Jump to content

NGD: Taylor 316


Glenn F

Recommended Posts

  • Members

Well, a couple of you have seen my 'GAS free' thread. I was GAS free until I sold my Eastman E10D last autumn. SInce then, I've wanted another spruce/hog or sapele large-ish guitar. My first choice was a dreadnought, a Lakewood D-14. I ended up returning that for a few reasons, the main one being that its intonation was off, and chord inversions up the neck were not in tune with open chords down at the nut. It also was a little weak on the bass, which a dread should not be. So, I ended up sending that back. It was a bit of a wrench, but I felt underwhelmed. I will say that it had a nice, complex, woody tone with a fair amount of overtones, but the combination of the faults mentioned above made me wary.

 

So, while looking for a replacement, I took a look at the Taylors. Now, I've had a 310, but I sold it. It had bad mojo for me, and I don't regret letting it go. I saw the 316 in their Taylor lineup, and when I checked the specs, saw that it wasn't seriously different in overall size than the 310, but had a different form, kinda like a cross between an OM and a jumbo. So, I looked it up on Taylor's website, saw that it promised full bass, yada, yada, yada. So, instead of a dread, I thought I'd give this one a whirl. I am glad I did.

 

The 316 has a solid sitka top, solid sapele back and sides, and ebony fretboard. Nothing fancy.

 

It was ready to play right out of the box. I am usually not a fan of medium strings--the heaviest gauge I've used on my guitars is the Med-Lights. So, I was very surprised when I found this guitar very easy to play. The action is excellent, the intonation bang on, the nut seems to be well-cut. I suppose my luthier could fine tune it for me, which may yet happen, but for now I am happy to play it as is. As for the sound... it has some serious 'OOMPH.' It is possible that it has more bass than my old 310. The mids are very distinct, and the trebles are also fine. It projects very well with light strumming, and gets VERY LOUD when I dig in. It doesn't quite have the finesse and overtones that the Lakewood did, but I expect that will come, if I remember my 310's tone after a few years. This guitar, out of all the acoustic guitars that I've gone through over the years, has the best set up out of the box that I have ever seen. I am truly impressed. The sitka has some very nice silking and a bit of bearclaw. Really, this guitar is flawless. The case is nice, too. The bonus is, I paid €175 less for it than I would've for the Lakewood.

 

I can highly recommend this guitar. Mine is definitely a keeper.

 

Cheers, beers,

 

Glenn

 

 

e966ba1b25766cc100afba9aaaf00115.thumb.jpg.95208497d2061cf3cc4a18d4dab6ae67.jpg

e5f99f48911763fa92734d0fd9bf3060.thumb.jpg.9a32378acc3915dd61ce9e8e6d88a22f.jpg

2bec13d3a924639b8966f19a1a3a770f.thumb.jpg.3c9411ce44ad1b61414e194866e1f45f.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Thanks!

 

One thing I forgot to mention: the fretwork is flawless. The action is quite comfortable (I tend to like it on the low side) and even digging in, there is absolutely no buzzing. The guitar was made last July, and there are no sharp ends. In contrast, the Lakewood, which was manufactured in January, had a few sharp frets and did buzz in a couple of places when played with vigour.

 

DeepEnd, this is now the 3rd Lakewood that I have sent back in disappointment. They are beautiful instruments, and as I said, the sound on the D-14 had its virtues, but overall, nope. It is certainly possible that my luthier friend could adjust the nut and make me a properly compensated saddle, but.... my intuition told me to pass. I have two already, and they are fantastic instruments that I would not want to part with. I doubt very much I will be looking for another at this point (as I am now GAS free.....). ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I went to GC today to take advantage of a gift certificate mailed to me. I meant to check out their acoustic room to see if they had that model but I forgot. They had neither the thumb picks nor the strings I wanted so I hoofed it out of there to the Sam Ash down the road. They only had the thumb picks. I ended up going home and didn't so much as look at a guitar at either store. I must be completely out of GAS.

 

Congrats on the Taylor. I hear it's a good finger picking guitar. :cool:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I never thought that the last two guitars I would buy would be Taylors. I bought the 320 (left) last July, and was also very impressed with it. It only needed the nut filed a bit to my taste, and I expect I will be doing that with the 316 as well. From all the reviews I had read on these models, it seems a task to find the plain old non-'CE' models. CE acoustics are one of my pet peeves with acoustics these days. The local shop's stock is at least 2:1 in favour of CE models of all brands, and I find it annoying. First, cutaways on acoustics don't particularly suit me, and neither do electronics. If I ever start playing live regularly again, I'll have one installed in one or more of my guitars.

