Taylor Guitars 810-BCE

The features for this guitar are really nice if you need that extra kick, but nearly all the Taylor guitars I picked up sounded just about the same. You pay a lot extra for the physical features but other series such as 300 series will give you the same sound. Some of the nicer features are the gold plated tuners, ebony inlays and the Fishman Blender system, but what sold me was the beauty of the Brazilian Mahogany. I plopped down what I thought was a lifetime investment.

As an accoustic (straight up) the Taylor cannot be beat for sound quality. I find it sounds best not plugged in, but if you do, you'll need to use a feedback buster and learn to cancal out unwanted vibration and feedback using the Fishman notch controls. This however, does change the sound quality. Also you'll find that perhaps the blender is best set on acoustic matrix rather than on-board microphone or mix in between. When plugged in a little chorus helps fill out the spacial effects. I've tried the Fishman system with a guitar effects processsor, but be forewarned that the volume should be "OFF" when changing to any other patch. Tweeking will get you some very interesting sounds that just arn't heard on accoustics.

The action was pre-set from the factory, but needed a little help from the guitar shop to ensure proper speed moving up and down the fretbaord.

You would expect a $3,000 Taylor have a perfect finish, but not true. There are finish marks on this music box. THe wood selection is not perfect either, but this is one of the reasons I picked this unit rather than one without other than dark grain. This guitar has blond stripes across the Brazilian backing. Other than that, as far as I can tell, all else was perfect except the sawdust and shavings I needed to dump from the sound hole that rattled around inside til you did.

I noticed that everyone else on this page gave Taylor A+ for every category in review. However, I cannot do this after paying over 3K for a guitar and expecting it to last a lifetime with no additional maintenance besides a humidifier for winter and a set of strings once or twice a month. I can say the finish will probably last a lifetime and the hardware will if cared for properly. However, after just 5 months of playing every other day for 1 or 2 hours, the frets have worn out. I have been told by everyone except Taylor that this just should not happen to a $3000+ guitar in such a short time. String buzz and missed chords are the result. I now understand that it will cost around $100 just to dress the frets, and $300 or more to replace the frets if dressing cannot recondition the instrument. This means that someone playing this guitar professionally would need to spend as much as $800 annually to have frets replaced. My luthier has indicated that Taylors tend to need fret replacement more often than other guitars. Taylor knows this and indicates that other frets sacrifice tonation. Personnally, I can buy a top quality accoustic/electric for the $800 I'll have to buy frets with every year.

Taylor is very cordial when speaking on the telephone. However, they will not back up their frets even after only 5 months. I was warned ahead of time that they will not back up the product. I just listened while I was told I might have excessive finger pressure. You be the judge. Would you plop down over 3K for a guitar that you know will be in the shop at least 3-4 weeks or more each year with a $800 repair bill? I've been playing since 1971 and have never had this problem with any other guitar. I'm biased; perhaps you the reader should rate the customer support.

This is the nitty gritty. I've played a while, and have many professional and amateur friends. Several own Taylors as well as many other guitars, as I do. If I had to do it all over again, I would have taken their advice. They indicated that I should have, as they have, invested in a top of the line Takamine. At least I would still be playing and not wondering where I'm going to get $800.00 to fix my Taylor with string worn grooved frets. Plugged in, the Taks sound better and are durable enough to play every day without excessive fret wear. Anyone else out there having these problems??

This baby is a canon! She is my favorite axe. She has a clean sparkle on the highs because of the Engleman Spruce yet some bone moving bass from the Brazilian sides and back. If you ever get a chance to audition or purchase this babe jump on it. It will not last long. I play Alternative / Christian rock and the blender set up is standard and works well on stage. If fact it is so good I have it set up flat EQ on the guitar. And my sound buddy has it flat on the board almost. I also play some drop D tunings and she rocks! I would buy another one just to insure I would not lose that Engelman / Brazilian combo. To get this combination you would have to go to the Presentation Series that might run into 8000.00 territory. Full sound, Rich and LOUD, blows away my D-28 (1979), D-35 (1983). Highest rating possible.

