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J-15 better than Taylor 814ce


hardycreek1

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On the first anniversary of owning a J-15, it's significant that I played a friend's Taylor 814 ce last night and could not wait to get back to my J-15.

 

I was thinking that a $3,500 Taylor would sound better than my $1,500 Gibson, but not even close. My J-15 has more volume, more projection, greater note articulation, more balanced tone, clearer highs, stronger lows, and better action.

 

J-15 continues to impress, especially now that it has opened up. Call me one happy camper! You simply cannot judge a guitar on price alone.

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It's all a matter of personal taste, so go by your own ear. But I owned a J-15 and 814 at the same time until recently. Played them back to back daily and comparing them is apples and oranges. They weren't better or worse than each other - just different. VERY different...starting with the walnut vs. rosewood b/s. To my ear the 814 had significantly more tonal complexity.

 

Don't get me wrong. Those J-15s are great guitars. Loved mine - my 1st Gibson - so much it soon had me GASing for a J-45. So I traded the 15 in for a 45 and never looked back. LOVE my 45 and its rich tone started making the Taylor "shimmer" sound shrill to me...so bye bye 814. Traded it in for a Songwriter. Got the brighter tone of rosewood without the overly bright sound of a Taylor. Now with a J-45 and Songwriter I'm all in Gibson, have the tonal bases covered to my liking and couldn't be happier.

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It's all a matter of personal taste, so go by your own ear. But I owned a J-15 and 814 at the same time until recently. Played them back to back daily and comparing them is apples and oranges. They weren't better or worse than each other - just different. VERY different...starting with the walnut vs. rosewood b/s. To my ear the 814 had significantly more tonal complexity.

 

Don't get me wrong. Those J-15s are great guitars. Loved mine - my 1st Gibson - so much it soon had me GASing for a J-45. So I traded the 15 in for a 45 and never looked back. LOVE my 45 and its rich tone started making the Taylor "shimmer" sound shrill to me...so bye bye 814. Traded it in for a Songwriter. Got the brighter tone of rosewood without the overly bright sound of a Taylor. I'm all in Gibson now and couldn't be happier.

 

interesting, I haven't played a lot of J-45's, but the few that I have strummed left me thinking I prefer J-15. To me, the J-15 walnut is the perfect blend between the more treble J-45 rosewood and the more bass mahogany. Just my two cents.

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I'm gonna get a j-15.... I was playing one at the local GC and it played and sounded great..... I would had bout that one but it had a thumb sized ding on the top.... And I like to be the one to scar my guitars

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interesting, I haven't played a lot of J-45's, but the few that I have strummed left me thinking I prefer J-15. To me, the J-15 walnut is the perfect blend between the more treble J-45 rosewood and the more bass mahogany. Just my two cents.

 

Wait a minute. You mean you and I have different taste in guitars. Shocking! I thought we were all supposed to like the same guitars, tone woods, strings, etc. [confused]

 

Sorry...couldn't resist.

 

Actually, sounds like you have the guitar best for YOU and I have the one best for ME...just as it should be. [thumbup]

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On the first anniversary of owning a J-15, it's significant that I played a friend's Taylor 814 ce last night and could not wait to get back to my J-15.

 

I was thinking that a $3,500 Taylor would sound better than my $1,500 Gibson, but not even close. My J-15 has more volume, more projection, greater note articulation, more balanced tone, clearer highs, stronger lows, and better action.

 

J-15 continues to impress, especially now that it has opened up. Call me one happy camper! You simply cannot judge a guitar on price alone.

 

Being a Gibson forum I'm sure plenty of people will jump on the Gibson bandwagon and agree with you, but really you're comparing two different guitars form two different makers, different construction methods, and they aren't even made of the same woods! Spruce and rosewood and spruce and walnut? I love some Gibson acoustics, I also like Martin, Guild and have an old 'lawsuit' Takamine that's wonderful. Don't like Taylors. With all that said I've never been much of a fan of the sound of the J15. Pretty guitar but I'd take a J35 over it any day, and every time I play a J15 next to my J45 Standard my J45 Standard wipes the floor up with it., most notably with the much fatter, bigger low end thump and growl that my J45 has, and every J15 has lacked. Way more full and complex sound compared to the thinner, harsher sound of the J15's I've played.

 

My point is, it's not really a legit comparison to make. It's all personal preference. I personally wouldn't play a Taylor even if it was given to me, but that doesn't mean they are bad guitars, just means it's not what I like to hear in my head, but for someone else it's the bees knees. Just like I mentioned that I really don't like the J15's at all, and just see them as a way for people who want a new Gibson but don't want to shell out for a J45 either because they are impatient and don't want to save up for a J45 or don't want to spend that much. To each his own.

