Taylor T5z Pro Hollowbody Review

Easy to play

I have found myself splitting time for work between two cities (and away from my guitars). I asked Alex Rodriguez at Sweetwater for his recommendation for a versatile, apartment friendly pick and play guitar. The Taylor T5z Pro he recommended really fits the bill. Sooooo easy and fun to play. I am mainly an acoustic player and from a playability standpoint, I like this a lot more… read more than my Strat. It just seems easier to move up and down the neck and I like the lighter weight. Zero complaints from the neighbors even when I am rocking out (via headphones). Highly recommended if you need something fun to play and not disturb neighbors.

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Reid Bright is awesome

I love these guys. Reid has been looking out for me for years. Supremely good customer service, knowledge, etc. Whatever he's getting paid, it's not enough! Thanks Reid. Alex

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Taylor T5Z Gaslamp Black

Excellent guitar, very light, easy to play, surprising how much sound it puts out unplugged, simple electronics, very nice looking ( not as black/grey as it appears in photo online; more brown/black) versatile, and very fun to play. I love this guitar! I was looking for something between an acoustic and an electric, I like that you still get decent acoustic volume and the playability… read more of an electric in one. Quality made instrument + Sweetwater inspection = ready to play out of the box. I wish it was not as expensive.

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Worth the Wait

This is the most expensive guitar I've bought in my life (so far, LOL) and it was so worth it. I'm not typically a fan of single-cut electric guitars, but I adore this guitar. When I ordered, the guitar was back-ordered, so I wasn't able to select the one I wanted beforehand, but with this guitar I knew it would be gorgeous and was very pleasantly surprised. My only complaint… read more is that the edges of the fretboard feel a little less finished than my Taylor GS Mini or Taylor Solidbody SB-2. The binding on this fretboard is flat, not carved to blend into the wood of the neck or rounded over for a smoothly fretboard transition, creating a little ledge my hand feels when playing. But overall this guitar is spectacular.

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Great expectations

Everything was great had to tune one string guitar exceptional

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I love these guitars...So I bought a Second!

I use the Taylor T5z in a one man show with Voice Live 3 Extreme and backing tracks I mix in my small project studio. They are the most versatile guitar I own, never break a string, generally stay in tune, and allow for both credible acoustic and electric sounds with the VL3E. You can play leads up to high A - with a little practice. I favor Elixir Nano-Webs, and the time between… read more string changes can be weeks - even with daily use. I generally put on new ones every 2nd show, but it's a great set-up. I own a Standard, but wanted a Pro for a while. That you Feds for the stimulus money - it kept Ben Robinson employed...;-D Seriously, a great guitar. I even record tracks with it using Kempler Profiler.

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Sweet Guita

I bought this guitar in Late December 2019, when I received it and finally got it out of the box ( the hardest part is waiting the 24 hours for the new guitar to acclimate to our surroundings ) I was very happy with the purchase, it is beautiful and plays great. This was my third guitar purchase from Sweetwater and I cannot say enough good things about my Sales Engineer Joel Helton… read more or the other staffers who helped me from this fantastic company. I had Joel set up the guitar and also had the Plek Pro Process done on this purchase, the guitar is easy to play and the action is perfect, the T5z is a dream to play even for a novice like myself. You can't underestimate the wonderful customer service and the knowledge of the staff and engineers at Sweetwater, I personally think their Customer Service and support is second to none! If you have not made a purchase here at this site I encourage you to do so, you will not be disappointed.

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First impressions very good

I bought to help with aging hands and lats of bar chord work. Guitar plays very smooth/easy. sounds are great. Love the flexibility for acoustic or electric sounds given diversity of songs I play

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Taylor T5. Pro . Fav color tabbaco burst

This by far is a favorite! one true masterpiece. From on board controls, to pristeen actcoustic action. One of my true favorites

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Best Guitar i have ever played.

I've had this guitar for over three years now and just saw this review in my e-mail archives. So, I guess it's definitely broken in !! I have, by my last count, twenty eight guitars as of July 2019. From top of the line Fenders, Gibsons, Charvel, Kramer, Dean, Epi's, and some that I can't remember. I am about to turn fifty-nine in days. I'm thinking real hard of selling off most… read more of my instruments, amps, and probably a hundred pedals. Thinking of keeping just one guitar and a couple amps. This Taylor is the keeper. Does it all. Can't ask for anything else. The quality is hands down the best of all I own, including the more expensive ones. This is all you will ever need.

