Taylor T5 - opinions?

ICBM

I had exactly the same thought though . Until I saw the usual magnetic pickup and then I thought… wait a minute!

I remember many years ago when I worked for a large 'general music' type guitar shop, someone returned a magnetic soundhole pickup as faulty… which he'd been trying to use on a classical . In his defence I think it was one of those old ones with a grille on top and he may have thought it was a sort of microphone.

guitars4you

ICBM said:

I had exactly the same thought though . Until I saw the usual magnetic pickup and then I thought… wait a minute!

I remember many years ago when I worked for a large 'general music' type guitar shop, someone returned a magnetic soundhole pickup as faulty… which he'd been trying to use on a classical . In his defence I think it was one of those old ones with a grille on top and he may have thought it was a sort of microphone.

I still have a soft spot for those pseudo style electro classics like the Gibson Chet Atkins - must have a 43mm nut width - I can't handle that 2" plus nut width - Don't need one, but could find a place for one if you know what I mean

You know as well as I do how many just want to put 'metal' strings on a classical guitar - not understanding the situation - or as you say, use a magnetic sound hole p/up on a classical

ICBM

guitars4you said:

You know as well as I do how many just want to put 'metal' strings on a classical guitar - not understanding the situation

I did! That's how I got into guitar repair work .

When I was a teenager I had a cheap (luckily) "acoustic" guitar which I'd bought from a older friend, and one day the D string broke so I went down to the music shop and asked for a "D string for an acoustic guitar". The first thing I thought was how much easier it was to fit with a proper ball end, and the second thing was how much better that string sounded than all the others. So the next week I went back and bought a full set.

Surprisingly, it lasted a couple of months - and then the bridge ripped off, taking a big piece of the top with it. I went to ask the shop man why, and he tore a strip off me for fitting steel strings to a *classical* guitar… until I pointed out that he'd sold me them .

I had been listening to Dire Straits 'Alchemy' a lot, and inside there's a picture of Knopfler playing what was obviously a solid classical (I didn't know the model), so I traced the outline of my broken guitar onto a piece of 1-1/2" Parana pine, added a cutaway, and fitted it with the neck and bridge, with a pickup consisting of an old microphone buried under the bridge. It worked surprisingly well through my hi-fi! Very sadly I destroyed it later to make some other project, I forget what now.

guitars4you

ICBM said:

I did! That's how I got into guitar repair work .

When I was a teenager I had a cheap (luckily) "acoustic" guitar which I'd bought from a older friend, and one day the D string broke so I went down to the music shop and asked for a "D string for an acoustic guitar". The first thing I thought was how much easier it was to fit with a proper ball end, and the second thing was how much better that string sounded than all the others. So the next week I went back and bought a full set.

Surprisingly, it lasted a couple of months - and then the bridge ripped off, taking a big piece of the top with it. I went to ask the shop man why, and he tore a strip off me for fitting steel strings to a *classical* guitar… until I pointed out that he'd sold me them .

I had been listening to Dire Straits 'Alchemy' a lot, and inside there's a picture of Knopfler playing what was obviously a solid classical (I didn't know the model), so I traced the outline of my broken guitar onto a piece of 1-1/2" Parana pine, added a cutaway, and fitted it with the neck and bridge, with a pickup consisting of an old microphone buried under the bridge. It worked surprisingly well through my hi-fi! Very sadly I destroyed it later to make some other project, I forget what now.

good old days eh ??

Best way to start is customising 'budget' guitars - I'm not a surgeon in that I undertake structural repairs - refrets, refins, routings etc, but I'm fine with set-ups - otherwise I use various guitar techs for various work - or suggest various techs accordingly

Strat_a_tat_tat

Whitecat said:

Bump to alert you to a freakin' bargain -

http://www.coda-music.com/taylor-classic-secondhand-p-25095.html

Many thanks for the heads-up. Looks like it sold before I managed to get my act together!

Thanks again. Certainly an eye-opener to see how little they go for second hand.

Whitecat

I think that price was almost too good. No matter your opinion of it that was an insane amount of guitar for £699! I guess Doug didn't want it hanging around... 

Strat_a_tat_tat

Whitecat said:

I think that price was almost too good. No matter your opinion of it that was an insane amount of guitar for £699! I guess Doug didn't want it hanging around... 

yeah... I guess so.

I'm also wondering whether the T5z is now a bit more popular - so that could be suppressing the price of full size T5 models.