A friend of mine recommended that I try out a T5. He was raving about how cool it looked, and how you could switch from acoustic sound to a full-blown electric. I was a little dubious, considering that that’s really just modeling, and frankly, it was nothing new to me. Parker Guitars did this with “The Fly” well over a decade ago. But to be fair, I went down to my local GC to check one out and see what all the hype was about. So, under the guise of “Honey, I need to run some errands. I’ll be back in a couple of hours,” I ventured to my local GC, and played it for over an hour. The following is the result of that session with the Taylor T5:
Oops! Before I start on the actual review, I played the T5 through three amps: A Fender Acoustasonic Junior, a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe, and a Roland Cube 30.
Fit and Finish:
All Taylor guitars look great, and the T5 is a real beauty. I played a T5 with a beautiful royal blue finish – very sexy. The T5 also lives up to the Taylor standard of construction - all their guitars are very well-built. As far as acoutrements are concerned, personally, I’m not a real fan of low-profile knobs (when I’m in the middle of a song and want to make an adjustment, I want to be able to feel the knob – ooh, that didn’t sound good), but the knobs on the T5 fit in with its design nicely.
Feel and Playability:
The T5 has a nice narrow neck – very similar to my Strat and Ovation Acoustic/Electric – which I love, so moving around on this neck was amazingly easy and very comfortable. Acoustic players who are accustomed to wider necks will need a little time to get a feel for the neck, but should adjust pretty quickly. I had an easier go of it myself from playing my Ovation. When I first got that guitar, I had a bit of a break-in curve, but now it’s the type of neck I prefer.
Sound:
I know that I may piss some people off when I say this, but as far as sound was concerned, I was a bit disappointed. Based upon my conversation with my friend who raved about it, and lots of glowing reviews I read on Harmony Central and Musicians’ Friend, I was expecting a lot more with respect to tone – especially since the T5 starts at $1999, and goes up from there. I used the same evaluation process on the three amps I played the T5 on: On both amp and guitar, I started out by setting all the tone knobs to the mid settings. Guitar volume was set to midline, and since I was in a shop, I had to set the Fenders pretty low (they use logarithmic volume pots), while the Cube 30’s gain could be cranked while leaving the volume at a comfortable level. From there, I played the guitar in three different ways: 1) Fingerpicking; 2) strumming (using a straight sweep strum, and a percussive, attacking strum); 3) Then just playing various lead patterns in clean and high-gain modes.
Played clean with fingerpicking and lead playing, the T5 was very nice on all the amps; great clarity and sustain, though I really had to pump up the bass and turn down the treble on the amps to achieve a rich sound – especially on the Hot Rod Deluxe which, even with brightness off, plays pretty bright. Strumming in clean mode was pretty ugly on the Fenders – the guitar sounded like an acoustic plugged into an amp – very flat sounding, and no amount of EQ tweaking or reverb helped. Plus, when using a percussive strum pattern (think Michael Hedges), I would get and annoying popping sound. Probably has to do with the very touch-sensitive pickups, added to the touch sensitivity of the Fender amps. On the Cube 30 though, since I could apply some chorus, the tone cleaned up quite nicely, and helped dissipate the high end. If I was to use the T5 clean with a straight tube amp or acoustic amp, I’d run it into a compressor, a chorus, and then run the entire signal thorough a sonic maximizer - and possibly add an EQ pedal to texture the sound better.
In high-gain mode on the Hot Rod, the T5 actually sounded very nice. Even though I had to play at a lower volume, I could crank the drive and get a real nice distortion out of the T5. I think this is where the body vibration from the hollow body comes into play. It actually sounded a lot like my ES-335 in that mode; very pleasing to the ear, with a big, rich sound. With the Roland Cube 30 in the modeling channel, the T5 performed great with the gain at about midway, using the all the non-acoustic amp models. In the acoustic model on modeling channel, the T5 actually sounded VERY good, but then again, that’s a modeled sound.
Overall:
The Taylor T5 is a pretty nice guitar. Would I pay two grand and up for it? I don’t think so. I look at this guitar as being similar to a Line 6 Variax 700, which has a lot more features and guitar models built into it, and costs more than half the price less! Then again, I wouldn’t buy a Swiss Army Knife type of guitar period, mainly because even though it may sound real close to what it’s modeling, it’ll never get the exact voicing that the original gives you. For instance, if I want a thin, single coil sound, I’ll use my Strat. If I want a richer, boomier presentation, I’ll use my ES-335 (I’m also in the market for a Les Paul Double Cutaway, which I just adore). For acoustic/electric work, I’ll use my Ovation shallowbody.