 

Anyway, yeah, imo it looks like Taylor is the brand with the best QC, although I'd say Martin makes my favourite mass-produced acoustic guitars. The price point on the 3xx Taylors is pretty hard to beat for an American-made solid-wood acoustic. The nearest thing from Martin that I could find was the D-16GT, which has the Micarta fretboard and bridge. I don't like the feel of it. Sure, it is hard and smooth in exactly the way ebony isn't, but I find my fingers drag on it. Oh, and the Martin is more expensive than the solid-wood Taylors.

 

My luthier friend is picking up the 316 next week to do a bit of fine-tuning on it.

 

As for fingerpicking, it is ok, but I prefer my Martins and my Lakewood M-18 for that.

69d2d528bf9565d82111bffd29af8fd5.thumb.jpg.030bafd54f267ea20655835e7c8f7f28.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I have mentioned this before but here I go again...I have not owned that many acoustics but at the price points and quality Taylor is hard to beat. I have a 214 from 2004...at that time they were all solid wood as is mine...it sounds great and easy to play...now you have to jump up to a 300 series to get all wood but you also have to spend more. All the Taylors I have played at the guitar stores have had good quality and easy to play with good setups...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Expect a note in the mail from Bob thanking you personally. Or he might even call you on the phone. He's that kind of guy. He cares a lot about every single purchase or non-purchase. That's what I've heard anyway.He cares about lots of stuff in the world.

 

I almost bought a Taylor once, a nice one.But I never heard from Bob, so the deal just sort of passed us by.

 

Congratulations on the reacquisition of GAS too. It makes the world go around. That's what I've heard anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
Expect a note in the mail from Bob thanking you personally. Or he might even call you on the phone. He's that kind of guy. He cares a lot about every single purchase or non-purchase. That's what I've heard anyway.He cares about lots of stuff in the world.

 

I almost bought a Taylor once, a nice one.But I never heard from Bob, so the deal just sort of passed us by.

 

Congratulations on the reacquisition of GAS too. It makes the world go around. That's what I've heard anyway.

 

 

Funny you should mention Bob's personal replies. We have been corresponding by email for quite a few years on oddball stuff and when I was working on my second degree I had large paper to do that required interviewing a CEO or President of a company and writing about various aspects related to the course material (which was on personality types as they relate to management style). On a lark I thought I would email Bob and ask if he would do it. He did, and spent quite a large chunk of his day answering my questions as well as imparting a remarkable amount of useful wisdom about management and business practice. Some of the concepts he passed on I have directly used to improve my management skills. He is a remarkable individual and IMHO is the most influential guitar builder of the the modern era. I believe it is possible that fifty years from now he will be in the conversation with CF Martin as the two most important people to influence the building of acoustic guitars.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

 

 

Funny you should mention Bob's personal replies. We have been corresponding by email for quite a few years on oddball stuff and when I was working on my second degree I had large paper to do that required interviewing a CEO or President of a company and writing about various aspects related to the course material (which was on personality types as they relate to management style). On a lark I thought I would email Bob and ask if he would do it. He did, and spent quite a large chunk of his day answering my questions as well as imparting a remarkable amount of useful wisdom about management and business practice. Some of the concepts he passed on I have directly used to improve my management skills. He is a remarkable individual and IMHO is the most influential guitar builder of the the modern era. I believe it is possible that fifty years from now he will be in the conversation with CF Martin as the two most important people to influence the building of acoustic guitars.

 

Sweet,cool story...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

No phone or email as yet, but I did get an offer for a 25% discount on a guitar strap for filling in a questionnaire.

 

The 316 is with my luthier friend. It just needs a slight nut filing, and the relief slightly adjusted. I'll get it back on Tuesday. I am glad I got the 316 when I did, because Taylor's 2016 catalog doesn't mention non 'e' or 'ce' models of the 316.

 

Hi Misha, thanks!

 

Hope all is well with you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Got it back from my luthier friend today. All he did was file the nut slightly, and straightened the truss-rod a bit. Cost me €10. The 316 now plays like buttah, and it still can get seriously loud. I looked at the specs, and the x16 models are 1/4" wider at the lower bout than the x10 models. Don't know how that translates into power, but I do get the feeling that it is more powerful than my 310, which was certainly powerful enough.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...