Blindfold Test: Guild, Martin, Taylor, Gibson, Eastman and Yamaha

GardMan

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Interesting. Thanks for posting it...
 

ClydeTower

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He didn't even try to guess which brand is which or which one he liked the best (or least). Is there a part 2?

Personally, my 3 faves were the Gibson, Martin and Guild (not necessarily in that order).

My least favorite was the Taylor and Yamaha...
 

PittPastor

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He didn't even try to guess which brand is which or which one he liked the best (or least). Is there a part 2?

Personally, my 3 faves were the Gibson, Martin and Guild (not necessarily in that order).

My least favorite was the Taylor and Yamaha...

I think the thing is he is at a guitar store and he knows they are handing him high end instruments and he doesn't want to trash any of them. If you read the comments there are plenty of Taylor fans who say: "I'd take the Taylor all day long!"

I think it is clever how they set it up. The Eastman is the throwaway guitar. Since it comes out first, it really is sort of the baseline guitar and is never really mentioned again. Then you have to read his expressions. He did like the sound of the Gibson. It was significantly better in his mind than the Eastman. I think he probably plays a Martin, because he sort of smiles when he hears it. And he stops just short of saying, "Yeah, this is what I'd play for Bluegrass..." I think he knows the Taylor when he gets it. I think he knew from the cutaway. But when he uses the word "Thin" and then backs away from it... yeah, he knew it was a Taylor and he didn't like it as much. I think the Yamaha puzzled him for a moment. Almost like he was thinking: "Wait, maybe this is the Taylor..." but he ultimately simply says it was similar to the other one "But they're both good guitars."

The best reaction was the Guild. That one really surprised him. Like: "Wow. This one's got the best..." He plays the bass some more "It's got some Growls (? is that what he says there?) It's got some depth." He plays some more. Messes with the tuners. Plays some more. He keeps playing the Guild like he is trying to figure out what it is. The other guy is smiling. I think he set him up. I think he knew he'd like the Guild the best which is why he gives it to him last. "Do you know what that is?" he asks. And blindfold guys keeps playing it. "I could play around some more and find out... but..." More playing. "It's got a lot of depth..."

I wish they would have given him more time on the guitars. But I think you can read between the lines and understand what he is saying. But maybe that's just because I wasn't blindfolded, and its what I thought!
 

ClydeTower

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I think the thing is he is at a guitar store and he knows they are handing him high end instruments and he doesn't want to trash any of them. If you read the comments there are plenty of Taylor fans who say: "I'd take the Taylor all day long!"

I think it is clever how they set it up. The Eastman is the throwaway guitar. Since it comes out first, it really is sort of the baseline guitar and is never really mentioned again. Then you have to read his expressions. He did like the sound of the Gibson. It was significantly better in his mind than the Eastman. I think he probably plays a Martin, because he sort of smiles when he hears it. And he stops just short of saying, "Yeah, this is what I'd play for Bluegrass..." I think he knows the Taylor when he gets it. I think he knew from the cutaway. But when he uses the word "Thin" and then backs away from it... yeah, he knew it was a Taylor and he didn't like it as much. I think the Yamaha puzzled him for a moment. Almost like he was thinking: "Wait, maybe this is the Taylor..." but he ultimately simply says it was similar to the other one "But they're both good guitars."

The best reaction was the Guild. That one really surprised him. Like: "Wow. This one's got the best..." He plays the bass some more "It's got some Growls (? is that what he says there?) It's got some depth." He plays some more. Messes with the tuners. Plays some more. He keeps playing the Guild like he is trying to figure out what it is. The other guy is smiling. I think he set him up. I think he knew he'd like the Guild the best which is why he gives it to him last. "Do you know what that is?" he asks. And blindfold guys keeps playing it. "I could play around some more and find out... but..." More playing. "It's got a lot of depth..."

I wish they would have given him more time on the guitars. But I think you can read between the lines and understand what he is saying. But maybe that's just because I wasn't blindfolded, and its what I thought!

