Martin VS. Taylor - Guitar Review

Article by Alex Eardley-Scott

For this issue of Rock Lynx, I thought I would bring you a comparison of two of the latest innovations. I have had the pleasure of trying from Martin & Co. and Taylor guitars before the pandemic. If you’ve heard a guitar in popular music recorded in the last 70 years, then it’s almost certain you’ll have heard one of these brands and their instruments. You either know them from your favourite songs or the one you hate most which always seems to be on the radio. Both companies offer a huge variety of designs, tones and price points; catering for everybody who wants a guitar that sounds and plays well. They both compete from lower-priced travel guitars to custom shop works of art which cost tens of thousands of pounds. I just had a look while writing this article and I forget sometimes that prices can go that high for things without bedrooms or a mortgage. But before we all got told to stay at home, I managed to play two very exciting guitars side by side: Martin’s brand new SC13e and Taylor’s 317e Grand Pacific. Both are similarly priced but offer two different avenues of playing comfort, styling and voice.

Martin & Co. are considered a forefather in modern acoustic guitars in a lot of ways. Family-run since 1833, and the oldest still-producing guitar maker in the world they have made some of the most well-known designs in history. The originators of the most copied guitar shape in history, the dreadnought, they were also early pioneers of X-bracing which is now the most common strengthening technique for guitar tops too. In January of this year, Martin released possibly their most radical redesign of what an acoustic guitar could be into their Road Series, the SC13e. On first impressions, you’d be forgiven for thinking it is just slightly brighter sounding Martin with an interesting cutaway and blue appointments. When you hang it up next to a standard guitar though, you soon notice the asymmetrical body shape. It’s a bit of a love it or hate it look until you’re sat behind it and you’ll change your

Once you’re sat with the guitar, you have no problem appreciating the brilliance of the design and its emphasis on the player. Slimmer body styles or arm contours have been done by many companies, including Taylor. By shifting the shape of the body however, you still get the same volume output but you’re far less likely to receive that painful line on your strumming arm many of us are familiar with. Not satisfied with only improving strumming, they changed their whole neck design too. The virtually heelless linear dove-tail neck joint allows access to all frets, even the usually dusty higher register with near-seamless transition. The bolt-on design of the join also allows micro-adjustment for any intonation issues and easy servicing which is extremely nice to see on a Martin. They teamed this redesign with their Sure AlignTM Neck System. This system is an asymmetrical neck carve which postures your hand into a more comfortable playing position; being rounder at the nut and bringing your hand further round at higher notes. Nothing feels like a stretch anywhere on this neck and that is impressive.

In terms of tone, the guitar is a bit brighter than a standard Martin, even with the koa veneer and mahogany core, probably due to the amount of lacquer on the guitar. But personally, I actually like this departure from the warm sound you get on other Martins as it is trying to do something different. If you need to shape the tone or get a bit more volume then the onboard Fishman MX-T electric system works as well as ever. The same preamp we are accustomed to in the rest of the Road Series, it provides you with a solid and discrete under-saddle pickup system and player-facing soundhole tuner. The shape of the guitar is reportedly better for feedback too, although I haven’t been able to test it myself. Should you experience any problems though, there is a small switch between the controls inside the soundhole that can help as a quick fix for any onstage screeching you might encounter.

Overall, the SC13e is a guitar where everybody can feel comfortable, even those of us who are more electric guitar orientated. I often speak to people who have been put off by guitars which can be bulky, painful for their strumming arm and restrictive because of the nature of a traditional neck and heel joint. Martin believes they’ve addressed a plethora of player concerns in just one guitar and they most certainly have. An excellent guitar.

Taylor Guitars on the other hand are a little late to the party compared to Martin. Starting in 1974, Bob Taylor and business partner Kurt Lustig formed a company intent on innovating the guitar world with beautiful, sustainably built, easy to play instruments. After enlisting master builder Andy Powers to their design team, he set about changing the rules of guitar voicing. Last year they finished work on the Grand Pacific body shape: a modified dreadnought with some new ingenuity underneath. Before work began on the model, Powers said he realised his favourite recorded guitar tones were always a combination of the instrument and various recording factors. It is never the true sound of the guitar on its own, no matter how it gets recorded. Realising this, he began to experiment with alternate shaping and contours to try and recapture the sound he heard on those songs. The result is the Grand Pacific. The rounded body profile refined the instrument’s EQ and gives you that recorded guitar tone right in the room and not just from your speakers. The large lower bout combined with a thinner waist and shoulders brings the midrange and bass to the forefront but with excellent clarity. It is such a pleasingly rich and more subtle entry for the company and I enjoy the change of flavour.

This is all helped by the introduction of V-Class bracing. The X structure underneath a guitar top, as mentioned earlier, has been used for well over a hundred years but Andy Powers discovered that this was actually a compromise of volume, sustain and intonation. V bracing goes from the middle of the lower guitar edge and goes either side of the soundhole with strengthening struts coming off it. This idea he sketched while watching waves breaking off from one another has created guitars with a harmonious marriage of all three properties. Some fundamental intonation issues almost completely by causing the top wood to move like a wave and not in sections which are incredible to hear and the sustain is unreal!

Although this guitar doesn’t come with a tuner built-in like the Martin, it opts for a less cluttered soundhole and comes with Taylor’s fantastic ES2 system mounted on the upper shoulder. I’ve never got a bad tone out of one of these pickups and it is really telling that they use the same system on even their highest priced custom shop models. The piezo system is a bit special compared to traditional under-saddle ones used elsewhere. There are three piezo crystals which are pushed against the bridge saddle. This transfers the strings energy evenly, not crushed under the tension unevenly like under saddle pickups usually are. The tone is responsive and natural with a much closer resemblance to your instrument’s resonance and frequency. The bass and treble controls allow a contour around the mids whereas the SC13e only has a tone control, letting you hone your amplified sound that bit further.

As is the case with Taylor’s other guitars, the Grand Pacific is a whole range featuring different wood options and customisable options and the more refined Builders Edition models take the instrument to a whole new level. The entry model into the line is not a lesser guitar by any standard, the rolled fingerboard edges alone make it comfortable in the hands and you’ll soon forget it’s the lower priced model in the range. They have something special and this 300 series model is not to be taken lightly. Handbuilt in the USA with sustainable materials, a beautiful case and a 12-year guarantee as standard, it’s a special instrument designed to last and you’ll not want to put it down - I know I don’t.

For me, it’s incredibly difficult to pick between these instruments. I would have loved to test the SC13e against the new American Dream model from Taylor (a more affordable Grand Pacific shape) but alas COVID got in the way again! However, these are both the first departures from what we expect from these brands. A movement from their usual designs and soundscapes and that is why this comparison is important. If it were my choice, I would get the Grand Pacific. But that is only because it suits my playing style and maybe I’m getting old but I do enjoy the security of a fitted hard-case and a long guarantee. Should you be more of a lead player or a fretboard blazing fingerstyle guitarist looking for top-end clarity in your sound you will be better off with the Martin. The more comfortable of the two and with almost limitless accessibility without the added weight of lugging a hard-case around is never a bad thing.

Whichever you would pick, nobody can’t deny that both are a welcome addition to the world of acoustic instruments and play a huge part in designs of the future. I cannot wait to see what the next few years bring because I think there is something special on the horizon from both brands and who knows what it might be!

For more information on these guitars contact Musicroom Lincoln on:

Tel: 01522 537141 Email: lincoln@musicroom.com Instagram: @musicroomlincoln