taylor t5

**johnnyl** · 06-13-2013, 11:44 AM

Thinking of trading my peerless monarch in and getting a taylor t5 mainly for reasons of size and comfort.
Does anyone have experience of whether the t5 cuts it sound wise for jazz
cheers
John

**mr. beaumont** · 06-13-2013, 11:56 AM

Depends on what sound you're looking for...you gotta try one if you can.

I've tried the t5... cool guitars, kinda jacks of all trades but masters of none. I was able to get a lot of "good" tones out of it...I still prefer my Heritage for a jazz tone, but the t5 had several tones I "could use" for jazz. It had the typical Taylor quality (high) and playability (easy)

I could see myself having one someday, but unfortunately for my wallet I think the base model is pretty ugly (ovangkol and sapele are gorgeous on their own, but together...yuck) so I'll be spending a pretty penny if I ever go that route.

**johnnyl** · 06-13-2013, 12:31 PM

Thanx mr Beaumont
i see what youre saying maybe its trying to do too many things
the search for a smaller archtop goes on.....

**mr. beaumont** · 06-13-2013, 01:07 PM

What else have you played? Do you think it's the lower bout or the depth that makes it uncomfortable? How important is having any acoustic volume?

**Gabe** · 06-13-2013, 01:12 PM

The Peerless Martin Taylor series are worth checking out as they're quite small and they sound great.

Also Ibanez makes a couple of smaller archtop models.

**johnnyl** · 06-14-2013, 12:36 AM

Hi Mr B
not really tried any other archtops
I think its the lower bout thats the problem in this case 17"
I reckon for me acoustic volume is not too important
Will check out the MT Peerless models
Thanks guys

**Cooperro** · 06-14-2013, 05:50 PM

No, IMHO it doesn't cut it for jazz, especially exposed chord-solo. She gets close if you use jazz-heavy roundwounds, say 12-52. She won't take a bigger low "E" because of the bridge holes. I even tried flatwounds on it just for fun. Ouch!

I love it for its playability, and its weight - she's light as a feather. Oh, and mine's gorgeous.

But, she tries to do too much, but doesn't touch anything in my arsenal (see signature) for their intended purpose.

Did I mention its playability? The neck is to die for.

**teleboli** · 02-07-2014, 09:08 PM

I know this is an older thread but I was surprised by this and thought it worth posting.

This is with 10 rounds as well.

**johnnyl** · 02-08-2014, 05:00 AM

Hi Teleboli
Thanks for posting
very nice playing and lovely guitar

It Even LOOKS comfortable to play
I feel a Gas attack coming on

cheers
John

**Cooperro** · 02-08-2014, 06:31 AM

Thanks for posting this video. I agree, he got a real nice lite-jazz sound out his T5. Looks like a wound 3rd, which helps a lot. And acoustic strings to boot. I wonder what amp he's using, and how he recorded this. Could be a POD right into the desk...

I just liked everything about it - of course, now I have to put everything down and go play mine!

**teleboli** · 02-08-2014, 10:16 AM

Cooperro. Which woods are on your T5? This one was spruce looks like. The Koa is apparently a bit mellower than the spruce. The koa may not have quite the snap of the spruce, but for this application mellower may not be a bad characteristic.

The thing that struck me about the T5 was how easy it was to play. That Taylor neck construction is the easiest playing I've ever touched, most electrics included. A nice thing on these old fingers if you're playing/practicing a lot.

**Cooperro** · 02-08-2014, 12:24 PM

Originally Posted by teleboli

Cooperro. Which woods are on your T5? This one was spruce looks like. The Koa is apparently a bit mellower than the spruce. The koa may not have quite the snap of the spruce, but for this application mellower may not be a bad characteristic.

The thing that struck me about the T5 was how easy it was to play. That Taylor neck construction is the easiest playing I've ever touched, most electrics included. A nice thing on these old fingers if you're playing/practicing a lot.

My T5 is ALL maple - body front/back and neck too. So, it's probably the least mellow of all the iterations.

And I couldn't agree more - my T5 has the best feeling neck out of all my axes. Plus, it's very light. Overall a complete joy to play! And I'm right up there with you; tomorrow's my 60th birthday. My present is that ES330 - I just got to start playing her yesterday. She stayed in her case since December - that was rough!