Not that modeling gear doesn’t have its place in the world. I have a very nice Line 6 Flextone III that I use in the studio for layering guitar parts – its direct out allows me to record very tight, very clean guitar parts. It’s a very versatile amp that I use quite a bit – but I wouldn’t use it on stage. The same goes for the T5. While it has built-in versatility, I probably wouldn’t use it on stage except under very specific conditions, and that brings its value way down for me. Yes, it’s a Taylor, so there are no questions about its quality of construction. But its narrow use make it something that’s nice to look at but not very useable.
I’ve played the T5, it’s a nice guitar. I think I’m going to wait for the VXT to come out before I decide on buying one.
I own a T5-C2. I also own a Variax700T, and several other guitars.
Goofydawg has it wrong regarding the T5 doing modeling. It is not a modeling guitar, and its acoustic pickup is very different from the standard (brittle sounding IMHO) piezos on most acoustic electrics. The T5 has its own voice, not emulations of other guitars like the Variax does. The both have their places. The T5 is better suited for studio work, and the Variax is great for live.
The only issue I have with my T5 is that it has high levels of hum and buzz (and yes I pay attention to ground loops and coupling). It’s a brand new 2007 vintage. Anyone else have hum/buzz problems with their T5s?
My T5 arrived with the best setup I’ve ever played right out of the box. An amazing work of art.
–
mkp
My bad on the pickups, and no doubt it is a beauty, but I still wasn’t impressed enough with it to pay the premium to get one.
hi
well i got my T5 about 6 months ago, std-all black. play it thru a roland ac60. overall i love it. i have a 814ce, that i also think is great…so i was primed to like the taylor feel in an elec. i find i do not change the settings too much, but goofydawg is right on about knocking down the treble to deepen the sound. the only other problem is the hum……especially on settings 3 and 5. and i do not have a grounding problem, this is a guitar problem. i went back to the music cntr and checked out some other t5’s… same thing.
taylor knows there is an issue and are instituting a fix…a string ground in the new t5 versions. i spoke with cust serv this week and they are sending me the fix, but either i install it, or pay someone else to. i will probably have my guitar repair guy do it, since when i called him he knew all about it and said he could likely resolve the problem completely.
anyway, on setting 1,2 and 4 there is no hum. so i have been using this. i like to run the output thru a line6 floor pod, but i am just as pleased playing right into the roland with a touch of chorus, delay or reverb. nice instrument.
byron123
My Taylor T5 Buzzes terribly even unplugged.Any help?
Looks like you’ve got some action problems. Did you recently change strings to a lighter gauge? String buzz sometimes happens when you do that, and you have a low action. The neck will bow, causing a buzz when you strum. You could adjust the truss rod yourself, but I don’t recommend that. For an expensive instrument like the T-5, I’d bring it into a luthier and have the guitar set up. It could cost anywhere from $40 to $100 depending upon what you have done. If you’re in the Silicon Valley area, the best place I’ve found is in Los Gatos, called appropriately, “The Guitar Hospital.” They do great work!
GoofyDawg
I’ve owned a custom koa T5 for a couple of years. Unlike GoofyDawg, I was looking for one guitar to keep me from switching between several at a gig.
The T5 fits the bill, though the acoustic sound leaves a bit to be desired. I’m willing to live with the compromise since I usually process the sound and the guitar is a true joy to play.
I think Taylors are approaching Gibson and Fender for having that “X Factor”; That combination of artistry and playability that makes a guitar something more than just a musical instrument.
My current guitars:
1967 Telecaster
1984 Ovation Collector’s guitar
Godin Acousticaster
Takamine Acoustic/Electric
Baby Taylor with Fishman Pickup
Taylor 612ce
Taylor T5
I’ve also just ordered the new Gibson es 339. Hope it captures some of the old Gibson mystique I used to love.
Try an Ovation EA68 VIper. SOunds better than the Taylor T5 hands down.
