Taylor Guitars 324ce L10

2005 Fall limited edition. Hawaiian Koa front, back and sides. Mahogany neck. Ebony fingerboard. Gloss on top and satin back and sides. Grand Auditorium with cuttaway body style. Taylor Expression System electronics. Top quality Taylor case included. I think the only extra thing you could have is a built in tuner, however I prefer the expression system the way it is, as it is so well hidden (just 3 small low profile rubber controls for bass, treble and volume) and doesn't screw up the look of such an amazing looking guitar with some large lump of plastic. This is a feature in itself to me.

This is the main reason I chose this guitar. I went into Machine Head Music in Hitchin, UK, and tried all their high end acoustics. I had a money is no object attitude and this was simply the best sounding guitar in the shop. It cost a grand less than the one I went in thinking that I'd buy. A few months earlier I'd played a koa taylor (K22 I think) and had been blown away. So I cleared some space on my credit card and got busy. To my ears all the koa guitars I tried just had a far superior tone. Such deep bass and perfectly balanced all the way through to the top end. I still use Elixir Nanowebs which are what it came with, and the whole thing sounds incredible. I am a record producer and I use it constantly for recording. Stereo mic'd with a couple of Neumann's I don't even have to touch the EQ. It's the best sounding acoustic I've ever heard. Plugged in, it is also the best. I am a big fan of the Expression System. It's the first time I've really felt like I'm listening to acoustic guitar and not some buzzin' fly. Peizo's sound nasty and wrong to me. The EQ is great (designed by the legendary Rupert Neve) however I never seem to need it, as the guitar sounds so good flat. The only critisism I'd give is that the satin finish on the back results in more movement noise than a gloss finish, which gets picked up by the body sensors in the Expression System. But it's no big deal.

The guitar was perfectly set up, and finished to perfection. I couldn't find anything remotely wrong. Typical Taylor quality.

In the first week I owned it I got what sounded like an earthing buzz when I plugged in. I couldn't solve it with the ground lift switch on the DI box, and using the Taylor balanced lead didn't help. I first noticed the problem in the middle of a gig, and I wound up stripping a piece of cable, tying one end around the input jack and sticking the other end inside my boxer shorts! It sort of worked and definately added a comedy element to the show, but it needed sorting! Anyway I replaced the batteries in the Expression System and the problem dissappeared! It comes back when the batteries get old, which is quite frequently. It seems quite power hungry.
I've now had it for about 8 months and it has recently developed a buzz. Sounds like there is something lose inside, as when you play a note on the a string up around the 10th / 11th fret you get a loose resonant mid rangey buzz from the body end of the guitar. Maybe it is a body sensor come loose? I need to send it somewhere to be sorted out.
These are the only issues I've had. I've done lots of live playing with it and its been fine, however I'm starting to wish I had something I could throw about a bit and not worry about damaging. It is such a beautiful item that it suits staying in mint condition, unlike a my electrics which just look cooler the more wear and tear they get.

I'm about to find out.

I've been playing for 17 years, mainly electric, but recently I've been doing lots of acoustic gigs and recording. I'd been playing a Washburn EA40 which sounds more like a banjo, frankly. As soon as I mic'd it up for recording I knew I'd be using it for fire wood come winter. My dad plays Taylors and never stops going on about them, so I tried his (314ce, 714ce, & a T5) and loved them all. I then played a koa one in a shop in Glasgow and knew I had seen the light. I spent a while getting geeky on the net doing research on top end acoustics and then went shopping. I tried Martins, Collings, Taylors and a bunch of others, but I kept coming back to the Taylors. My top priority was Koa front, back and sides, and a cuttaway, though and these are pretty few and far between. I had my sights on a Taylor K22 with incredible exotic inlay work, but when I saw it in the flesh it seemed too over the top. It would have looked great on Dolly Parton. With the Koa wood you don't need any extra frills. It's the wood that you want to look at. Not only this, but the 324ce L10 which I ended up buying had the slightly larger Grand Auditorium body and sounded better. I felt it was the best sounding guitar in the shop, and it cost over a grand less than all the other guitars I was looking at. It seems like over the ??2k mark things just get a bit more flash in the inlay and decor areas with deminishing returns in the sound department. If it were stolen I'd be totally gutted. It would be hard to replace because it was a limited edition and koa wood is pretty sought after. I'd probably have to ask Bob Taylor for a custom made replacement, and it would cost a fortune, but I'd do it. The best sound is the best sound, and that is what we a dealing with. The two separate buzzing issues are the only things which keep the overall rating off the 10 spot.