Been playing for 25 years and own 16 different guitars. I would buy a second one just like it if I could find one. The most beautiful feature is the way Taylor had the lighter part of the Brazilian back to make a teardrop like design to the back where the split is. It looks like no other I have ever seen and I makes it personal. Yet the sound is the best feature. It is the best guitar I have ever owned
I currently own. D-28 / D-35 / D-41 ...Seagulls S6, S6+ ...Collings om
Santa Cruz om..Taylor 310MCE, 410KCE, 610ABCE, K-20, KLSM..

The prior submissions give the stats on this guitar, which is a limited edition model from the fall of 2000. Luggage case is included.

I purchased this guitar new after first purchasing a used '94 810 and, after falling in love with this straight acoustic instrument, bought this electric version - with the awesome looking Brazilian rosewood. I plug in regularly for church and LOVE the sound of this guitar for that purpose. With the Fishman blender electronics, there is so much control over the tone. Taylor dreadnoughts give such a nice balanced tone - fat lows with nice mids and highs.

The action on this guitar was good when purchased, but not as low as I like. With the provided truss rod tool and instruction manual, it's easy to adjust the action yourself. It takes no time at all. I noticed also that the tone of this guitar was not as resonant or rich as the straight acoustic guitar I had purchased before. It sounded fine when I bought it at the store, but I could really notice a difference when I brought it home and compared the two. At first I thought it might be that the older guitar had simply "opened up" as guitars will over time - or that the Brazilian rosewood was not as good as the Indian rosewood of the 810. However, when I had the saddle shaved down because the action would not get down to where I wanted it, the tone improved BIG TIME. In fact, the tone is now as good as the older guitar. I believe lowering the strings closer to the soundhole by shaving the saddle made the tone difference. I had forgotten that the saddle on my 810 had also been shaved down when an under-saddle pickup (Fishman Natural I) was installed. Maybe I'm picky about action and tone, but I did have to make a few adjustments to get it where I wanted it. Fit and finish are fine.

I only bought this guitar a couple of months ago. In fact, it was one of the last two 810 BCE guitars Taylor made. Everything appears to be solid and I use it every week plugged in for worship with no backup. We'll see what happens with time.

I have called Taylor to ask about a few things and they are always SO helpful! They took as long as I needed to answer my questions and did not make me feel rushed as some customer service people will do.

Despite the adjustments I had to make, I am quite happy with the guitar. I have owned a number of other guitars including a few Martins. While the Martins may hold their value more strongly over time, I prefer the Taylor guitars in every way. They look better, sound better, and play better. Plus, the electronics are far superior to any electronics Martin offers from the factory. The Brazilian rosewood looks so fine and should help this guitar hold its value well. I've been playing for about seven years now and believe I have found my dream guitar. The only other guitars I might like would be the Taylor 910CE (incredible eye candy on this guitar) and an older Martin D-28 (1966 model would be ideal as it is the year of my birth).

Very comfortable guitar. The venetian cutaway works great and doesn't seem to rob any tone when compared to a stanadard 810. Great neck and fingerboard feel. The Fishman system works well. With the blender, you can get a nice mix between the condensor and piezo.

Wow. Full bodied sounding, and yet bright with a nice shean in the high end. I'm really glad I didn't get a Grand Auditorium or Grand Concert body. I prefer the fuller sound of Taylor's Dreadnoughts. The Brazilian rosewood takes this guitar from great to incredible. I'm surprised that it sounds that much better than indian rosewood.

I had the dealer tweak the neck slightly when I bought the guitar, I like pretty low action. It's played perfectly ever since.

I live near Cocoa Beach Florida. We have very hight humidity here. I had to buy a dehumidifier and store the guitar in a large closet with it. Taylor's do seem to be very sensitive to humidity.

Though I've never had to contact Taylor in regard to my 810BCE, I did call them with questions about the bridge on my 810 when I was adding a pickup. They not only were very helpful, but sent me a free part.

I thought I found the perfect guitar when I bought my 810 a 6 years ago. I was wrong. The 810BCE performs so well that I find it a bargain foe $2500.