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A Very Pleasant Surprise

I am a Martin owner & love the craftsmanship and sound of that acoustic guitar. So my loyalty to Martin was true until I decided to try a Taylor. But I wanted a hybrid guitar. I tried an Ernie Ball Music Man JP15. It was a versatile guitar with a piezo bridge for an acoustic-like sound. The electric side was nice but a little too "chimey" for my taste. I only wish more guitar makers… read more would use roasted maple necks. So smooth & slick. That's when I took a shot with the T5z Pro. I have 14 other guitars & I think they're all jealous of it. It's the first guitar I reach for when I feel like learning a new song or just doodling around. It's perfect for practice. Playing it unplugged won't get you any significant sound but it's enough for trying new things without disturbing others closely. Plug it into an amp, acoustic and/or electric and this baby will rock your socks off. The volume & true bass & treble eqs are very responsive. The five blade switch really is deceiving. With the combination of pickups & volume & eq, you can go anywhere & emulate dozens of different tones from clean to jazz to blues or heavy rock. And it's as light as a feather. Drop some pedals in the chain & the tone selection is unlimited. I don't gig but I think you could just take this axe with you & be covered no matter what you're playing. The action is great, more on the electric side than acoustic & because it requires electric strings, bending is a cinch. And the neck is very comfortable and smooth. Beautiful quilted finish makes it a beautiful instrument too. I really love this guitar. It makes me want to be a better guitar player.

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Exactly What I Needed

This is the perfect solution for a singer-song writer playing in a full band. I was just on the edge of what I could get out of my traditional accustic-electric volume wise before clipping or feedback thru my Acustic amp even though I still had plenty of room left on my amp power-wise. But my drummer is a hard hitting player and to match his live volume I was essentially out of… read more headroom. I tried different accustic-electric guitars only to find that the on-board electronics on my old Japanese built Takamine are about as good as it gets. It was that, - combined with the playability and comfort of the 12" radius fretboard that sent me searching for other guitars with a similar neck and better sound to volume ratio. And that's when I came accross the T5z. Not only did it give me the accustic sounds I needed at much higher amplified volumes, it also offered a plethora of other tone choices and settings when paired with an A-B-Y pedal thru my electric amp with some overdrive. It's perfect. I've also found I can do pretty well with just an overdrive pedal added to the clean channel thru the humbucker and no adittional amp with less gear to haul and setup. The guitar is also quickly becoming my go to guitar for writing and practice. It's a very nice comfortable guitar with a nice neck and the perfect amount of unplugged volume for just monkying around the house. Does it sound as good as my Takamine for accustic parts? Nope. - Does it sound as good as good as my Les Paul for full on distorted electric parts? Nope. But does it sound good enough to fill the bill on both parts without switching guitars? - A resounding Yes! I'm very happy I bought this guitar. Already thinking about getting another for alternate tunings. Lol. The neck joint and hollow body construction make it a little more delicate to play without changes in the intonation from moving around on stage but it's just something l had to know as I play with it on a strap and standing. The flame maple top looks better in person than the photos did it justice on the web site so that was a nice surprise. I love this guitar. I'll probably buy a few more of them. It's pretty much a must have now that I've discovered it. It's brilliant!

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Expected More for the Price

It was really hard and tedious for me to dial in a good sound. I also feel that, for this price, the sound would be more customizable. It was tough to get a good acoustic sound, as well as an electric tone that worked with my rig. I even changed settings on my amp and pedals to see if that would help. Overall, I'm disappointed in it, but that's just my opinion.