**DRS** · 02-13-2014, 08:30 PM

Nice guitar
There is one here for sale new for $3099.
I'd think a trade for a Peerless Monarch would be a fair deal.

**johnnyl** · 02-14-2014, 01:01 PM

Where is here?
cheers
John

**Chazmo** · 02-14-2014, 01:05 PM

Just to throw in a ringer, the whole Godin 5th Avenue line is smaller and thinner than standard archtops. They are about as comfortable as any guitar I have ever played.

**DRS** · 02-14-2014, 01:16 PM

Vancouver BC

**Gertrude Moser** · 02-14-2014, 04:40 PM

I'm a big fan of Taylor acoustics, but I have to say that the T5 is an absolute dog. The idea of paying over 3k for one blows my mind - in a bad way. I've play a few and couldn't put them down fast enough; thin, lifeless sound top to bottom, nothing like what you get out of any other Taylor. I believe you will sorely regret buying a T5; you won't have a great sounding acoustic OR electric. Sorry to be so blunt, but that's my honest opinion. Perhaps I'm harsh about it because I have so much love for their flat tops.

**jzucker** · 02-14-2014, 05:36 PM

Originally Posted by teleboli

I know this is an older thread but I was surprised by this and thought it worth posting.

This is with 10 rounds as well.

The guitar has too much top end for my tastes in terms of using it in a traditional setting but as long as you're not trying to emulate wes, benson and martino why, not?

Most of the 'Mello' clips of this guitar are laden with washy reverb and delay and low pass filtering (such as the above clip) in order to minimize this.

So my concern is that it has a huge amount of top end. You'd probably want to run this through a FRFR speaker system to make it sound best.

**teleboli** · 02-14-2014, 05:53 PM

I just bought a maple/sapele and it's shipping on Monday. $1000./shipped done. IMO don't even think about paying much more than that unless you want the Koa or other exotic wood choice. I played a new one in a shop last week and forgot how effortless the Taylor necks are. I arrived home, posted a WTB ad on AGF and had 6 offers within 3 days. I don't buy new.

It'll be nice to have a neck that plays that easy when spending hours a day in the woodshed as I currently am. I'm not buying it to use as an acoustic at all. The electric side with the 'acoustic properties' of a hollow body is all I'm after.

As to the sound. I certainly should be able to brew something up with a T5, a Henriksen and a set of flats if nessesary. I'm happy to give a little tone report later.

**Ian_S** · 03-28-2015, 12:32 PM

Hey, teleboli, how did your maple T5 turn out? Did you ever do a tone report?

**Strngmusic** · 09-15-2018, 03:31 PM

I’m brand new to the JGF. Just joined today. I found it directly from doing research on the T5. I live in a very small apartment in NYC and play mostly through amp modeling software. I have been playing a Godin ACS SA Nylon with the 1 7/8” nut. I absolutely love this guitar but wanted another steel string. I wanted something quiet due to close proximity of neighbors. I started researching this T5 and it’s taken a while to decide which one I want. I bought a T5z Custom but hated the neck. I’m not into jumbo frets and it felt unbalanced, a bit neck heavy. So I bought a used T5C2 Koa. At first I was having trouble getting clear jazz tones out of it. Today I just discovered something new in my software that I really had not considered before. I started adjusting the digital mic placement parameters. When I adjusted it off axis it was like magic. It totally changed the tone and I lost all of the unwanted high end twang. I could then dial it back in using the treble and bass controls on the guitar. I had almost given up on getting a pleasing tone. I absolutely loved the feel of this guitar. The neck and body seem almost perfectly balanced. I have owned some very nice guitars one of which was a Gibson Country Gentleman that I absolutely loved. Had to sell when I was forced to move to NYC. But this Taylor T5 now out performs even the Gibson CG. I’m not necessarily a jazz purist as I play a little of everything. However I’ve been listening to a lot of Martin Taylor lately. I’m quite certain with a little more tweaking I’ll get super close to that acoustic jazz tone. This guitar is absolutely amazing! You just have to be willing to sit down and explore the plethora of options. I would recommend playing this guitar through a full frequency system. Modeling software is not necessarily a bad thing. It has come a long way.

After reading through this post , I thought someone might find my discovery interesting. It really is a great guitar! I would highly recommend it. Buy used if you can as resale value is terribe at the moment. You can get a Koa Custom for around $1500. I really enjoyed reading through the comments here. This seems to be treasure chest full of great guitar info.