Taylor Guitars 426CE-LTD

Tasmanian Blackwood Top, Back, and sides
Mahogany Neck, ebony fretboard.
Abalone inlay and diamond fret markers.
Taylor really went the extra mile with this limited edition.
The darkness of the blackwood with the light creme colored binding give this guitar a "inverse" look that is absolutely drop dead gorgeous. Mine has a thick white heartwood stripe running down the middle that is visually very pleasing.
If I could change just one thing about this guitar, I would give it a gloss finish instead of satin.

I had walked in determined to buy a 7 series but was instantly drawn to this guitar just from it's looks. It was love at first strum. This is the darkest, richest, and warmest sounding guitar I have ever heard. The lows are very filling and deep. The mids are nice and clear. The highs really sizzle (quoting the portland music girl) on this guitar. It almost sounds like a different instrument when playing the highs. If there were one fault to point out, it would be that this guitar gives really weak harmonics notes off the 5th and 7th frets. I think it has to do with the blackwood top. I played this guitar side by side with the 416celtd at Sam Ash and they are worlds apart. The spruce top really cancels out alot of the richness and deepness that the taz blackwood gives.

Its a Taylor, what more is there to say?

I baby this guitar to no end and I never intend to test the limits of durability.

I hope I never have to call these people

This guitar was a solute to my uniqueness. I just didn't like the though of spending thousands on a guitar that looks and sounds just like everyone else's. I would be devastated if anything were to happen to this guitar and would replace it granted that there was a replacement availble to buy (since it was a limited).

What I can say ? It's wonderful !!! Maybe to much: close your eyes before to check it cause you'll can buy it only for the look! At the first impression is a very good feeling like the others Taylor! The tuner are perfect and the neck is wonderful! The sound is particolar cause the Tasmanian Blackwood is the main wood of all this guitar:is an open sound on high frequency and will improve with the years. The GS Style is great and improve the just perfect feel. At this sprice you'll have a wonderful Taylor with solid top with a lot of nice finish: more than 300-400-500 series! Offcourse with a Taylor quality case incluse! Cannot ask more for this Price....

The acoustic sound is open. The B and E strings are more in evidence than Bass: that can be a good for some kind of fingerstyle and strumming. I have the impression that in first position the E bass strings is just a little "dead" (I try two different guitars): Is it a problem of hole frequency or what ? The bass are without deep: if you search a flat guitar responce is not the your guitar...this guitar have a very personal sound that you can love or hate...up to your taste. But I think that more the wood play more the sound will increase. For rag and blues is very nice : the feel is to much good!!! The Tasmanian Blackwood have a strange resonance to high frequency: very nice and that give the sound very personal. The tuning is very good: I don't found any problem. Now for play this guitar to the amp you must have a good equlizer for give to this guitar a natural sound: why Taylor leave always the Dynamic String Sensor Active ? The sound of this is like a single coil...to much fair from acoustic sound: was better have the choice to disable it and not the Dynamic Body Sensors, that are more natural ! Another way can be a parametric equaalizer like takamine with middle frequency variable Q factor.

The action of this Taylor is perfect for me : no adjustment is requeired. The finish are "made from Taylor": perfect !!! The quality's wood is good. The internal circuit must fix better: sometimes I can listen a little noise in some bass position but I'll can fix it easly.
A friend told me: this is an elecric guitar! Yes, if you are an elecric guitar player you must check the neck taylor feel !!! The cutway can only make you more happy of this guitar!

Nothingh to tell...is a Taylor !

Uhmm...My first guitar had 2 pickup with no sound: I must contact Taylor with Facebook cause I don't found email for service on Taylor web page (I live in Italy cannot call USA for assistance)!For repair it I musted send my guitar in Spain or in German: is not good. But when I changed this guitar in the shop (lucky to find another one!)the seller told me that the service in Italy must exist (Fender service ).Taylor I think must improve customer service. I want tell that the Taylor guys are very gentle and ready but is not enought: the service must be organize in different mode with email support and a good world service!

The guitar is lovely and marvellous: I checked a lot of guitars before take it. If you love this kind of sound you'll be happy day after day to find new harmonics sound and lovely feel !!! The Taylor Expression System is very good but I hope that Taylor can find a new way for the pick up select: must only modify the possibility to select the pick up in different mode for switch off the neck pickup and leave active the dynamic sensor or ....why not... to substitute the Single coil pick up with a piezo inside the bridge . Offcourse you can improve the basic sound with a good equalizer and enjoy of a natural sound !!!!

-Body is made entirely of Tasmanian Blackwood. It's a lot like Koa from what I've been told. The top is finished and the back and sides are satin. Neck is mahogany I suppose. It's got the new expression system. Came with a Taylor case. I bought it new go figure. This is a pretty simple GS style Taylor. The inlays are tasteful and not overdone. I can't really see what more this guitar could need. Maybe a tuner but hey who cares. If you need anymore info just look it up.

Perhaps I should quickly tell how I came to buy this guitar.

I play in a contemporary band and I have to play solo acoustic stuff with a singer at church a lot. For too long I used a decent G series Takamine that I didn't like. The electronics were crap and the neck played like crap too. It sounded okay unplugged but that was about it. Armed with $2000 I decided it was time to buy a new acoustic. I started by playing all the basics to see what appealed to me. Gibsons (too hard to find a good one that the factory didn't botch), Martin (feel of the guitar was not to my liking), Breedlove (tone didn't click with me), Alvarez (not really my thing for some reason)

Eventually I realized that the Taylor Grand Auditorium and Grand Symphony series was what I was looking for. What I really wanted was a 514ce but I didn't want to spend that much. My search ended at an Atlanta area music store with a lot of Taylors.

I played a regular spruce GS and just hated it. WAY too bright. I hate bright guitars. The 514 sounded much more balanced to me which made me mad since I couldn't afford it. I came close to buying a koa 420 but the dreadnought shape killed it for me. I didn't like the dreadnought tone. The store clerk suggesting I try a 426ce so I did. The sound was misleading. It sounded EXACTLY like a 514ce except warmer. I loved it. Unfortunately is was also out of my price range until I managed to talk it down to $1700. SOLD!

So how about the sound? Well like I said, it really sounds like a GS crossed with a 514. It's very balanced but it has that ballsy piano bass the GS series is known for. The highs are very thick yet piercing. I can't describe the mids, but they're good.

TRY THIS GUITAR!

Action was perfect in the store. Once I got it home and settled it raised a little but one turn of the truss rod fixed that. The finish is stunning. No flaws. Perfection. What more can I say?

I take care of my guitars, especially the nice ones like this. ANY guitar can lose it's luster without proper care. But for the record this Taylor feels very worthy. It feels as good as a $2000 Taylor should feel. I'll make sure it's looked after.

Haven't had to deal with them yet but I have a lifetime warranty.

I've said enough about this guitar. I think I made a good choice after playing so many others. It's just what I needed. I love the GS shape and sound on this thing. All I can say is go play one. It's one of the best sounding acoustics I've ever strummed. If there's a better sounding guitar for the price I wouldn't know it.