How to get that Martin Taylor Sound?

[FoncyBoy]

I am in the market for an archtop (in the 2000 USD range) and amp. I want to get as close as possible to Martin Taylor's unique sound, which is a lot different from the typical jazz guitar sound (a lot of mid frequencies, no bass, and no treble) He's got that full bass with the sparkly, sustaining high end. I love the way that you can hear all the notes really sing out, much like a piano player would play.

This demonstrates his tone really well:

Any help would be appreciated.

[Jabberwocky]

Martin Taylor uses Elixir 12-53 Nanowebs. Perhaps start with the same gauge, roundwounds, not necessarily Elixir Nanos.

MT plays fingerstyle and it is his fingerstyle technique that shapes his tone, I surmise. He shapes his nails like a classical guitarist does. His touch is light and adapted from classical guitar.

I am no expert and don't claim to be one. Just my own observations of MT. You can hear that same clarity of tone in Michael Chapdelaine.

As for a guitar, I'd recommend that you suss out a Comins GCS-1es. Peerless offers the MT Maestro and Virtuoso. Maybe docbosco can find you a deal...

Other folk will have their own recommendations.

[Klatu]

It seems to me that much of the tone quality you seek comes from the combination of a magnetic pickup and a microphone picking up the sound of a carved acoustic archtop.

To get some more of than ringing top end from the Martin Taylor clip you posted, you might need to blend in some more of the acoustic mic than what is demonstrated in the video above.

[DRS]

The Martin Taylor guitars Peerless makes as mentioned before. The Virtuoso and The Maestro. Virtuoso is about $2K new and the Maestro can be found for $2K used.
Or if you have really deep pockets, The Vanden Martin Taylor Artistry. I think he records DI into the board and live he plays an AER amp.

[lapideusvir]

I think it´s a combination of fingerstyle, strings (roundwounds, not flats) and miking (half microphone half amp). It´s not so much about the guitar. But the Peerless models come with Daddario roundwounds 12 stock.

[A440]

The last time I saw Martin Taylor play live, he was using a Bose pa (L1 or LD?). Great sound, and no feedback problems, surprisingly.

[goldenwave77]

Martin Taylor uses Elixir 12-53 Nanowebs. Perhaps start with the same gauge, roundwounds, not necessarily Elixir Nanos.


As for a guitar, I'd recommend that you suss out a Comins GCS-1es. Peerless offers the MT Maestro and Virtuoso. Maybe docbosco can find you a deal...

docdosco is the guy you want. docbosco's tone has been described as "syrupy"--probably not what you want.

[Jx30510]

I once had the Virtuoso it's an exceptionnal guitar. The neck width and profile is aimed towards fingerstyle playing, with a wide nut 1.75 and string spacing. I really couldn't handle it, or I would had to adapt to that particular neck and forget my Telecaster and Stratocaster.I have small hands and am prone to cramps and that sort of stuff.
I was very upset not keeping it, a marvelous guitar.
The French retailer of Peerless guitars sells them 1260€ new. An incredible deal.

Here's the name of the shop (you can find their website) "aujoyeufadiese".

I don't know where you live, maybe they can ship one. They are very nice guys, and great prices
For instance they sell the Gigmaster Jazz for 800€ or so..

[Jx30510]

It's : aujoyeuxfadiese.com

Here is a link


PEERLESS. GUITARE ELECTRIQUE MARTIN TAYLOR SIGNATURE VIRTUOSO


I've been there a few times and you can deal with confindence. No relation with them but they are very nice and professionnal people.

[Papawooly]

I read that most of his sound is in the way his PU's are setup.
Basically, he has a stereo guitar, where the top 3 strings and bottom 3 are
sent out on individual channels, therby allowing outboard processing to amp
up the bottom, and roll it off, and seperatly amp and sweeten the highs
accordingly. On one of his accoustic CD's (can't remember which) if
you listen to it on headphones, you will get the "picture".

Of course, alot of his sound is produced by his meticulous technique... so YMMV

[rlrhett]

Martin Taylor is a gear nut. There are YouTubes of him going through his collection and talking about how he used this one for this recording and that one for touring with Stefan Grapelli, etc. There is even one where he is taking delivery of a $35,000 Ken Parker backstage with Tommy Emmanuel, although I've never seen another video of him playing it.

His sound is mostly technique. For example, he has an unusual way of using his thumb to do an "upstroke" that gives him a more percussive thwang (yes, that's a real term) to mix up his bass runs. He plays with fingernails, as has been mentioned before. He gets his signature sound out of many different guitars and setups.

That said, he seems to prefer an acoustic sound over an electric one and is usually mic'ed. His acoustic jazz sound is something I like so much that I build with his style in mind. Not that he is likely to ever see, play, or notice any guitar I make.

[Chazmo]

I have seen M. Taylor a few times and he was not miced up. He was plugged in, but I did not see an amp on stage, so I assume he was plugged directly into the PA. I read an interview where he said he uses a custom tube preamp to warm up his tone before going into the PA/DI.

His former signature guitar by Yamaha had an under saddle pickup that could be mixed with the magnetic pickup. The Peerless does not have this setup to my knowledge. The under saddle pickup would go a long way toward the acoustic sound, but interestingly, I have seen Martin Taylor play both the Yamaha and the Peerless and he sounds like himself with either guitar.

Using a small bodied archtop with round wound strings into a PA or high-fidelity acoustic amp would go a long way toward capturing that sound. BTW, I think the Godin 5th Avenue Jazz is a nice alternative to the Peerless Martin Taylor models with similar specifications.

