Gibson J-200 v Taylor 618e

[Red 333]

Sunrise and sunset.

Red 333

[Jalex]

1 hour ago, Red 333 said:

Sunrise and sunset.

Red 333

Well said😉

[Sgt. Pepper]

Why do you guys even bother posting vids of any guitar up against a Gibson? On this forum who's going to win? It does not matter if the Gibson sounds like a fart coming out of my @ss, the Gibson is going to win with you guys and girls.

Edited May 31, 2020 by Sgt. Pepper

[BoSoxBiker]

On 5/29/2020 at 11:01 AM, generaldreedle said:

I almost bought a Taylor 614ce, was dithering about the price, etc., It had a really warm sound, but it was also articulate- like Maple is.  But I had trouble justifying buying another dread then Nick Lucas Maple L100 was for sale on the AGF forum at a HUGE discount just because of a finish issue on the side that no one could see due to someone leaving some humidipack in the case next to the guitar.  I jumped on it and don't regret it at all, but that Taylor was also really nice

The redesigned era of the 614ce (2015-2018) is a beast of  guitar. I thought switching it to the V-bracing took the character out of it. I bet it's easier to track with, though. I've only played my own, though, which is a 2015. I have played(test-driven) several 614ce v-bracing and was unimpressed.

On 5/28/2020 at 11:36 AM, kidblast said:

the 714ce and 814ce are really nice guitars.  The 814Cce DLX seems a thing of pure beauty  But yea, they don't come cheap.

Still not as steep as your D41, but that's a horse of a different color!

I've test driven the 814 DLX and the 914 and have been very impressed. They project very well. I still had to go with a D-41 last October, though.  

For the record, I have enjoyed test driving the Pacific Coast 517 and 717. the local Sam Ash has both AND both in builder's editions. It hurts to know this. No 618s, though. I am curious to try one, now. I agree with EuroAussie that they both sounded weak. (Tight was the word he used)

[Brucebubs]

3 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Why do you guys even bother posting vids of any guitar up against a Gibson? On this forum who's going to win? It does not matter if the Gibson sounds like a fart coming out of my @ss, the Gibson is going to win with you guys and girls.

Little bit harsh maybe?

Here's another 3-way maple jumbo comparison from a year ago. SJ-200 vs 618 vs Guild F-55 Maple ... I still give it to the Gibson in this clip.

 

 

However, this Guild  F-55 Maple demo filmed in front of the actual press that makes the unbraced arch backs is simply stunning.

 

 

 

Edited June 1, 2020 by Brucebubs
can't delete the double post!!!

[jvi]

3 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Why do you guys even bother posting vids of any guitar up against a Gibson? On this forum who's going to win? It does not matter if the Gibson sounds like a fart coming out of my @ss, the Gibson is going to win with you guys and girls.

troll

[Sgt. Pepper]

43 minutes ago, jvi said:

troll

Back at  ya instigator. How many times you troll me?

Edited June 1, 2020 by Sgt. Pepper

[BluesKing777]

2 hours ago, PatriotsBiker said:

The redesigned era of the 614ce (2015-2018) is a beast of  guitar. I thought switching it to the V-bracing took the character out of it. I bet it's easier to track with, though. I've only played my own, though, which is a 2015. I have played(test-driven) several 614ce v-bracing and was unimpressed.

I've test driven the 814 DLX and the 914 and have been very impressed. They project very well. I still had to go with a D-41 last October, though.  

For the record, I have enjoyed test driving the Pacific Coast 517 and 717. the local Sam Ash has both AND both in builder's editions. It hurts to know this. No 618s, though. I am curious to try one, now. I agree with EuroAussie that they both sounded weak. (Tight was the word he used)

 

I have not played the Taylor 618e, but I bought the Taylor 717e V Class Grand Pacific Builder's Edition in Easter 2019. (torrefied sitka top/rosewood)

Taylor's reputation is for guitars that are 'sorted' - a high quality perfect build that leaves the factory with a  setup and pickup system ready to play live immediately. While I have not played that many Taylor guitars, mine is just sensational. The setup from the factory with medium strings is still as I bought it. The fit and finish are just flawless. The pickup (ES2) sounds great, though I run mine through a Tonedexter for a more 'studio mic'd' sound. And the 'compound carve' neck is  really nice for my playing....very impressed!