The Viper is a VERY nice guitar, but it’s still a thinline acoustic/electric as opposed to a hybrid. However, since you’ve mentioned Ovation, I’m really liking the Ovation VXT. All I can say is WOW! I’d take this over a T-5 any day.
Speaking of an EA68 Viper…I’ve been looking for a natural one, anybody got any ideas?
Thanks,
Jeremy
That’s a tough one to find. Almost every retailer I looked at has nothing but black, though Ovation’s site lists a Natural finish available. Your best bet would probably be to call one of the retailers directly and speak to someone personally.
Hey…ref the buzz…even when not plugged in…IT IS THE LID ON THE BATTERY BOX LOCATED ON THE BACK OF THE GUITAR!!!! I went through all kinds of hassles with it…was told action, strings, frets, etc etc….IT IS THE LID ON THE BATTERY BOX!! Poor design…great guitar with lemon battery lid. Can be fixed wwith a small piece of foam between battery and lid. There…that will be $50, see me in a week.
And…..just got t5 for Christmas…God I love that girl…she saw me slobbering over it in the store and purchased it for me…my question is…will the warranty cover the hum fix on settings 3-5? Otherwise, after fixing the battery lid thingy, I can sit and play that thing all day…as a matter of fact…I do!!
Acoustics being my first love, the T5, being an acoustic-semi rather than a semi-acoustic, is about as electric as I want to get. This is the second one I’ve had, the first being an absolute dog which, all credit to Taylor, was replaced incredibly quickly (especially so, considering the fact that it is a lefty!). This one was set up perfectly and has stayed that way, so no stability problems. Also it is the first guitar that I’ve not had to cut the nut’s string slots to the correct depth.
I agree with goofydawg about the neck (and the rest of the guitar) being comfortable. But regarding the neck width: at the nut it is the same as my Ovation Elite, however, because Taylor don’t round off the fret ends so much, it seems to have more room.
It is a real pleasure to play. Being a flat-top helps in that respect. I like its subtlety - it isn’t ‘in your face’, the controls and pickups are nicely discreet.
There are, however, four things that would make it perfect (for me at least):
1. A zero fret
2. A wider ‘hidden’ pickup. Pick the e’ string down and check the volume, now pick it up - note the volume change, that’s because it barely reaches the outer courses.
3. Dump the parallel and serial switch alternatives. I defy anyone to tell the difference in a blind test.
4. Fit the full ‘expression system’ (it beats piezos hands down) and use one of the redundant switch positions (see point 3) to switch to pure acoustic.
5. Offer a satin neck option.
Oops, I meant five things.
Epiphone just put an “acoustic” pickup right at base of the neck on its new LP - it’s VERY hard to see. Not sure how it sounds, but I think a neck pickup like that would really help the T5 in that respect.
I just go a T5 and noticed that when I strum some notes the back battery plate buzzes anything i can do?
Michael,
I know it probably would be an inconvenience, but for the amount of money you spend for a T5, a manufacturing flaw like this is totally inexcusable. I’d go back to where you got it from and exchange it for another one.
Just my 2-cents-worth.
GoofyDawg
Had my T5-C2 about a month now. I’m very satisfied with it. Initial setup wasn’t very good, but wasn’t hard to fix either - shim the bridge, a bit of neck relief.
Agree that you need to cut the treble a bit to get the right sound. I like what it does for jazz and blues. I wouldn’t use it for bluegrass or metal. To my ear, the 5-position switch produces 5 very similar sounds; the T5 is nowhere near as versatile as the Taylor promotional material would lead you to believe.
But sound is aways subjective and problematic. I think most of the complaints about the T5’s sound relate not so much to the sound actually produced, as to the sound someone hoped or expected it to produce. It has its own distinctive personality; it’s not an ovation and doesn’t try to be. Certainly it would be silly to spend over $2K for a Taylor if what you want is an Ovation.
What I hear is a nice, hollowbody electric sound with slight solidbody suggestions, but definitely more in common with a fat jazz box than with a Strat. For the jazz/blues/pop stuff I use it for, it works easily well enough to justify the price. I wouldn’t try to extend it too far outside that range unless I had an open-minded audience.
Thanks for the honesty! You’re right. Tone is purely subjective. For me, it’s not that I dislike the T5’s tone. I just expected something - different. And I suppose that if I took one home, I could tweak it to its sweet spot for me, but at $2700 I just couldn’t justify it.