[ooglybong]

His former signature guitar by Yamaha had an under saddle pickup that could be mixed with the magnetic pickup. The Peerless does not have this setup to my knowledge. The under saddle pickup would go a long way toward the acoustic sound, but interestingly, I have seen Martin Taylor play both the Yamaha and the Peerless and he sounds like himself with either guitar.

I'll just piggyback that information with a photo of my Yamaha. It's a AEX-1500, popularly known (before his new Peerless signature models) as "The Martin Taylor Guitar". From what I gather, his Artistry solo album (1996) was recorded using this guitar. GREAT sounding in every regard.



Ha, I'm no Martin Taylor (but I love his playing and tone), and the piezo in this guitar really adds something great to the output mix. Most importantly, there's a Blend knob to balance the tones between piezo and floater (which can be very warm and full-sounding); you choose the proportion of 'air'-to-warmth.

[Philco]

I am in the market for an archtop (in the 2000 USD range) and amp. I want to get as close as possible to Martin Taylor's unique sound, which is a lot different from the typical jazz guitar sound (a lot of mid frequencies, no bass, and no treble) He's got that full bass with the sparkly, sustaining high end. I love the way that you can hear all the notes really sing out, much like a piano player would play.

This demonstrates his tone really well:

Any help would be appreciated.

I could be wrong but that sounds like he's plugged straight into the recording console (mixing desk)

[Jabberwocky]

Yeah, one thing I have never heard Martin Taylor mention is his amp. I get it that he is a plugged into the PA sort of player i.e. a mixing soundboard and a hifi PA amplifier.

It is a very hifi approach.

[ronjazz]

Yeah, one thing I have never heard Martin Taylor mention is his amp. I get it that he is a plugged into the PA sort of player i.e. a mixing soundboard and a hifi PA amplifier.

It is a very hifi approach.

Which would explain him using a Bose L1 on gigs where he needs an amp; it's a hi-fi system.

[ptuner]

yes, it sounds like the yamaha AEX-1500 with boomy lows and razor highs. great for fingers. undervalued guitar.

[Alter]

i get the feeling that besides playing fingerstyle, a big part of this sound is using round or even acoustic (bronze) strings instead of flat strings. Tuck Andress comes to mind also.. And finally, the recording method comes into play, which usually involves more than just miking an amp (using mics to add some portion of the guitar's acoustic sound)

[uburoibob]

There is even one where he is taking delivery of a $35,000 Ken Parker backstage with Tommy Emmanuel, although I've never seen another video of him playing it.

For that video, Ken brought the guitars to the gig for Martin and Tommy to check out. He was actually in town, delivering one of the guitars to a customer in Miami. To date, Martin doesn't own one of Ken's guitars. But sure played it beautifully.

Bob

[FoncyBoy]

How could I achieve his tone with a home setup?

[Jabberwocky]

How could I achieve his tone with a home setup?

Elixir Nanoweb 12-53, floating humbucker pickup, spruce top guitar, laminated or solid, Tech21 Sansamp or PreSonus TubePre V2, Presonus Studio One DAW. Shape your fingernails with Micromesh. Check out William Kanengiser video on YT.

The rest is your touch.

[uburoibob]

How could I achieve his tone with a home setup?

Have you seen his two free lessons on how to use your right hand to achieve his tone? It's all about dynamics in voicings according to him, and how you achieve that with controlling the velocity and attack of each finger on your right hand. The are excellent videos, and I think I found them on MartinTaylor.com. He also gives private lessons online. I think so much of his tone is the way he plays. Kinda like Bill Frisell, who can coax his tone out of anything, including a banjo!

Bob

[FoncyBoy]

Now, what guitars would you recommend? I have been researching Eastman and Peerless.

[Jabberwocky]

Now, what guitars would you recommend? I have been researching Eastman and Peerless.

Peerless MT Maestro. That way, you can only blame your own fingers if you can't get the MT sound

That said, a lot of it is in MT's touch and his use of a hifi PA amp set-up. It is a neutral broad flat frequency bandwidth set-up through hifi speakers. It is not the sound of a BF or Tweed guitar combo amp with its attendant distortion and coloration. Imagine amplifying a voice. You won't use a guitar combo for that.

Let me give you an example:

Nice $9000 solid carved spruce and mahogany archtop, floating pickup, 12-53 rounds. All the criteria fulfilled but exactly not the sound that MT coaxes from his guitars. Great playing. It is not so much the guitar but it is the amp and the cranked up Johnny Smith.

It is in large part MT's fingerstyle touch and his use of a neutral PA hifi amp for a wide bandwidth sound which captures the string tone. You can get that out of any hollowbody guitar that is not heavily-braced to be dead as a doornail. Scotch that; even one that is heavily constructed can give up the tonal goods. It need not be a floater. It need not be a carved solid spruce top.

The Martin Taylor tone is the roundwound string tone played fingerstyle with well-shaped nails through an ACOUSTIC guitar amp or hifi PA and flat neutral speakers. You need to follow the manicure regimen of the classical cats in this department. Or use Alaska Piks a la Eric Skye.

If you think about it as amplifying an acoustic guitar instead of an electric guitar you will come close to your goal. That is what I gather from following Martin Taylor; he approaches amplification as he would any acoustic guitar.

Sorry for the rambling thoughts. In the main, look for an ACOUSTIC guitar combo amplifier or PA amp but not an electric guitar combo amp.

[Jabberwocky]

Very close to the MT tone, isn't it? With a bit of EQ and an acoustic amp, I can imagine it will be nitpicking to claim otherwise.