Guitar Gear

Last night, I attended a GREAT show featuring Eric Rachmany and Kyle Hearn of Rebelution. This is an annual tour that Eric puts on where all the proceeds go to charity. But it’s special when he comes to San Francisco because that’s his home town, so there seems to be an extra intimacy and vulnerability that he displays that’s different from his normal Rebelution shows.

Both Eric and Kyle have used Taylor acoustic guitars exclusively, though for as long as I’ve followed Rebelution, Eric has played an OM-size regular acoustic. One thing that has set Rebelution apart – at least for me – has been their acoustic sound. Eric, then later Kyle, both have had incredibly natural tone with their amplified sound with none of that piezo quackiness that I have found with a lot of Taylors. And having seen Rebelution a bunch of times, I came to realize that Eric really does care about his acoustic sound. So it was a HUGE surprise last night to see the roadies place T5s on the stage.

But I have to say that once Eric and Kyle started to play, I was blown away by the sound! It was SO natural and huge! I then realized that electronics have come a LONG WAY in twelve years. Taylor certainly improved the electronics of the T5, plus, with all the great processors on the market now, dialing in a great sound is pretty easy.

When the T5 first came out twelve years ago, I didn’t have much of a warm and fuzzy about it. Moreover, I never saw any major artist playing one, so while I didn’t brush it off, I didn’t really consider it a serious contender to add to my stable.

But after last night, I’ve resolved that I have to test out a newer model. After looking at the pictures I took last night, it looks like Eric and Kyle were both playing a T5z Classic. That’s the basic mahogany version with no binding. It’s a gorgeous guitar – even my wife commented on how nice the guitars looked on stage.

But the sound! OH! The sound! It was big, thick, natural, and full of that sweet mojo that’s distinctly Taylor. I’ll know more once I can get my hands on one to test it, but suffice it to say that I’ve now changed my tune about the T5. It’s certainly a guitar that I could see myself playing.