Taylor T5 Classic Hollowbody - Mahogany Review

This is a magnificent guitar!

Everything about this T5 is just terrific, the looks, the sound, and just the way it feels in your hands, tells you this is a great guitar.

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Underrated and forgotten guitar

First of all, I have owned this guitar for a VERY long time now. I have had such a love/hate relationship with it for so long that I never bothered to review it because I could give it 1 star in July, and 5 stars in August. I just never 100% understood what this guitar was, and the identity crisis lasted for years. I blame this on Taylor's marketing, 100%. I feel like Taylor really… read more did a disservice to this guitar that essentially cemented its demise in guitar history. To this day, so many years later, you say "Taylor T5" and people say "Huh? What's that?" Problem is.. even people who own it don't know what to say it is. The Taylor T5 is billed as a "Hybrid" Acoustic / Electric Guitar. The marketing says stuff like "Now you can play acoustic AND electric all in one gig, without changing your guitar!!" The T5 is NOT a good acoustic, or a good replacement to a solidbody guitar, by no means. The Taylor T5 would best be described as living somewhere between a Fully-Acoustic guitar, and a Hollow-body like an Epiphone Casino. The T5 should have been described as a new category of hollow electronic guitars, like a missing link. It's got an excellent thinline acoustic-electric guitar tone in the body sensor position. The usual stuff you have to do when you record acoustic guitar (get rid of muddiness and harshness, etc.) you just don't have to do with this guitar. You record it D.I. and it sounds clean, and full of personality. It excels in the kind of playing you would do with a hollowbody. When you need a fully-acoustic guitar sound, grab your acoustic guitar! When you need that signature hollowbody guitar sound, grab your Gretsch or Epiphone Casino type guitar! But when you want something that has nuance and a lighter, more present, in-your-face sound, or a really sweet rounded out hollowbody sound, this one shines. It fits in this perfect space you never knew you needed. The guitar does well at sounding like a typical hollowbody, it is passable as an acoustic-electric, but I really find that it is, in a way, the ultimate hollowbody guitar. The 5 position switch gives you a full range of personalities that no other guitar can match. There's competition now with the more popular Acoustasonic series from Fender. But do try this guitar out and see for yourself. I would NEVER sell this guitar off, it's got too special of a sound when used and conceptualized correctly. It is a dream Hollowbody, for those of you who ever said "I wish this hollow played more like an acoustic." It's a perfect balance between those two worlds.

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Taylor T5

Fantastic Guitar, extremely versatile and excellent quality. I received mine the other day and haven't put it down since. Sounds great through a Marshall Stack or through a simple little Boss mini or even an acoustic amp. I was looking mostly for something to bring and acoustic sound to my library and I didn't want a dreadnaught, or cowboy guitar.... this guitar fit the bill to… read more a "T" and I can play Blues sets, or even some Zep hard rockin stuff with this gem.

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Awesome, versatile. Exactly what I needed.

Been gigging with the T5 Classic for about a month now, and even though I still have some experimenting to do with it (it almost does too much.. almost) I am floored by the sounds I can get out of it. I"ve run it through my Roland AC-90, Bugera V22, and both via ABY switch, and it"s an absolute blast to play! I find that I get the most versatility through the AC-90 acoustic amp,… read more but it does really well through the tubes as well. The mahogany is gorgeous and the ebony fretboard is sleek, and plays like butter. I cannot say enough about this guitar, as someone who plays acoustic and electric fairly evenly, this is an absolute MUST OWN. Sweetwater customer service was far above and beyond my expectations as usual.

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Just love this guitar!

Great guitar! The hollow body gives the T5 a great acoustic sound.... or switch to the humbuckers for electric! Very playable guitar. Nice job Taylor!

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