Here is the Taylor blurb about my 717e:

Part of Taylor’s inaugural class of Grand Pacific guitars, the Builder’s Edition 717e builds on a long tradition of rosewood/spruce dreadnoughts but breaks new ground with an entirely new Taylor sound. The round-shoulder dreadnought shape, featuring Taylor’s award-winning V-Class bracing, produces warm, seasoned acoustic tone in which individual notes overlap and blend smoothly together, while the low-end power common among dreadnoughts boasts greater clarity here. V-Class brings extra punch and sustain, along with improved intonation and musicality across the entire frequency spectrum. Together with rosewood’s harmonic complexity and the played-in sound of the torrefied spruce top, players can expect rich, luxurious tonal character from top to bottom. It’s a voice comfortably rooted in a traditional sound, yet updated to offer more expressive musical range. As a Builder’s Edition model, the 717e also sports an array of premium, player-friendly features: chamfered body edges, rolled fretboard edges, and a new compound-carve neck profile, whose contours match the natural adjustments in the player’s hand position when moving up and down the fretboard. Even the bridge design was refined to add a more ergonomic feel for the player’s pick hand. Taylor’s noise-reducing Silent Satin finish displays the muted sheen of an older guitar, while elegantly understated appointments include mother-of-pearl Arrowhead fretboard and peghead inlays, with sapele binding. This edition also features our stage-ready ES2 electronics.

 

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2020 by BluesKing777

[Brucebubs]

It's a tastefully understated good looking guitar there too BluesKing777.

[MissouriPicker]

I totally agree with the comments about most listeners here prefer the Gibson sound.  I'm a perfect example of that.  I've owned one Taylor and only kept it several weeks (few months).  It just was not "me."  The look, the sound, the feel simply did not call my name.  For me, it has nothing to do with the quality of a Taylor guitar.  They make excellent guitars, but they're just not "me."  I heard this analogy many years ago------Taylors are the sweet girl you meet at church.  She's polite, good-looking, sweet voice, and pure.  The kind of girl you take home to meet mom and dad.  Gibsons (as well as some Martins) are the girl you meet at the bar.   She's pretty in a tough kind of way, she cusses a lot, can get down and dirty with the bikers and she growls like Janis did.  You don't want mom and dad to know you're dating her, but you keep going-out with her because you like the way she feels when you have your hands on her..........I like Gibsons.  Not interested in or care about what else is out there.  Still, I would someday like to latch-on to a Martin Johnny Cash D35.

[kidblast]

BK!

Those *17 (Grand Pacific) models seem to have caught on with a lot of people (if you follow the AGF posts).  There's something there it seems that Taylor got right.

I can't get past the satin finish tho.  I know, I know...  a lot of builders are doing that these days..  It's just "me" I guess.  I'm still feeling a gravitational pull to an 814ce DLX.  One could be coming to a door step near me soon.  never know.........

[BoSoxBiker]

BK, I remember now that you got one last year. Nice score! (again!)  They were on my very short list of options before deciding upon the D28/D35/D41 arena. It's becoming a cliche with that v-bracing now, but the Grand Pacifics struck me as trying to sound a 70's acoustic song. (meant as a compliment)

KB, Taylor built these "Wall of Taylors" displays in some Sam Ash stores, if you have one within driving distance. There's a somewhat obscure way to get to their stores' inventory listings on a Google store site via the main SA site's store locator results. Used, too, though a different web app is used. If your closest store is like mine, there are many to choose from. 

Yeah, these new breeds of Taylors are not the blatty/screechy 314s anymore. (dumped mine to get my 'bird)  They even came out with a line of plectrums designed to tame that classic driven mid-range overtone that many found to be too aggressive. I think they listened to guitar players, though I wish they had left the 614 alone. That said, my local store has a Builder's Edition 614 that I do want to take for a test ride. 🙂

fwiw - after Jinder's thread on the comments from his future mrs Jinder, I chatted with my wife about my small stable and what she hears. She likes them all, but the 614 doesn't get to the same pretty sounding plateau that my Gibsons and the Martin do. That didn't surprise me. The 614's strength is elsewhere. It's a Rocker that LOVES to get dug into. Imagine Keef doing some big acoustic riff.

[Jalex]

I own a Taylor 317 and really enjoy playing it. Definitely a different beast than your standard Taylor. 

[BluesKing777]

 

The mission for the Taylor 717 was to have a slope shoulder dread with a more traditional tone than the normal Taylor thing, but with the new V bracing. I have said it before but I think it is far more Lowden like than a J45 slope shoulder. My 717 neck is way larger than normal Taylor fare.  Could drag out the calipers and measure the difference but it is probably on Wildwood......

And I wouldn’t buy anything ‘screechy’.

 

BluesKing777.

 

[BoSoxBiker]

1 hour ago, BluesKing777 said:

 

.....And I wouldn’t buy anything ‘screechy’.

 

BluesKing777.

 

Of COURSE you would't. 

[BluesKing777]

10 hours ago, PatriotsBiker said:

Of COURSE you would't. 

 

 

I should have said I would never buy anything screechy - AGAIN!

I was anticipating this year's new Taylor V class Builder's Edition releases for other models to get the 'compound carve neck' like the one on my 717, but no dice. Put that neck on a Grand Concert body and call it mine! Nope - the new Grand Concert Builder's Edition neck is quite scrawny in comparison. Wildwood : .86 - .89 for the new 912 while for the 717 they have we get .86 - .95!!!

