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Will Someone Talk Me Out Of a T5


Gary in NJ

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I think this might be the first thread I've started in the guitar forum.

 

I play in an acoustic rock band. I use an Ibanez AEF30 for gigging. A nice guitar, but not great. I've been thinking about getting a new guitar lately...and then made a mistake...I went to a guitar store.

 

I was looking at acoustic/electrics in the $500 to $750 range (which seems about right for a gig guitar) and then spotted the Taylor T5. When I looked at it hanging on the wall I thought the price was $599. So I played it and really liked it. I was sold! When I went to double check the price I saw that the first digit was blocked by the E string, so I never noticed the 2 in front of the 599.

 

Damn it.

 

Over the last 6 months or so I have gone back to various guitar shops and I always come away convinced that I like the T5. The local guitar store has a T5-S on sale for $1,509 now.

 

Can some one please tell me that I will NOT like the T5? Please!

 

I have looked for other "hybrid" guitars (Bridge and single-coil pick-up) but can't seem to find any local to play. There has to be an alternative to spending $1,500+.

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Sorry to say but I think you would absolutely love the T5. I have played them and I have freinds who own them and they are fantastic.

 

That being said...here are photos of my Crafter SA-BUB. Kind of a T5 Knockoff but not quite the same. It has a Kent Armstrong magnetic pickup and a Baggs Element UST. They can be blended or used seperately. Nice sounding little guitar and a lot of fun. Plays well. Has a nice electric sound on the Armstrong and very good acoustic sound on the Element. Picked it up with case for less than $550.

 

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Buy it - It will sound much better that that Carlo Robelli electric you blew the dust off of it way back when....

 

 

PS - I'm baffled by the A5 - I think I should of went with the A3 being I have the nice very clean preamp on the SW65.

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Okay, here goes. First a disclaimer: the T5 is a wonderful guitar, but it's NOT an acoustic. As a substitute for a real acoustic, it's no better than several small body alternatives available for less than half the price of a T5. The Godin Acousticaster does a better job of sounding like a real electric-acoustic than does a T5, and it's a lot less money and has an even more compact body-style: it's shaped just like a Tele, but is lighter, and it has a great neck shape.

 

The Line 6 Variax 700 gets excellent acoustic sounds: it models a variety of guitars, from Martin 000 to Gibson Jumbo. No, you aren't going to fool anyone if you're trying to fingerpick it to accompany yourself on solo ballads, but then that's not what you're looking to do. Again, it's got a comfy small body shape. The neck is a good bit beefier than the one on the Acousticaster. The Variax also lets you use a variety of open tunings without actually retuning the guitar: it emulates them using modeling, though this can be tricky since unless you have the guitar amp'ed and turned up a bit, it can be distracting to hear the standards notes acoustically while hearing the alternate notes through the amp.

 

I've owned both of the foregoing, so I'm pretty familiar with them.

 

If you want the ability to get electric sounds as well as getting a half-decent acoustic sound, consider the Carvin AE185. It doesn't do the acoustic sound any better than either of the following - actually, it's not as good as either - but with dual humbuckers you can rock with it.

 

The Crafter's are nice - I played a couple last week at a a local store and have a hard time resisting at the price they're available - but to me the resemblance to the T5 is mostly cosmetic.

 

The T5 is a nice guitar in its own right. It's got a lot of tonal versatility, and does a decent acoustic-electric sound, albeit at a STEEP price compared to any of the foregoing alternatives. For an acoustic-rock band, it seems to me you'd be paying a huge premium for tonal options you're not really looking for.

 

OTOH, I'm the last person that should be advising another about being rational in evaluating a guitar purchase.:)

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You are absolutely foolish to want the T5. What's more you were absolutely foolish to enter the doors of that guitar store! Didn't you realize what would happen? Then you did it again and again, feeding your obsession to buy a new guitar!

 

Did I mention how many of us here on this forum are fools? Not regular fools, but guitar fools, which is one of the very worst kind of fools, not to mention one the most wallet-draining kind of fool.

 

Welcome to the forum of fools!:thu:

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You are absolutely foolish to want the T5. What's more you were absolutely foolish to enter the doors of that guitar store! Didn't you realize what would happen? Then you did it again and again, feeding your obsession to buy a new guitar!

 

Did I mention how many of us here on this forum are fools? Not regular fools, but guitar fools, which is one of the very worst kind of fools, not to mention one the most wallet-draining kind of fool.

 

Welcome to the forum of fools!:thu:

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I do understand that the T5 (and its imitators) are not acoustic guitars, but an acoustic using a piezo pick-up under the bridge plugged into several thousands watts isn't really an acoustic guitar anymore either.

 

My goal is to get a guitar that sounds like an acoustic with a piezo, but also has some options with respect to tone. I'm just getting tired of playing 40+ sons a night with the same tone. Just a little variation will will go a long way here. I'm sure the audience would appreciate it too.

 

I do see that other guitar manufacturers are beginning to make a number of T5 knock-off's...er...hybrid guitars.

 

The Crafter SA noted above does look nice. I can't seem to find anyone in my area that has 'em though. The Crafter USA website is useless. I sent an email to the US distributor in VA to see if they could help.

