Taylor Guitars 810 LTD

This is a 2002 810 LTD. It has no cut away and no factory pick ups.
It has a cocobolo body and flamed maple binding on the body, neck,
and head stock. The finger board and bridge are ebony. The best feature about this guitar is that it is really nice to look at. The
cocobolo is highly figured and rich looking. Some negatives are
(1) The gold on the litely plated grover tuners begins to fade almost
immediately which was a dissapointment on a guitar at this price range. (2) The rear strap button is totally useless and cannot be
safely used without the guitar being plugged in. (3) The poly urethance finish never seemed to get as hard as nitro cellulose laquer and frankly has not aged as well.

First I would like to add a qualifier concerning my opinion about
how this guitar fits my musical style. I believe that acoustic
guitars vary in sound not only from instrument to instrument, but
from day to day. At these prices I think I do a pretty good job of
adjusting my musical style to the intruments I own. I primarily play
folk, country, and blues. The Taylor is good on some of my stuff and
not so great on others. When I bought this guitar Taylor was touting
the fact that they had gone to a new bracing system that had now
achieved that long yearned for low end. The bottom line is - the
bottom end ain't there. I also purchased a Martin DC Aura which for
my part at least put the argument to rest. Taylor has never had, does
not now have, and perhaps never will have the full on dreadnaught sound of a high end Martin. Unamplified the guitar lacks volume and
depth. Having said that, once I stuck a Fishman Rare Earth Humbucker
in the sound hole and plugged it into Loudbox amd things improved
greatly. I think Taylors are a whole lot better amplified than they
are unplugged. Taylor, in my opinion should be honest and simply stop
producing unamplified acoustic guitars.

I've been setting up my own guitars for 40 years and I like to think
I've gotten pretty good at it. I believe this about factory set ups.
They are pointless. No one who hasn't met or heard from you can set up your guitar. I own four acoustic guitars and every one of them
needed a set up when I got it. The Taylor was no exception. I have
read alot of reviews claiming that Taylors have better or easier
action than other acoustic guitars. I don't buy it. The fact is, unless there is something wrong with your guitar you can set any guitar to any string height you like. I set both the Martin and
Taylor to the same action height and have found nothing about the
Martin that prevents it from being set as low or lower than the Taylor if I choose. As far as the workmanship on the guitar itself
my understanding is that Taylors quality control on the production
line is excellent and it shows. The guitar is very well made. No deffects were present. My only complaint would be that after examining many Taylors I found their mahogany necks often have knots
and undesirable grain patterns that are not immediately apparent until the satin finish gains some sheen from playing.

This guitar is no road warrior. The flamed maple binding, although
beautiful is totally inadequate as protection from dings. As I stated above I don't feel that the poly urethane finish would hold
up under real world use without getting excessively scratched and dented. It just seems to lack hardness even after some years of aging. If you are looking for a guitar to gig with you probably could
buy any number of guitars for half the price that sound as good and
you will cry over less when they take a rap.

I know that Taylor owners tend to give rave reviews about their service and support so you can take this or leave it, but here it is.
My belief on guitar warranties is that there is only one reason an acoustic guitar needs a warranty. If the neck gets out of wack I can adjust it, if a pick guard peals I can remove it with a blow dryer and replace it. No big deal. The thing I need a warranty for is if after about 1 1/2 years of use a virtually new guitar decides to decompose and crack from the bridge to the tail piece.

I had been told that Taylors are prone to this sort of behavior and
I dearly wish I had listened. I am fully aware of the need to humidify an acoustic guitar and keep not one but two Sears 14 gallon
humidifiers running 24/7 that maintain a constant 47+% humidity level. Taylors customer service took the stand that I was not being
truthful and charged me $170.00 plus to do a repair on the guitar.
They said the guitar would have to be humidified to close the crack and after several month of waiting I got the guitar back. It was
terrible. Because the guitar was not dried up in the first place
the crack never closed and Taylors repair shop simply filled the
gaping crack and glossed over it.

When I complained about the shabby repair job and asked Taylor once again to honor their warranty I was told that it was the best they
could do. In desperation I told the Taylor service rep. that I would be willing to pay for a top replacement and was told that was not an option. Only after repeated complaints through my dealer to Taylor
management was I allowed to send my guitar to Taylor for a top replacement costing an additional $539.00 charged to me. Taylor was
unwilling to even discount the original shabby repair.

In the end I was without my guitar for about 5 months and wound up paying over $700.00 to solve a problem that should have been covered under Taylors "life time warranty". I have four all wood acoustic guitars that reside in the same room yet only the Taylor cracked.
Never the less Taylor not only refused to give me as a customer the benefit of the doubt, they chose to play hard ball throughout the process and were perfectly willing to let me take a total loss on the guitar.

By the way, and I hope Taylor didn't really mean it but my dealer was told by Taylor that they will no longer be doing top replacements at any price. Sure makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

When I purchased this guitar I was looking for a Martin D35. One of the reasons I bought the Taylor was that my dealer told me that Taylor had the best warranty and service and that they were one of the few manufacturers that covered cracking problems. I think he really believed that and I believe that may have been the case at one
time. However, it's obvious that Taylor no longer backs their products the way they used to. Obviously I would not purchase another Taylor and will encourage my friends to look elswhere for their instruments.

