Taylor American Dream AD27 Mahogany Review

I WANT to like this guitar...

I want to preface this by saying I'm a pretty easy-going person and have rarely have anything negative to say about anything. That being said: I had been looking to add a 'hog top to my collection, and I got one of the first-run AD27s in July 2020. I've played it a lot, had it professionally set-up, put ebony bridge pins in, but I've keep running into issues with it, with tone… read more and materials. I've had several beloved Taylors, so I'm not biased against the brand. Based on recordings I've heard and other reviews, it may just be my individual guitar. My issues: No matter what I do, and even after the aforementioned pro set-up, I can't get the high E string to not sound super "plinky". Any time I play a D chord or anything on that string that's not just the open string, I cringe. Sometimes I'm into the tone, other times I think the closest thing I can equate its sound to is an unplugged Strat. The frets. Again, this may just be mine, but I got this guitar in July 2020 and had it in the shop for fret work in September 2020. I've had a lot of guitars that I've played very hard over a number of years, and I've never seen anything like this kind of wear, let alone so soon. There was even a bunch of metal dust around the areas the frets were wearing at, mostly frets 1-6 along the B string, with some of that wear spilling over to the G and high E. I've attached some pictures I took of the wear. That's after around two months of play time. I took it to an authorized Taylor repair shop in the Chicagoland area, they were also stumped. Taylor doesn't usually cover fret work, but they made an exception and paid for a fret dressing. Got it back, also with another set-up in case the neck angle was causing the fret issues, but it appears to be happening again. I've been playing a it a lot less since I got it back from the shop, but it's still becoming visible with much less play time. I probably should have returned it to Sweetwater early on when I wasn't thrilled with it, but I thought it would grow on me. I definitely want to seek out and play another one in a shop to see if I did somehow just get a bad one. Again, I know a lot of people love theirs, this has just been my experience.

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I love this guitar!

I've had the AD27 Mahogany Taylor for a couple of days and I can't put it down. It plays like a dream (no pun intended) with a very impressive, warm, rich, and deep tone. It's beautifully crafted and has a super comfortable neck for my hand and playing style. I been wanting a round shoulder for awhile but also wanted an all mahogany guitar. I must say that Taylor nailed both of… read more these with this model, and it's USA made. It's a terrific value. Although I've purchased lots of accessories from Sweetwater over the years, I haven't bought a guitar from them until now. It was a great buying experience, and I'd to extend a special thanks to Nick for all his help in managing my order. I've been playing for over 50 years, including semi-professionally for a time, and own guitars from Martin and Gibson. This my first Taylor and it's right up there with the best and most certainly a keeper. I highly recommend.

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New Daily Driver

First of all, I'm not really a "guitarist", I'm a singer who plays about one step above poorly. I do manage to play (pre-pandemic) between 80 and 100 local dates/year - either with a band or as a duo - with a real guitar player. I bought this guitar because I like the sound of my mahogany GS Mini and I figured that tone behind a legit lead player would sound good. I was right.… read more It sounds much different than my 414 or 410 with a mellow, "round", sound that blends into the mix perfectly. I bought the AD27, no electronics as I really don't care for the ES2 system (Taylor heresy, I know), and had a K&K Pure Mini installed. No batteries to die in the middle of a song and a great, transparent presentation of your guitar's actual tone. I also replaced the plastic bridge pins with ebony and, merely for aesthetics, swapped the nickel tuners for Taylor gold ones. I had previously done that to my Mini and really like the look of the gold with the mahogany. I am really, really happy to get an American made, solid wood guitar at this quality and price point. A pleasure to play and listen to.

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My electrics are jealous!

I cannot express enough how amazed I am by my new AD27. Between the tone, the and the neck feel, I am in love. Right out of the case it has been perfect and I could not be happier. I love the stripped down functionality of this guitar.

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