had the first 2x600W amps in this country way back. Now maybe 5 of them + 7 x PT1250 + 3 x PM300 - all this in pa-use - and two M500t at home
 

Rayk

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I like old Infinity speakers and Carver amps, myself. :)

My local Sam Ash does have a nice selection of Taylors too. And other stuff. I just with they would get the Guilds on the wall out of the direct blast of the room humidifier. Turns their strings to rust.

No American guilds at our Sam Ash .

Speakers and everything else now I go cheap this go around will be 5.1 set up using Bic America PL 980’s lol
 
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