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Hi , I like Martin Taylor, Ted Greene and joe pass, particularly Martin Taylor’s tone. What guitar can I purchase within 2k range to get close to the tone?
Thanks!
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12-24-2021 09:51 PM
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If I recall correctly (a 50/50 chance), Peerless makes a couple of Martin Taylor copies of his luthier-built instrument, probably within your budget.
Originally Posted by Lppier
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Originally Posted by Lppier
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The fact that Martin plays so many guitars and switches endorsements quite often, goes to show that the guitar is not really what gives Martin his signature tone. Originally Posted by Lppier
Which country are you in?
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Ted Greene often played a Telecaster -- and made it sound awesome. He did a lot fingerstyle. Originally Posted by Lppier
Pass sounded like himself on a Fender solidbody (Jaguar?) but most people associate him with archtops. Later in his career a lot of fingerstyle, but earlier a lot of pick.
I'm less familiar with Martin Taylor, but I've mostly heard him playing fingerstyle.
I don't think you can duplicate the sound of fingers by using a pick and vice versa.
Anyway, it seems like you like may have identified music which has been done on different kinds of guitars with different technique.
I think it would be fair to say that many players, after acquiring the exact same gear used by one of their heroes, couldn't make it sound the same.
For Ted Greene's tone, I guess a Telecaster type. Lots of choice in your price range.
For the others, I guess an archtop, but I'll leave specifics to people who regularly play them.
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Martin Taylor I think of as having a mix of acoustic and electric in his recorded tone. So any archtop with a resonant acoustic voice ought to do the trick for home playing (live it gets more complicated, I think at one point MT used a bridge piezo to mix in.)
I’d suggest checking out D’Angelico EXL1 (I’ve found even the cheap D’Angelicos to be impressive with a nice acoustic tone) and any of the Eastman hollow bodies - the highest number you can get haha, the bigger the number the higher end the guitar.
TBH I think floating or set in pickups could work. With Martin it’s less about the guitar and a lot about the fingerstyle technique. Also round wound strings, quite percussive.
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When I first heard about him years ago on a trip to London, he was playing a Yamaha archtop with piezo and floating magnetic pickups through a stereo rig that had a huge sound. Yamaha’s best archtop at the time was the AEX1500 Martin Taylor model. I played one at a popular London music store on Denmark Street and thought it was nice enough but nothing special. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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+ 1, except that an archtop with a floater is mostly what he uses, and his recordings definitely have that characterstic sound. Originally Posted by Christian Miller
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Yamaha AEX 1500 Archtop guitar *Blonde * MIJ * Martin Taylor Signature Model* Piezo
Yamaha AEX 1500 Archtop guitar *Blonde * MIJ * Martin Taylor | Reverb
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His early albums (like Artistry and Portraits) were made with the stereo Yamaha and sound like his guitar is on steroids. It’s big and impressive, but it sounds artificial and a bit bloated to me. Originally Posted by John A.
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The peerless one yes, the vanden one not so much ? Originally Posted by ronjazz
I wonder if it would make sense to buy the peerless without trying , can’t seem to find any dealer locally.
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I do have a tele which I adore- run it through ua 610a plug-in direct into my audio interface and it sounds good to me. Just wondering about an archtop now since I’ve never played one for sustained period of time Originally Posted by rpjazzguitar
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If i had that kinda money and was buying
unseen/unplayed i’d think about a
Comins GCS16 1 or 2 pickup ....
because they’re my size and the setup is going to be top notch ....
so the risk of getting a dodgy one is
minimised
but that’s just me ....
it really is best to play a load of guitars
yourself if you can of course
there’s a very informative thread if you
search this site ....
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Yeah the issue with getting archtop is that there aren’t a whole lot of them available in stores to try ..
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Eastman comes to mind. Especially used. Maybe GUITAR Center used gear. Great return policy. Long try out period. Really close to risk free in my opinion. The info may be sparse but call the store. Get it delivered to your local store if you like. If it doesn’t work out return it there.
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Hmm under 2k is a bit of a range.
There are very decent offerings under 1k even.
Those players you've named tend to use guitars from the far opposites of the spectrum - a tele and an acoustic-leaning archtop.
If this would be your first foray into hollow guitars I would recommend checking out semi hollows even. Get a decent used guitar that you won't lose much selling down the road. There is enough variety in this space that you will likely end up moving on.
As an example, at the moment my main practice guitar is a lowly Epi Dot Studio that I've got for 250 or so. Recently sold a guitar that was 10x more expensive which was "better", but just not doing what I wanted. (edit: just a warning to potential Dot Studio buyers - I had to replace frets, old ones were very soft and wore in a few years)
My personal picks:
- Guild: Starfires and especially T-50;
- Eastman: covers the whole spectrum from a solid to purely acoustic archtop, try first;
- Epiphone: lots of hollows and semi-hollows, Casino is probably a highlight for me;
- D'Angelico: love their SS model (similar to the one that Kurt Rosenwinkel plays), not a fan of the Premier line though, Excel series much nicer;
- Squier: road worn or a classic vibe tele, maybe a thinline, I'd put a PAF or a P90 in the neck;
Enjoy the quest
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Was just browsing the forum and saw someone posted in the chord melody section that Martin Taylor lessons on artistworks.com are half off if you buy a year (about $140 for the year). Not an endorsement--I've never tried artistworks in general or these lessons in particular, but the poster on the chord melody page seemed pretty satisfied.
If you're looking for a Martin Taylor sound, you may get there faster using some of your budget for Martin Taylor lessons while you shop around for the guitar. You might even decide that with the right technique the Tele works (ala Greene).
I wouldn't rush into buying something you've never played an example of at all.
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