In the last few years, Taylor Guitars has emerged as a major force in U.S.-made acoustic guitars. Martin, Guild and Gibson continue their traditional line of premium, hand-built acoustics with expected success, but Taylor seems to have the buzz.

I recently had the chance to spend some time with the new redesigned Taylor 710CE a popular acoustic/electric, priced at $3,148 retail.

Features

The 710CE is a dreadnought acoustic/electric cutaway guitar designed for easy access to the upper regions of the neck and features the beautifully integrated Taylor Expression System electronics package.

Tasty details abound on this guitar, including a solid Engelmann spruce top, solid Indian rosewood sides and back, a mahogany neck topped with an ebony fretboard, a sound hole trimmed in koa (a mahogany variant from Hawaii) and beautiful Indian rosewood binding around the body.

The Taylor 710CE features gold-plated Grover tuners, a Tusq saddle for brightness and sustain, and pearl dots on the usual frets. The scale is 25.5 inches, typical of dreadnought guitars, with an adjustable truss rod and a neck width at the nut of 1.75 inches.

The back is two pieces of Indian rosewood with a thin white strip separating the two halves. The guitar ships with medium-gauge bronze Elixir strings.

The 710CE I played was fitted with the much-talked about, Taylor Expression System electronics package - with a pickup under the neck and two newly-invented body sensors. There are three, perfectly integrated knobs on the front curve of the body for volume, bass and treble control (no big hole in the side for the preamp like many A/Es). The strap button at the base of the guitar doubles as a 1/4-inch jack and there is another strap button on the heel of the neck.

Taylor's high-end dreadnoughts have been given an upgrade with the internal X-bracing moved forward to about one inch from the sound hole, a feature that allows more bass from an acoustic (think old prewar Martins and their vintage reissue descendants). Those who think that all Taylors are midrange and treble need to hear the new 710. With the forward shifted bracing and the mellower-sounding Engelmann spruce top, this guitar can kick out enough bass for bluegrass rhythm. But the highs are there as well: the "Taylor tones" were maintained by tweaking and reshaping all the bracing, while increasing the bass response by moving the X forward.

The guitar that we tested was beautifully made. The wood on the top was not perfectly book matched, but close. The sides and back had a rich glow from the rosewood, and the internal construction was spotless and clean (although one of the adhesive preamp wire hangers did come off two weeks into the review, but that did not affect the sound of the guitar at all).

Unlike a Martin, the truss rod is adjusted underneath a screwed-on rosewood plate on the headstock. The bridge is black ebony, with the strings held in place with ebony pins that are decorated with luminous dots of abalone.

Of course, Taylor uses a bolt-on neck design that fans of vintage dovetail--attached necks often eschew, but I don't. I have found that Taylor bolt-on necks sustain as just about good as a dovetail, and you can get the low action without compromising saddle height. I am of the opinion that headstock angle and the saddle breakover are more critical to the sustain (and the top of course) than glue or bolts.

Now a word about the finish. Since the mid-1990s, Taylor have gone to a fast-dry, environmentally friendly, polyurethane-coating - phasing out the old-fashioned, dangerous-to-work-with nitrocellulose lacquer that Gibson, Martin and Guild still use. This newer coating-technique resists finish checking and dings better than nitrocellulose, but it will not esthetically age like the Martins and Gibson.

From a durability standpoint, the quick-dry durable finishes are fine. However, I believe that with nitro finishes the player feels the tone through the guitar a little better. It does not sound much different to the audience or to the external microphone, but I perceive that nnth bit of extra feel through a guitar coated with nitro.

The Audition

With the design change in top wood and brace system, the 710CE is showed its colors on first play. The sound quality of this guitar with the bronze strings was warm, volumous and vibrant. Playing a lead on the treble strings was loud and clear, but there was no metallic edge that I have heard on other electric-acoustic guitars. The Taylor 710CE's sound (with these strings) reminds me of the classic bluegrass guitar sound with lots of - clean projection, but without a lot of edginess.

The action was excellent, particularly with light-gauge bronze strings. Light-gauge phosphor-bronze strings give it a little brighter sound. The standard medium Elixir bronze strings have a bassier tone than lights.

I plugged the Taylor 710CE into a PA system to judge the quality of its Expression electronics and was impressed. Electrically, the 710CE sounded quite close to a natural acoustic guitar. And the feedback resistance was amazing! I cranked the volume all the way up on the guitar and stood about six feet from my PA speaker - close to the limit of my volume tolerance - and did not get any feedback.

With the bronze strings, the Taylor 710CE sounded best as a strummer and lead instrument when using a pick. Fingerpicking naturally dulls the sound of any guitar, and the 710CE was not bright enough for fingerpicking for my taste. The Elixir phosphor bronze strings produced a little more brightness for finger picking.

I adjusted the electronics to boost the treble for a better sound when fingerpicking. Fortunately, the bass and treble controls have center detents that helped guide me to the boost and cut range of the controls. The cutaway of this guitar let me easily reach notes up to the 17th fret, play simple chords up to the 15th fret and get clean barre chords on the 13th fret.

Conclusion

At $3,148 retail, it is a real pleasure to play a guitar of Taylor's quality. The volume, warm sound and the excellent playability make this a top guitar for our 2003 Best Of Award. And did I mention the Expression system? Just amazing feedback rejection and natural sound.

There are other choices for less than three grand, but there is just something extra you get from a Taylor. Look at how many working musicians play them.

For more information, go to www.taylorguitars.com

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