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What a beautiful thing

Being cursed with small hands and arthritis I have always struggled playing acoustic guitars because of the thickness of the neck. I took the Keith Richards approach and used a capo but was never satisfied with that so I used my electric for everything. I heard Taylor was starting to dabble in creating acoustic guitars for electric players. Wow ! I said to myself that would be… read more great if they can really pull it off. I thought if anyone knew it would be my sales rep Randy Akins. I called Randy and he confirmed what I had heard and told me about the T5z. I did a lot of research , read countless articles and watched every you tube video out there and decided to pull the trigger and bought the T5z pro. When it arrived I immediately went to work unpacking , inspecting and marveling at this beautiful thing before my eyes. I started to play unplugged and the neck truly felt like an electric pretty close to a les Paul slim taper . The sound unplugged was not great but not bad and I expected that but when I plugged into my audio interface I was at awe. The sound was beautiful the tones I was hearing as I switched through the pickups were blowing me away. You know the feeling when the creative juices start flowing that"s what was going on. I then ran it through my helix and tested it on some of my high gain patches and with some minor tweaking the ax was screaming. I ran it through an eleven rack , a tc helicon voice live 2 and directly into a PA and the guitar and sound passed with flying colors. I played the guitar for 3 straight days no less than 6 hours per day it was very hard to put it down. On the 3 rd day I popped the high E string and without thinking I grabbed a set of Martin light acoustic strings and slapped them on. Un plugged the strings improved the tonal sound but it did not feel right in my hands then I realized the strings that are shipped with the guitar are electric strings ellixers medium lights I think. Anyway I had some electric Ernie ball super slinky light strings slapped them on and that was the ticket. I will be using the elixir medium lights as soon as they arrive as feel the light strings are too light for the guitar I wasn"t crazy about the tone or the feel. In closing some important things I should also mention about this guitar. Although it may sound great it will not replace the tones of a genuine acoustic guitar. This guitar is what is called a hybrid guitar made to do it all. I highly recommend this guitar to anyone that has shied away from playing and enjoying an acoustic guitar , is serious about tone experimenting and has short arthritic hands that cannot handle play a traditional acoustic hope this review was helpful

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First strum sold me

I had not heard anything positive about this guitar. Most of the players that I knew said the same thing. But, as I walked into the acoustic room at a local shop, I heard a guy getting incredible sounds out of a guitar he was playing. I was really surprised to find him playing a T5z. It really sounded great. The guy knew what he was doing and had nothing but positive thoughts on… read more the guitar. So, I sat down with one and proceeded to blow myself away. And that was just on the most acoustic switch setting. I was getting full rythem and lead tones that I had never gotten from a pure acoustic/electric guitar. Plus the set-up was perfect even with the Elixer 11's that came installed from the factory. I ended up taking home the Pro model and I have been enjoying it ever since. I do have a number of electrics that give me the sounds that I want from solid bodies, but for my acoustic work, this is the guitar I grab.

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Tayor T-5

Remember you must use a TRS cable to work the A/B switch. One of the best sounding and easiest guitars to play.

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Smooth as Butter!

Very nice and beautiful instrument. Plays very well and easy. Tones from the 5-Way switch really provide versatility to any style of music. Didn't realize how small it actually is until I saw it in person, but that adds to the sexiness of this guitar. Played it through one of my amps and just as a straight acoustic and it really sounds great.

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A dream come true!

This guitar is a dream come true! Great playability and a sound that is too good to be true. But I really want to sing Sweetwaters customer service praises. I can't say enough. Sweet water is the place to go for buying musical instruments and gear. I bought hi-end guitars previously from some of their competitors (I won't name names but they consider themselves the "center"… read more for guitars). What a night and day difference buying from Sweetwater was. My guitar arrived 3 days from purchase and it looked like I was the first person to ever touch this guitar. Compared to my last purchases where my instrument was literally covered in grimy/greasy handprints when I opened it and the guy in the shop didn't even offer to clean it up! (I had these last ones sent to the store directly) Plus this guitars set up was perfect. Intonation and action was perfect whereas my last guitars I had to take to a local luthier for proper set-up. If you buy from Sweetwater you CAN'T go wrong...they still understand what true customer service is and take it to heart whereas others just give customer service lip service. Thank you Sweetwater I will now be a lifetime customer with service such as this! (Did I mention this guitar screams too!)

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Love this Taylor

This may be the most beautiful guitar I've ever seen. The neck is like butter. The action is excellent. The guitar weighs less than or equal to most of your acoustics. I plug this into my Fishman SA220, Which is also a work of art. A special thanks to Adam for helping me with all my purchases. Sweetwater is the best. I especially like the way you can compare several of the same… read more item, so you can choose the one that looks best to you. Keep up the good work. I'm sure I'll be back.

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T5z adoption

Recently, a 6 year old black Pomeranian and a brand new black T5z have been welcomed into my household. The dog is cool, but this is a musical instrument review, so Mr. Deebs' review will be posted elsewhere. I have 11 other guitars - Gibson, Epiphone, Tak, Zion, Ibanez, Peavey, Samick, even an Esteban and some other unspeakable brands. The T5z's value exceeds all the others combined.… read more That's not just a cost analysis, it's also a reflection of the quality, playability, and sheer joy of performing with this wonderful instrument. Tonality options, shape and feel, and coolness factor are all beyond my expectations. This beauty honestly has no negative traits that I can mention. Love at first strum, if there is such a thing.

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