Well, this may lead the discussion off topic a bit. My infallible opinion (if there were a better opinion, I would hold it instead!) is that what has become the “expected” dead-center-perfect tone for all of the various musical styles, has evolved through the efforts of those who defined the style. So we look at the pioneers of rock, country, metal, blues, jazz, etc. and we see everyone working to emulate the sound those seminal musicians produced.
And the fact is, most of those musicians weren’t all that wealthy, and their guitars tended to be very affordable. Sure, some tweaking has been done in every style, but it remains the case that anyone can nail the “classic” sound for nearly everything a guitar is used for, for under $1000 (not counting the amps, which can run up the tab a bunch.)
So the question becomes, what exactly are you buying if you pay triple the price (or more) of the guitars that set the standards? How can any sound be regarded as three times as “good”? Is it supposed to somehow be even more standard than the standard? How?
So I looked for a unique sound, look, build quality, general feel that I couldn’t get otherwise. And yeah, you gotta really love all that (and be flush) to justify the price tag. I would say that for the large majority of guitarists, no possible guitar could justify $2700, especially when you can always duplicate the “ideal” sound for your chosen music for a good deal less. The T5 will probably never been the guitar of choice for ANY sort of music - not enough people can afford one.
Great historical insight that helps frame this topic a bit.
And I totally agree with your assessment that it really doesn’t take an expense instrument to sound good. As many great guitarists have said, “You tone’s all in your hands.” The guitar gets you your base sound, but it’s your hands that manipulate the strings that give you your tone.
Glad you’re happy with the T5. It’s a nice guitar, and it looks like you found a good niche for it.
My next guitar that I’m working towards is a G & L Comanche. It’s got what might be considered a “hybrid” humbucker (they call it the Z-coil). Very cool. It kind of sounds like a Strat, but with a much fatter tone.
I’ve just sold my T5 koa and bought a ‘54 reissue strat instead. Perhaps it was just problems with the individual guitar and I’m sorry for being on a downer, but;
1. Trying to keep it in tune was virtually impossible. I had the guitar tecs check it out several times, had the bridge professionally readjusted, tried different string gauges and types etc., etc., but to no avail. Not a problem in the studio, but a total pain during gigs…I was hitting the tune-up pedal after each number!!
2. Feedback; yes, I know all hollow bodied guitars suffer from the same problem, but this guitar howled….and not in a good way.
3. Sound; Famed for its diversity, but limited dependent on your choice of amp, again leading to gigging limitations. Crap “acoustic” sound through a Marshall amp.
I have a Taylor acoustic which is stunning in every way, but I would not recommend the very expensive T5C2 to anybody even considering using it during a gig; shame, because I couldn’t wait to buy one…..
Mine came from a major on-line store that had it in stock for 18 months. I caught it at $500 under street price as a result. I had the following problems and contacted Taylor for help.
1. Fret buzz due to action at 1/2 normal height. I shimmed the saddle to standard and all was ok. Taylor suspected it was stored too dry and the arched top sank. I humidified properly and within a week removed most of the shims. Truss rod was fine, it had .010 in at the 5th, 6th frets.
2. Battery box buzz. A pain but Taylors fix, a little extra foam rubber between the lid and battery fixed. I think the whole plastic back is too thin but the buzz is gone.
I played through just about every amp imaginable including a studio monitor. It sounds good through most but most acoustic through the monitor and through, believe it or not, a Roland cube 60. I bought the Roland as a result. I can’t believe the high freqs that come from that 12″ speaker.
I find that given a little experience with tweaking, I can get ok acoustic on 1, a sofisticated (I can’t put a guitar to it) sound on 2, solid body on 3, full sized Gibson arch top-like on 4 and Blues 335 on 5. And yes I find a big difference between 4 and 5 through the right amps. None of these “likes” are dead on but definately good enough for live gigs.
The bottom line is, it plays fantastic and I haven’t heard a sound (other than battery door buzz) out of it that I didn’t like. Great tone machine
You made a great choice with the Roland Cube 60. I run my Ovation through one, and it sounds absolutely fantastic. It’s also a great gigging amp - very loud for a such a little box.
I was actually thinking about selling it at one point, but thought better of it, as it is really the most versatile amp I have. I sometimes get called on “emergency” gigs, and rather than pack my big amp, I throw the Cube 60 in the back of my truck, and I’m good to go.