But there is far more to a great neck than those numbers.....the shape goes from a slight V to a C. Looks like the neck on my model must have scared the punters and is only on the Grand Pacific builder's Edition models 717/517. (I should get my luthier to make a plaster cast of it.........for future reference 😎)

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

Edited June 1, 2020 by BluesKing777

[BoSoxBiker]

9 minutes ago, BluesKing777 said:

 

 

I should have said I would never buy anything screechy - AGAIN!

I was anticipating this year's new Taylor V class Builder's Edition releases for other models to get the 'compound carve neck' like the one on my 717, but no dice. Put that neck on a Grand Concert body and call it mine! Nope - the new Grand Concert Builder's Edition neck is quite scrawny in comparison. Wildwood : .86 - .89 for the new 912 while for the 717 they have we get .86 - .95!!!

But there is far more to a great neck than those numbers.....the shape goes from a slight V to a C. Looks like the neck on my model must have scared the punters and is only on the Grand Pacific builder's Edition models 717/517. (I should get my luthier to make a plaster cast of it.........for future reference 😎)

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

I didn't intend to buy one. I did, though. Uneducated consumer on the intricacies of guitar tone combined with a sales manager with a limited post-holiday inventory - and post-holiday budget. It was made to cut through the live band mix, though. I will give him that much. He's also the one who told me there is never a reason to not use a humidifier. The guy that replaced him is a great dude.

Yeah, getting too long in the tooth to handle difficult guitars.

[BluesKing777]

1 hour ago, PatriotsBiker said:

I didn't intend to buy one. I did, though. Uneducated consumer on the intricacies of guitar tone combined with a sales manager with a limited post-holiday inventory - and post-holiday budget. It was made to cut through the live band mix, though. I will give him that much. He's also the one who told me there is never a reason to not use a humidifier. The guy that replaced him is a great dude.

Yeah, getting too long in the tooth to handle difficult guitars.

 

 

We have all had that same sales manager, don't you worry!

Because of them, we become pedantic and specific - that same sales manager's mortal enemy....reeling off a number of neck figures and wood details that we learned....here!😁😁😁

When I bought the Taylor 717, I went to one shop closest to me with the intention of trying the guitar and buying at a much cheaper shop I go to. I knew all the details from the blurbs and specs and was very interested. I asked for the guitar in the acoustic room - it was hanging high - and I played about 3 little things and did the absolute worst thing a 'mark' or 'sucker' could do - I gasped out something like -"Aw, I LOVE this neck!!" And the salesman was a grinning. Well, I tricked him by asking him how much it was going for...😲 He went off and jangled cash registers and computer for ages and he came back with a figure that really surprised me. I said: "Take it!" But when we took it to the main counter, the Boss was there and reminded us that it was a 25% OFF Easter Saturday Sale. I asked if that was 20% off the price agreed already and he reluctantly said OK. I got that 717 way cheap!!! They all wave to me if I go to buy strings there, so I suppose their markup was huge. (A friend played mine and desperately wanted one and the shop he went to wanted about $1200 more than mine!)

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

Edited June 2, 2020 by BluesKing777

[BoSoxBiker]

I never get deals handed to me. I have to research and wait and be ready to pounce. Sometimes just asking works, but seemed to be increasingly difficult. I got my last two as price matches. My SJ-200 was brand spanking new for $3895, and my D41 was $3599. That one took national sales manager approval. A little un-empowering, I thought, but whatever. It was close enough to what I had budgeted for the then unavailable HD-35, so big score all around.

My 614 was some memorial day sale thing. I do like that the wide range of guitars within a few hundred dollars of each other instead of a grand or more. I mean standard models, not the builder's editions and other odd special runs. Seams like a managable product line sans re-using old names to push new product. (cough cough)  That's not what this thread is about. Nor is anything we talked about for two days. I digress. LOL

One thing I did want to say, on the OP, was the first thought that went through my mind when he started strumming the Taylor. I imagined a Taylor product manager yelling at his video screen for using a guitar that had just been in the steam room 3 hours prior. I would have been crying foul. They didn't do the SJ any favors, either, so that's that.

[BluesKing777]

 

I always ask: “What’s the best you can do on this...?”

Some people want to play silly games but generally most guitar sellers want to.....sell it.

I have Apple TV and watched the OP video again on TV and O have to agree PB - both guitars were a bit flat. The trouble with all these videos is that the guitars are brand new unplayed out of a box and probably need a bit of strumming to get some character. Buying a loved used older model is easier to hear its ‘truth’. Or...those new 2 are dudleys.😧

BluesKing777.

 

 

[BoSoxBiker]

In their defense, they did state right up front that they did just get that Taylor in. The other video posted later was more favorable.

I almost didn't buy my D-41 because of an online store demo of a brand spanking new one having no low-mids. Then I read about them needing a few days. Not sure if Sgt Pepper had the same experience or not.

To back your point, though, my 614 was a wall job, though it was a very clean one. It was ready to sing, that's for sure. This was right after Taylor did that redesigned 614 (or maybe the whole 600 series?) Baked top. Nice!