Taylor is the last guitar brand that I can say I know anything about.

In my nectk of the woods, Taylor is "the" guitar. There are a couple of reasons for this. One is a local vendor called Appalacian Bluegrass Shoppe. The owner committed to Taylors early in the game and has been a top vendor for Taylor many years, all in a little shop with a bare wooden floor and not much square footage. Emory Knode's father was a music store owner and muscian, clarinet I believe.

Emory is down home and his shop is real comfortable. Sales are low pressure and John Thurston, the repairman, has a good reputation for fixing guitars.

But Taylor also has a good product. Taylor's bigger guitars fit in a bluegrass band as well as the Martin's do. They make some very nice singer/songwriter guitars as well. To my way of thinking, Taylors are exquisitely balanced in tone and no one part of the musical spectrum stands out. Some people love this, others say the Taylor's have no "personality."

Taylor has also emphasized putting electronics in their guitars and the Fishman blender system they use has one of the most natural sounds of any direct system I have heard.

They can be right expensive also. Another draw back to me is that either Taylor or their dealers seem to love "cutaway" body styles, I still like acoustic guitars without cutaways, and I seldom get that far up the neck playing the music I play.

If I had $2200 dollars to buy another guitar, I could be very tempted to buy a Taylor 814 CE. This guitar is a bit smaller than a dreadnought but has pretty good punch. I've played a couple, and they are very nicely toned guitars. They have an excellent sustain. Played throught a direct, they sound very acoustic and having the blender right up there on top gives the performer a good deal of control over the electric sound of the guitar from on-stage. It's a right pretty number, even if it does have a cutaway. Another thing about many of these new guitars is their lightness. They are no where near as heavy as those old D-28's

Taylor is right up there with Takamine in terms of the number of performers I see using those brands. Taylor has more snob appeal. I think the Taylors sound much better played acoustically than do the Takamines. Played thought direct input, I think Taylor still has an edge, but it is not as great.

The Taylors are not out of the ranger of the acoustic musician who is working full-time. In fact just last Thursday I watched a local guy with a national reputation who has put his Takamine down and is now playing an 814CE. But Taylor is a bit expensive for the hobby guitarist.

I bet there are more opinions out there about Taylors.

Roger in Baltimore