This is avery useful thread to me. I’ve had my caramel colored T5 for almost 3 years now. When I bought it I thought it was the most beautiful object I had ever owned. I didn’t have the buzz and noise problems others report on this thread, but I did find that it was feeding back at gigs a lot and for that reason I stopped using it. In the interim I purchased a new Strat, and then a Gibson 339. I was playing through a Roland Cube, a Fender Acoustasonic and a Fender Blues Deluxe reissue. The guitars and amps had their strong points, but after many months of experimentation, I recently returned to the T5 as my main guitar. This is strange, but I’ve heard and read it from other T5 players as well — initially enthused, then can’t quite get the sound they want, then disillusioned, and finally come back. I have to say after my long journey I appreciate the T5’s clean, warm sound, tight EQ controlability, and especially how comfortable and light it is compared to my Gibsons! I’ve just gotten the Roland Boss GT-10 effects processor, and I’m looking forward to really going to work to determine what the T5 can and can’t do plugged into that. I’ll report back my findings, and in the meantime I’m open to any advice you experts might have.
I had that kind of relationship with my ES-333. Was really jazzed about it when I first got it, then just couldn’t get the right sound out of it, so I stopped playing it for awhile. I was running through a Line 6 Flextone III at the time, and that probably accounted for my displeasure with the guitar’s tone. That amp was really versatile, but for some reason, I just couldn’t get a sound that I liked out of it. I know several people who have that amp and love its versatility. But it just wasn’t for me.
Once I switched to a my Hot Rod Deluxe, everything changed. My 333 sounds absolutely sweet through it, and I now play it regularly again.
I guess the lesson I learned is that some guitar/amp combinations just don’t go well together.
You’re so right, Goofydawg, and for me that guitar/amp combination problem was compounded by the fact that I had put the electric down for years and only played acoustic. When I came back and started playing in bands again, the technology had changed for the better, but it’s still a bit of an alien world to me.
Have to say the best sound I got from the T5 was playing through my little Roland Cube, but it’s only a 30 so was inadequate for most gigs. Today I plugged it into the “clean channel” of the Blues Deluxe with the Boss GT10 and my God! Some of the sounds are really majestic! But I’m having to go through each patch and make voluminous notes and adjustments. At the identical output level, some patches sound beautiful and some bring out the kind of feedback that made me give up on the T5 initially. But with this signal processor, I’ll be able to set up and program my sounds so as to avoid the feedback entirely (I hope).
If anybody else is going this route with the T5 and the GT-10, let me know. I’d love to share my discoveries with you!
I have been at GC and played several of the T5 models and love the whole package but I don’t understand how any person could consider using a T5 with a GT10. Think TC Electronics if you want original tone with super clean effects. I played through a GT8 and GT10…sold both of them within months of the purchase. Too noisy…even with my ISP decimator chained into the signal…these are mid quality fx at best.
Hi what guitar would you say on buying for diffrent kinds of music I think it would be the Taylor T5. Also would you say it would go along with the Boss Gt-10 pedal board. How much would you pay for the gutair. Is it the best gutar sence 2008. I am thinking of geting one but need info from a pro such as you.
Thank You,
David
The T5 is a nice guitar, but keep in mind that it’s a hybrid. The one thing I didn’t like about it is that it doesn’t sound quite as nice as a full acoustic, and it doesn’t sound quite as nice as a full electric. It gets close, but that’s just the nature of hybrid guitars.
But the important thing is that it sounds great to you. Do a good test with it before you go. Standing three feet away at a Guitar Center doesn’t count. I did my test standing 10 feet away from my test amp with my back turned to it, and the amp at my normal stage volume. I personally found the guitar to be really boomy and would feed back a lot.
With respect to the GT-10, that’s not a box I would even consider getting. Way too much stuff on it, and the sounds are mediocre at best (no small wonder I recently saw several of them for just a couple of hundred bucks on a clearance pile at my local guitar store). If you’re going to go the multi-effects route, as BichBoy mentioned, check out the TC Electronic Nova System (it’s a bit pricey, but very nice), or, personally, I’d put my money on a Vox Tonelab LE. It’s priced well ($399 vs. $499 for the GT-10), and sounds absolutely great! I met a dude recently that played one and fed it directly into his PA. I was very impressed with how it sounded!