This is a 1997 limited edition dreadnaught made in El Cajon, California. It has 22 frets and a solid spruce top. Body is dark Indian rosewood. The neck is mahogany. The finish is a UV stabilized clear polyester gloss. The bridge is a pin-style ebony. The tuners are non-locking gold plated kidney shaped Grovers. The fingerboard is ebony with medium frets. The neck is thin and very fast. There were no electronics or pickup on the guitar. I had a Fishman blender with a saddle piezo and a condenser mike installed later. The guitar was furnished with a luggage type hard case.

I mostly flat pick solos and do some rhythm. This guitar works great for solos, and good but not great for rhythm. I use a Crate CA-60 somtimes with reverb. Almost always with chorus. There are no noise problems. The sound is bright in the medium and high ranges. A little less than what I would like in the low end. I don't do a lot of tricks, but I find that in the medium and high ranges, I can get anything I want out of it and more. If you stay away from the lower bass notes, the sound is magnificent. I especially like the midranges. The low A, B, and C notes are disappointing.

From the factory the action was very good. The neck was slightly mis-aligned. This seemed to either go away or I got used to it. The top is nothing short of magnificent. Except for the slight misalignment mentioned above, and a buzzy bridge saddle, the guitar was perfect.

For an acoustic, this guitar is built like a tank. I used it live for about 3 years and had no problems. The hardware is very solid. I did put some tiny scratches near the soundhole, but that would have happened live or not. One problem is locking a strap on the pickup jack. This seems to be impossible. I used it live without backup for 3 years, but have since changed primary guitars.

Taylor guitars are very easy to deal with and correct problems almost immediately. The pick guard came loose and they responded right away. It has a lifetime warranty.

I've played for over 50 years. I have a Fender Telecaster, an Ibanez, a Washburn, and 2 Taylors. Jim at Uptown music was very helpful and answered all of my questions, plus bringing up some points I hadn't considered. If the 810 LTD were lost or stolen, I would look at a Taylor 910, a Taylor 814CE, a Martin D-45, or maybe a Collings. I wouldn't get another 810 for the type of music I now do. I love the looks of the 810 LTD. The top is breathtaking. I love the mid and high range sound. I love the action and the neck. I love the fact that It will stay in tune for a week or two (I'm lazy). Of al those things my most favorite is the mid-range sound. The only thing I absolutely hate is the lesser quality sound in the low register. I wish the low A,B-flat,B, and C sounded half as good as the low end of my $300 Washburn.

This is a very good guitar. It works well for solo breaks that don't involve a lot of bass. It wouldn't be suited for bluegrass rhythm or Maybelle Carter style solos. It is wonderfully easy to play and it has given me a lot of inspiration.

1997 El Cajon, CA. Clean Sitka Spruce top, with Indian Rosewood back (2 piece) and sides. Ebony fretboard with diamond pearl inlays. The LTD limited distinction comes from having a mother of pearl binding along the top which nicely compliments the standard pearl inlay and abalone surrounding the soundhole. Gold Grover tuners do an amazing job of holding a solid tone in variable temperature/humidity conditions. The 810 is not offered with a pickup from the factory, so I had an active fishman system installed which works wonderfully. Neck is a 1 5/8, white binding, very easy to play. It's a beautifully made piece of wood.

Words describing the sound of this guitar could never do it justice. Fat low end. Clean, articulate, mids and highs, and an overall tonal quality that will affirm the money you spent on this guitar each end every time you play it. The 810 has a much warmer, balanced sound than any Martin Dreadnaught I've ever played ( and Martin makes wonderful guitars ). I play everything from Bluegrass to Sacred Liturgical music, Blues to Buffett, and I'd honestly rate this guitar an 11 if it were on the scale below. This guitar sound is as diverse as my musical taste!

Easy to play, easy to play, and easy to play. The neck is thin and strong enough to comfortably allow manipulation of the strings. As an intermediate plyer, this guitar really does not challenge me ( which could be good or bad ). There are no obstacles to overcome with this guitar. Finish is top quality, it shines up like a cadillac.

One flaw, be it a petty thing, is that if you have a pickup installed, there is no way to securely place a strap on the heel of this guitar if it's not plugged in. No straplocks available either. See {story} below for an example...
{story} - While playing at a Catholic Teen Mass, my Taylor did come off the strap, breaking a 1" x 10" strip of wood off the back due to the angle that it hit the concrete floor with. I never play this guitar on the strap now without at least a 1/4 jack from an old cable plugged in the back, holding it securely in place. The {story} gets better..... See Customer Support. In spite of the {story}, I never bring a backup guitar to a gig, I play live at least once a week, and promise you that this guitar will outlive me.

See {story} above for preface. I shipped my newly destroyed wedding gift from my wife - 810 - back to El Cajon expecting them to label it garbage/unrepairable. Two days later, Terry, Repair Manager at Taylor, called me at my office because my wife sent a letter explaining what had happened. They repaired the guitar back to better than original condition, and shipped it back. They charged me $0. They are on my Christmas Card list. I give them a 20 in this category. I will own several acoustic guitars in my life, and I will buy any guitar so long as it says "Taylor" on the headstock

I own this 810 and a Gibson Les Paul Studio. If it were lost or stolen, I would put up flyers on telephone poles near my neighborhood with a detailed picture, description, and large reward. If I lost this one, I would replace it immediately with another Taylor. Am I just attached to the guitar because of the {story}? No. I am attached to it because 1) My wife gave it to me, and 2) The people at Taylor Guitars make the Best Acoustic Guitars I've ever played, they take better care of me than my HMO does, and they love what they do. It shows in every guitar. If they were cheaper, I'd own several more. That's a hint!