[SOTC1987]

Product:
Taylor 510CE dreadnought body style with venetian cutaway. Bought new in January of '08, not sure of actual year of production.

Price:
I paid $2,140 new (including tax, Taylor hard case & cable), considering the MSRP is $3,398 it was a good deal.

Experience:
I've been playing for 7-8 years off and on, only got serious about 3 years ago. I haven't really gotten outside of the P&W genre so that's what I play best. I'm on the worship team as well as a "trainee" worship leader so this guitar gets played at church quite a lot. XLR>Snake>PA.

Features:
Oh boy where to start! Body is dreadnought style with venetian cutaway, body has gloss finish, neck is satin. 20 frets, 25-1/2" scale length. Engelmann Spruce top, American Mahogany back & sides, I don't remember if the neck is Rosewood or Mahogany, Ebony fretboard/bridge. Pearl dot fret inlays, chrome Taylor tuning machines, Taylor Expression System (ES) electronics, typical 3 knob controls. I know I'm forgetting some.

Sound:
The sound is nothing short of amazing. Nice bright highs but not tinny, decent low end, well balanced sound all around as is expected from an instrument in this price range. Acoustically I love it. However, I didn't buy it for its plugged in sound. It isn't horrible. As with any instrument it just needs some fine EQing to bring out the sound you want.

Playability:
This guitar plays like a dream! I get comments all the time about how light it is. Low action right from the factory combined with Elixir's Nanoweb coated strings make for quick and easy chord changes almost anywhere on the neck. I say almost because I have big fingers and it's hard for me to form chords from the 12th on up. I had to get the action adjusted after 2 or 3 string changes but haven't had to touch it since.

Reliability:
Stays in tune extremely well even after playing the tar out of it. Obviously changes in temperature and humidity throw it out. Intonation is still very good.

Other:
These are probably normal but I'll throw them in there.

I noticed when changing strings that a few of the tuners have come a little loose over time. Every once in a while I have to take a wrench and, very gently, snug them up. I also had to sand down a tiny burr where the D string sits on the saddle, probably just from a lot of use though. There is a blemish in the coating over the binding on the top edge about an inch long just under the fretboard. It's a little murky white mark but it's hardly noticeable and I think it adds to the uniqueness of the instrument. No other blemishes.

Overall:
Overall I would have to say there is nothing I don't like about this guitar. It's sturdy yet light weight and gives that wonderful clean bright sound I was looking for. I would strongly recommend this guitar to anyone with deep pockets!
If you're looking for a more warm, mellow sound, then look outside of the Taylor lineup, this guitar is not for you.