By: Rob Cavuoto
When I was asked to review the Taylor GS8e, aka Grand Symphony, I jumped at the opportunity. I knew the first song that I was going to play on this beauty would need to be fitting for the moment; the song that came rushing to my head was “Norwegian Wood” by the Beatles, a great acoustic song for a memorable occasion.
When the guitar arrived, I opened the case to revel the magnificent handcrafted instrument sitting inside a chocolate brown crushed velvet lined case. The Sitka Spruce top and the mother of abalone inlay around the sound-hole was breath taking. The sweet smell of wood filling the room, the guitar is truly a work of art and a testament to Taylor’s long standing heritage. The Grand Symphony (GS) design was introduced in 2006 and was the first new design by Taylor in over 10 years.
There are four GS models GS5, GS6, GS7 and GS8. Same body design, four tone-wood combinations. Taylor takes the detail and craftsmanship to a whole another level by even adding abalone dots to the peghead! The quality and craftsmanship of the case is impressive too. Its heavy duty textured brown leather is designed to represent alligator skin with gold latches and hardware.
As I played the opening chords to “Norwegian Wood,” the sound fills the room with brilliant highs and rich mids with deep tonal shades. The clarity and sharpness of each note and chord sounds perfect as they danced in the air. The Sitka Spruce top adds a touch of crispness to the rosewood’s big, bold tone. The neck is amazingly comfortable with a light stain finish that doesn’t slow you down, yet accents the Indian Rosewood back and sides. The ivoroid binding on the neck is made from Tropical American Mahogany with an Ebony fretboard and abalone dot inlays, which tie in with its 20 frets nicely.
Taylor GS8e
The action on the fretboard is low and similar to the way I set up my electric guitars. This leads me nicely into addressing Taylor’s Expression System, the electric capabilities of the guitar. It utilizes a patented Dynamic Sensors to capture top and string vibration and is seamlessly integrated into the design of the guitar. Onboard tone controls provide added flavor, or can be set flat for an uncolored clean amplified sound. When plugged into my practice amp, with clean settings, the guitar had a wonderful attack.
The three knobs (bass, treble and tone – wish they were labeled) offered a wide variety of tones to allow me to get from a thin sound to a deep rich fat low end. I found myself playing Iron Maiden’s “Number of the Beast” of all things, and was able to navigate the fretboard as easily as playing one of my electrics. When I decided to take thing up a notch and cracked up some distortion the sound held together as beautifully with the same crispness and attack as when clean. It was the perfect balance of rich tones and low end, clean or distorted.
I’ve been playing and enjoying this guitar for a few week and can’t tell you how much it surpassed my expectations of what an acoustic guitar should sound and play like. I’ve owned and played countess acoustic guitars, but never a Taylor. Do yourself a favor when at your local guitar store and check this guitar out and let it sing to you.
A Side Note: As with any work of art you need to take care of it. I strongly recommend understanding about proper humidity levels for this guitar. Too much or too little and you could be in trouble. If you own or purchase this guitar, go out get the guitar humidifier to protect your investment.
Taylor GS8e
