Taylor Guitars GS8 (formerly GS-RS)

Taylor's new body shape. Similar to an auditorium but with more dreadnaught like shoulders and a slighty larger bottom end shape, more jumbo-esqu. Sitka spruce top. Indian rosewood back/sides. all gloss finish. gold standard taylor tuners, but mine actually has the custom ebony. all solid wood. no onbaord electronics. ES is optional though. simple inlays, creme binding. real simple look. not a fancy looking guitar, but a beautiful look and a elegant simplicity to it. for other specs see the taylor website.

i play mostly modern stuff in christian circles. everything from jazz to pop to country-esqu stuff. This handles all things well. It has a nice body and presence finger picking. Flat picking bring out great overtones. Strumming is full and rich. It is bright, but not tinny. Has a deep low end (very piano like, as taylor has advertised). I actually compared this with other GA and Dread shapes from taylor and it has more low end than both. Although the very lows are somewhat different in character. Not real thumpy like a bluegrasss dreadnaught tone, but still full and deep. This makes for one of the most balanced guitars i have ever played. Nothing stans out too much, although nothing is lacking. If you are looking for that thumpy bluegrass bass, go with something else (martin, bourgious, etc). This is very much a taylor tone, but fuller, richer, adn more balanced than anything else they have ever made.

played great. taylor necks are pretty fat, which i am kind of beginning to stray away from, but that does not mean it plays bad at all. just a prefernce thing. It is a very well made guitar with a good action and finish.

I have played it live 4 times a week for nearly 2 years. It holds up very well. Hardware seems good. I put some EZpegs in the bridge - highly recommended. Very dependable guitar, never needed a back up for any reason.

DO NOT SEND YOUR GUITAR TO THE FACTORY FOR REPAIR!!! After shipping my guitar off for repair, i found out that even though the finish job was a warranty repair, taylor makes the owner of the guitar pay shipping BOTH WAYS!!! They don't clearly advertise this up front which made me feel kind of manipulated, but ehatever. they did a good job touching up the finish.

I previously owned a 714ce and prefer the tone of this guitar much more for strumming and band settings. A much stronger tone, because of the spruce. I would definitely purchase this guitar again if money were no object. but if it were lost or stolen, i may get something different just for the sake of something new. But NO, i would never ditch this guitar or sell it. I doubt i would find something that much better for the price. There is always a better more expensive guitar out there somewhere. But this one is definitely worth every penny. It does everything i need and it does it very well.