You're comments are spot on. You could tell he knew what he was playing for the most part. I was just waiting for him to say the words... But the D55 took him by surprise :)

I hadn't read the comments... Most seem to trash the Taylor. It was the most underwhelming guitar of the bunch considering the price. Speaking as someone that used to own a Taylor 810 and 812 (sold them) I think the 814 he plays is more "thin" sounding than what I had. If we're comparing apples to apples... he should have played an 810 dread with no cutaway. But you can't deny that the big 3 (for me at least), Martin HD28, Gibson J45, Guild D55, are the holy grails of dreads!

Still a fun experiment to hear them one after the other. Gotta get me a Martin one of these days :0-)
 

Brad Little

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Several years ago I was in a local GC and tried out several of the high end acoustics they had. The one that stood out to me, the only one that tempted me to buy was a Gibson J-45 RW. None of the Martins or Taylors tickled my fancy, and at least one of the Martins was $1000 more than the Gibson.
Brad
 

Stuball48

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Played a Gibson SJ 200 at GC in Falls Church, VA and impressed me more than Martin HD28 or Taylor 810. Played all three in 15 minute span of time.
 

davismanLV

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Okay, once again... people want to trash Taylor but it WASN'T A DREAD!! All rosewood dreads and then BOOM, here's a shallow body cutaway Taylor. Nope, as was mentioned above, not apples to apples. Pointless and biased. Sorry....... not happy with this vid.
 

evenkeel

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I agree with Tom. Very apples and oranges. If the test was a group of small body, parlor guitars and then you brought out the Taylor, the perception of the Taylor might be very different.
 

PittPastor

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Several years ago I was in a local GC and tried out several of the high end acoustics they had. The one that stood out to me, the only one that tempted me to buy was a Gibson J-45 RW. None of the Martins or Taylors tickled my fancy, and at least one of the Martins was $1000 more than the Gibson.

That was my experience, too. I did really like that J-45. And I was playing a new one. I wonder how one that had opened up a little would sound. Pick-guard design/color kinda wonky though. What is it with the faux tiger-stripe thingie...?

Okay, once again... people want to trash Taylor but it WASN'T A DREAD!! All rosewood dreads and then BOOM, here's a shallow body cutaway Taylor. Nope, as was mentioned above, not apples to apples. Pointless and biased. Sorry....... not happy with this vid.

I was surprised it was a Grand Auditorium. And it was a Cutaway. I doubt it was biased though. That shop probably sells a lot of Taylors. I think its because they wanted to get a V-Class in the mix since it's Taylor's new thing. And I'm not sure they have a dred in that V-Class. I looked at the Taylor site and it seems every one of them is a cutaway and none of them is a dred.
 

adorshki

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I was surprised it was a Grand Auditorium. And it was a Cutaway. I doubt it was biased though. That shop probably sells a lot of Taylors. I think its because they wanted to get a V-Class in the mix since it's Taylor's new thing. And I'm not sure they have a dred in that V-Class. I looked at the Taylor site and it seems every one of them is a cutaway and none of them is a dred.
Interesting point.
Possibly they don't believe it's necessary in dreads?
Still, agree, kind of unfair not to use a Taylor dread, unless they didn't actually have one available, or possibly they felt they should use the most popular Taylor body, even though it wasn't a true "match"?
And cutaway actually doesn't affect output much at all, since 99% of the sound's produced in the lower bout.
 

F312

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It would have served me/us better if "we" blindfolded beforehand to listen, then again you'd have to take into account of it being recorded, but would have been interesting.

Ralph
 

JohnW63

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I think I read that Taylor stopped making dreds , for a bit, while they come out with the new versions. So, that may have been the biggest Taylor to store had to hand him.

I also think he liked the Guild. I got the " Hey. What is THIS ? " sort of vibe from his comments.
 

bobouz

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That was my experience, too. I did really like that J-45. And I was playing a new one. I wonder how one that had opened up a little would sound. Pick-guard design/color kinda wonky though. What is it with the faux tiger-stripe thingie...?

The fire-stripe pickguard is from Gibson's vintage past, and occasionally they bring it back on certain models.

As for J-45s in rosewood, I happen to have one from 2002, and it's got a wonderfully dry & punchy tone.
 

Br1ck

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I think the message is, we have a bunch of guitars , some are affordable, so come on down and buy one.
 
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