 

There is a dealer for Michael Kelly guitars close by. But these guitars seem to be more geared towards an electric guitar that makes acoustic sounds. Not my style of playing.

 

There is a dealer for the Godin Acousticaster just a mile from my office. I'll go there today.

 

Ibanez has introduced the Montage line of hybrid guitars. They look nice and seem to have some, er, unique features built into the preamp (chorus, reverb, distortion?, feedback eliminator). It also has adjustable action. I've had good luck with Ibanez in the past (good value) and I'm thinking of putting one of these on order.

 

The good news is all of the alternatives I've mentioned are more in my original $500 to $750 price range. The nice thing about the Taylor is that it is a Taylor. But I really don't want to gig with a $1,500 to $2,000 guitar.

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Sorry to say but I think you would absolutely love the T5. I have played them and I have freinds who own them and they are fantastic.


That being said...here are photos of my Crafter SA-BUB. Kind of a T5 Knockoff but not quite the same. It has a Kent Armstrong magnetic pickup and a Baggs Element UST. They can be blended or used seperately. Nice sounding little guitar and a lot of fun. Plays well. Has a nice electric sound on the Armstrong and very good acoustic sound on the Element. Picked it up with case for less than $550.


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You're really making me want one of those, and local dealer is blowing them out this weekend!

 

A question for you: all the ones I've played have been strung with electric strings, but yours looks like you have bronze/steel strings on it. If so, are you able to get a decent electric sound with bronze strings?

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I played two guitars today.

 

Godin A6 - Nice playing, but nowhere close to the T5. The A6 doesn't have the humbucker, that's the A6 Ultra. The shop owner said he'd ask the Godin rep to bring one by so I could try it out. In any event, the acoustic tone wasn't bad at all. The neck was a little fat for my liking. Overall quality was good. I didn't like the plastic back. I'll check-out the A6 Ultra if/when he gets it in.

 

Michael Kelly Hybrid. I played two models, one with the dual humbuckers and a single saddle pickup; and one with a single humbucker, single saddle pickup. I just couldn't connect with these guitars. Neither ever sounded like an acoustic, and they didn't feel like anything I have ever played before. There was nothing to like about these guitars. I felt bad, because the owner did all he could to make the sale, even brought me models with different strings. In the end I was honest with him and told him what I thought.

 

Tomorrow I'm going to check-out the Crafter SA. I also sent an email to the sales guy I know at Sweetwater regarding the Ibanez Montage. He's checking price and availability for me.

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I do like those T5's, I borrowed one once when I snapped a string and didn't want to get off and change it, and I was really impressed.

 

The hybrid thing is kinda what I've been doing with my acoustics for years, magnet in the soundhole,mic inside, piezo on the bridge...two outputs.

It'd sure be nice to have a factory made one.

 

I LOVE the look of these,check out the graphic eq too, but they aren't cheap!!!

http://www.mayones.com/eng/katalog.html?nazwa=Virtuoso&menu=0

 

d_detale_virtuoso_smietana_7.JPG

 

d_detale_virtuoso_smietana_9.JPG

 

f_virtuoso_smietana.jpg

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You're really making me want one of those, and local dealer is blowing them out this weekend!


A question for you: all the ones I've played have been strung with electric strings, but yours looks like you have bronze/steel strings on it. If so, are you able to get a decent electric sound with bronze strings?

 

 

 

I did put on a set of D'Addario EJ-16's. Mainly because I had them on hand. The strings on it were awful. It does OK on the electric pickup but I think the PB's don't quite get the reaction from the magnetic pickup that it would get from some good nickle electric strings. The PB's are also slightly heavier than the electric strings that came on it. Low E is .52 compared to the .49 that was on it. I think they overdrive the top a little.

Just so you know the electric pickup is height adjustable. I read a review somewhere where someone complained that it wasn't.

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I played two guitars today.


Godin A6 - Nice playing, but nowhere close to the T5. The A6 doesn't have the humbucker, that's the A6 Ultra. The shop owner said he'd ask the Godin rep to bring one by so I could try it out. In any event, the acoustic tone wasn't bad at all. The neck was a little fat for my liking. Overall quality was good. I didn't like the plastic back. I'll check-out the A6 Ultra if/when he gets it in.


Michael Kelly Hybrid. I played two models, one with the dual humbuckers and a single saddle pickup; and one with a single humbucker, single saddle pickup. I just couldn't connect with these guitars. Neither ever sounded like an acoustic, and they didn't feel like anything I have ever played before. There was nothing to like about these guitars. I felt bad, because the owner did all he could to make the sale, even brought me models with different strings. In the end I was honest with him and told him what I thought.


Tomorrow I'm going to check-out the Crafter SA. I also sent an email to the sales guy I know at Sweetwater regarding the Ibanez Montage. He's checking price and availability for me.

 

 

Keep in mind the A6 is NOT the same as the Acousticaster, it's a cheaper model. That said, the Acousticaster is strictly for a piezo-electric sound, so it probably isn't what you're looking for in any event.

 

Here's another option worth considering, though since you don't live in San Diego you can't play one before buying (though they have an approval process):

 

https://www.carvinguitars.com/catalog/guitars/index.php?model=ae185

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