This is a 2000 Fall Limited Edition, 810 model that features a Brazillion rosewood back and sides. The guitar was made in the US (El Cajun, CA). The guitar is a dreadnaught size and has a solid engelmann spruce top, brazillion rosewood sides and back, a mahogany neck, and an ebony fret board. Abalone is also found on the rosette and along the neck of the guitar. It has 20 frets and a cutaway for access to the higher frets. This guitar also have a Fishman Onboard Blender with an internal mic and piezo bridge pick up. The tuners are gold Grover tuners as well as the tape piece where the plugin goes. The neck is 1 11/16". The Taylor Deluxe case also came with this guitar.

I play mostly for church in praise and worship bands and this guitar fits the bill well. I do rythym guitar and sing mostly. I have been playing with a similiar dreadnaught guitar for a year or two, but this one plays a lot better than the other. I plug into a 300watt crate amp at church and it works well on that. I also plug into my Sound Blaster Live! Drive on my computer workstation for recordings and play through my Logitech Soundman SR-30 speakers which work well. This guitar can get very loud, but keeps the integrity of the acoustic sound well. There is a problem sometimes with feedback, but as long as you know how to eliminate it, it's not a problem and you can continue to play as loud as you need to be. I really like the internal mic and the blender than the Fishman Onboard Blender has. It works great to get a good mix between the mic and the piezo pickup on the bridge.

Overall the sound of this guitar is great! It has some great lows and good range for medium and highs.

I had bought this guitar sight-unseen which kind of wearied me at first, but when I got the guitar and strummed it the first time I was pleased. The action was a little off from the recommended height, but instead of taking it into a dealer for a action setup, I did it myself with ease. The pickup works well, though it seemed hard to put in the 1/4" plug into the endpin the first couple of times, it's going in smoothly now. The top looks to be bookmatched, but I can't tell for certain. No knots or swirls are present on the top on the Engelmann soundboard. The sides have some very nice bronzish-figuring on the dark brown background which give it some nice striped look. On the back there is some light figuring on a very dark brownish-black back. The back is not bookmatched, but part of it seems to be one piece'd (at the top to about half down the guitar back you can't see a break in the wood). The inside of the guitar is clean, no glue present or anything left by the guitar makers.

I love this guitar so much that I can't really go back to playing my old guitar (it's kind of sad). I usually use this guitar in a live setting atleast once a week for church or fellowship so it's always getting use out of it. I believe that the hardware will last a very long time, and I really like the Grover tuners because of the number of notches on the gears and the slow tuning it produces.
The finish seems to be good, a very light finish, which gives the wood a good look, but still protects the guitar well. The strap buttons seems great. There is on built onto the saddle of the guitar, a perfect place for it. I can totally depend on this guitar in the long run as a live instrument. I would use this guitar as a stand alone for gigs as I would get tired from carring two guitars all the time (this guitar in the Deluxe case weights about 25 pounds!)

I've dealt with there company numerous times and all were very helpful when I wasn't even their customer yet. I emailed them various times asking them information on their guitars and availbility of this certain model. Each time I recieved a timely response with the information I requested and they even let me know of a virus that was on my computer that was sent with my emails. Great customer service and support!
I have not gotten this guitar repaired and hope to never (unless it's for fret wear or what not). I would hate having to send in this beautiful guitar and not being with it.

I've been playing roughly 2 years, and I know this is a dream guitar for a person that's only been playing for that long, but this guitar really is all I've said it was and more. I also own a Takamine EG-334, a Fender Strat, a Fame Bass, some amps, and some boxes (zoom 504, Boss ds-1). If this guitar was ever stolen or loss, I would probably cry and cry and cry, and would want to buy a new one, but would probably never find one as less than 100 of this model was made. =(
I really love the playability of this guitar, especially the satin finished mahogany neck. With the satin finish on the neck it makes it so much easier to slide up and down the neck without getting the palm of your hand stuck on it.
I've compared it to other Taylors and it has a very nice tone and a very good resonance to it. There was one guitar that outbeat it in my head, and it was a 96 Taylor 710-BRAZ. Not sure why it sounded better, but hoping it was just aging, and hoping that my guitar will sound as sweet as that one in a few years. =)