Taylor T5, here I come!

So basically, more or less I reached my quota to get the guitar. God will make a way talaga, since all the rackets were practically within a month! My only issue now is that it’s too exact – meaning I have no funds for anything else while in the states (food, transpo, gimmicks).

I planned to get a Taylor T5 Thinline Custom with a Koa top. Because it sounded best out of the three soundboard choices. Plus it’s the only choice which will get the finish I want (Natural Edgeburst).

So of course, now that I have the money, it was time for me to get down and dirty and start doing what I do best: rationalizing every aspect of the situation. I was to reevaluate if the Koa was really needed, or if I could opt to get a [cheaper] Spruce or Maple top – which would allow me to have the needed extra funds to actually survive a month in the US.

Practical Considerations

From my past post, I mentioned that it was a toss-up between the Koa and Spruce top (the maple just sounded too muffled for my tastes) Sound wise (before even checking the prices), from the interactive demo the Koa and Spruce were the closest sounding tops. Ultimately Koa beats Spruce, but not by a margin that can’t be compensated from the tone adjustent knobs. More than the sound, what really attracted me to the Koa top is the Natural Edgeburst finish it had – which was only available for that particular top.

So now I started rationalizing whether or not that the finish was the deciding factor, and worth the extra moolah. I ultimately scrapped the Koa option altogether. And here’s why.

Subjective Considerations.

From a “generic” point of view, that natural finish, while beautiful, is specific to taste. What if you go gigging… and what if, say, you’re in a heavy metal band? Would a wood-finished acoustic looking T5 look good with that music? Not that people will actually care, but it is something to consider to some extent. A simpler finish will always be the better choice in the long run as the neutrality of the color will most likely appeal to more people, regardless of whatever they’re pre-disposed to.

Anyways, based on that, and other similar rationalizations, I’ve come to the conclusion that black obviously would be the safest color. But if that we’re the case, requesting a black Koa (if possible at all) would be like saying “give me an iPod in a Creative Zen casing.” Know what I mean? The Natural Edgeburst finish tells people that not only do you have a T5, but a T5 Custom Koa top. Aaaahhh, the classic “my dick is bigger than your dick!” mentality we men seem to have.

Pending Decision

So as of now, I’m leaning on a simpler, black finish… which reinforces my decision of not choosing the Koa at all. Which will automatically mean that I would have saved a whole lot (at least I thought I did). And having said that the difference between the Koa and Spruce tone-wise isn’t that drastic (at least from what i’ve heard) then I decided on getting Spruce.

Confusion

So Having decided on Spruce (for now), I then started re-canvassing and re-researching. Comparing it now to the Maple top (just in case). This is when something really bothered me: I found out that price-wise, Spruce was the cheapest of the lot! My concern has nothing to do with pride. But when it comes to quality instruments, I’ve found out that usually, you get what you pay for. So the nagging thoughts of “There’s gotta be a hitch with that Spruce top!” or “Why should maple be better?” started creeping up.

Now I know taste in sound is subjective, and I agree, but since I’m dropping a ton of money on this, I’d like to make sure that I have no doubts once I make the purchase.

Researching Tonewoods

As I said, based on my preference, the Spruce was closest to the Koa sound (which I thought sounded the best). Maple sounded way too warm (which I already considered as bordering on “muddled”) compared to these two.

It’s a bummer that the audio samples in the interactive demo were not distributed in a lossless format. Plus the fact that mastering was ultimately up to the engineer’s personal taste (technically, it’s the producer’s taste). So there are a lot of variables that may or may not be an issue as far as faithfully and transparently representing these guitars’ voices. Ultimately, I’ll really have to listen to them live, but should I not have the chance to do that, I’m praying that the demo had enough detail for me to work on.

Nonetheless, I researched about both woods and came up with these conclusions. I invite anyone to add to these points (or correct) as that will really help me in vindicating/re-evaluating my decision so far.

• Maple, in the electric guitar sense, is used a lot because it has a quicker note decay… which obviously is good for a solidbody as it doesn’t resonate “as much” (not that it shouldn’t do so, but that addresses feedback issues on amplified instruments)
• Spruce is the top choice as far as acoustic soundboards ¹ “Top boards” (or “Soundboards”) are literally the FACE of the guitar. Quality guitars are made from different woods, so the neck usually uses a different wood from the fretboard, headstock, body, and top/soundboard. go because of the brilliance (and resonance) it generates from hollowbodied instruments.
• While the sonic differences between all tonewood choice are certainly noticeable, I firmly believe that in the case of the T5, the price increase has something more to do with the rarity and aesthetic appeal of Maple and Koa than them actually being “better.” If you disagree, feel free to comment so I can see if I have to reconsider my decision 🙂

Now while the T5 is categorized as an electric guitar, since it was getting popular because of it’s acoustic sound, I would like to focus on trying to get that which is more acoustic sounding (hence choose a soundboard that’s better fit for acoustics) because ultimately, it’s much more easier to shape an electric guitar’s sound with effects and EQ than an acoustic.

So What Now?

So there you have it, as of posting this, I’m leaning towards the Spruce top, with a plain black finish. So what will happen with the rest of the cash? I will make it sulit!

I’m going to get a multi effects processor too (I’m thinking the Boss GT-8 ² Which I will reserve for a whole new post should I get it. ). Also, I’m getting straplocks, and locking tuners… and will then go to a luthier to have them installed. I also plan to get a instrument humidifying kit. Yes, I realize I have a dessicant cabinet which does the exact opposite, but as far as instruments go, you HAVE to have a decent humidity. Too dry (which is worse than too “wet/humid”) is really bad for the wood.

All in all, the price goes back to match the Koa top (so much for savings), but considering how much more I got, I doubt if anyone will say that the Koa top was the better choice now hehehe. This is the point wherein I will just take to heart what my friends were saying: “you can’t go wrong with any either way” – because they’re right. Regardless of the top, as you can see in the picture above: the T5 is being used by Dave Matthews and Jason Mraz among others. ³ Mraz’s owns a Spruce Custom with a sticker (not pictured) right smack in the middle of the T5. Dave Matthews is also using a Spruce Custom on that pic, but I’m not sure if it’s his personal guitar or just for the video (Mraz’s Wordplay video shows him with a black T5 Standard) So I’m sure that whatever choice will kick serious ass! Or at least be better than most guitars being used in the local scene.