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Different, you betcha. Better - that would come down to the opinion of the guy playing it.

 

No secret that I am not a Taylor guy. I am sure that this is keeping Bob Taylor awake at night trying to conjure up a way to pull ZW into the fold. Nor am I really interested in acquiring a J-15.

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interesting, I haven't played a lot of J-45's, but the few that I have strummed left me thinking I prefer J-15. To me, the J-15 walnut is the perfect blend between the more treble J-45 rosewood and the more bass mahogany. Just my two cents.

 

Same here. I used to have a rosewood J-45 and wound up selling it. The J-15 seems to fill the sonic palate for me. More versatile for my incorrect playing technique I guess.

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Haven't owned a Taylor for years now. No real desire to get another one. It all comes down to what you like. Taylors are quality instruments beyond dispute, but they just don't call my name. Same with McPhersons. They're just not "me." Each time I'm in GC I'll play a couple of Taylors, along with the Gibsons and Martins and a couple lower end instruments. Taylors just leave me cold. Plastic personality. Nothing about them makes me want to play some Cash, Prine, or Dylan or "You Are My Sunshine," etc. I associate them with "new age" instrumental and mediation music, toga parties, modern thinking. Certainly part of it's an age thing, but I'm into traditional things, nostalgia, history, and things that are comfortable to me. Taylor guitars just don't represent any of that to me. I recently played an 816 and it was a beautiful instrument, but not the kind of beauty that attracts me. It sounded good, but not the kind of good you get from a Gibson or Martin. It's kind of like Taylor is the girl you meet at church. She's real sweet and pretty, doesn't cuss, is very polite, has an angelic voice, cooks at the prayer breakfast, and she wants you to meet her folks. Gibsons are the gal you meet at the bar. She's kind of pretty (in a been there, done that way), she swigs whiskey, plays pool, swears like a truck driver, screams like Janis when she sings, and loves pitbulls. My kind of gal. ............In regards to liking a J15 more than an 814ce, there are folks who would rather play a $400 Ibanez than a Gibson or Taylor.

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Depends. If I preferred a J-15 over the 814, I'd get it. Reverse also applies. Another person may chose differently. Shall I claim my Maton Custom is better than all of them because it is has been valued at five figures? Doesn't necessarily mean one is better than the other. They're just different guitars and people have preferences.

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Haven't owned a Taylor for years now. No real desire to get another one. It all comes down to what you like. Taylors are quality instruments beyond dispute, but they just don't call my name. Same with McPhersons. They're just not "me." Each time I'm in GC I'll play a couple of Taylors, along with the Gibsons and Martins and a couple lower end instruments. Taylors just leave me cold. Plastic personality. Nothing about them makes me want to play some Cash, Prine, or Dylan or "You Are My Sunshine," etc. I associate them with "new age" instrumental and mediation music, toga parties, modern thinking. Certainly part of it's an age thing, but I'm into traditional things, nostalgia, history, and things that are comfortable to me. Taylor guitars just don't represent any of that to me. I recently played an 816 and it was a beautiful instrument, but not the kind of beauty that attracts me. It sounded good, but not the kind of good you get from a Gibson or Martin. It's kind of like Taylor is the girl you meet at church. She's real sweet and pretty, doesn't cuss, is very polite, has an angelic voice, cooks at the prayer breakfast, and she wants you to meet her folks. Gibsons are the gal you meet at the bar. She's kind of pretty (in a been there, done that way), she swigs whiskey, plays pool, swears like a truck driver, screams like Janis when she sings, and loves pitbulls. My kind of gal. ............In regards to liking a J15 more than an 814ce, there are folks who would rather play a 400 Ibanez than a Gibson or Taylor.

 

My thoughts exactly, but you also forgot to lump in the Hawaiian shirt wearing, cargo short sporting' crowd that tend to flock toward Taylors for their Jimmy Buffet covers! Of course you need a $3,000+ guitar to play "Cheeseburger In Paradise"! But be careful and don't scratch it!

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On the first anniversary of owning a J-15, it's significant that I played a friend's Taylor 814 ce last night and could not wait to get back to my J-15.

 

I was thinking that a $3,500 Taylor would sound better than my $1,500 Gibson, but not even close. My J-15 has more volume, more projection, greater note articulation, more balanced tone, clearer highs, stronger lows, and better action.

 

J-15 continues to impress, especially now that it has opened up. Call me one happy camper! You simply cannot judge a guitar on price alone.

 

Yeah, hardy, have had mine for a bit over a year and am loving it too. Keep on enjoying yours!

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