Can the Taylor 517 compete with a D-18 and J-45?? 

We musicians are very fortunate to have great guitar companies providing us with these wonderful (all individual sounding) instruments. :-) Nice demo guys.

Very interesting! The comparison at the end with smooth transitions from one guitar to another and the identity of each guitar onscreen while it is being played is the most valuable online comparison I've seen!

D-18 for the win!

That particular J-45 is especially strong and good sounding.

"I wouldn't be opposed to having more guitars..." Absolutely and for sure!! Great to hear the variety, guys. Thank you!

Without any bias of label, the Martin is the dominant guitar here. Of course this isn't supposed to be a comparison. Just making an observation. Nothing to do with projection or volume. It's simply the most balanced guitar.

I own both a D18 and a Standard J45. Both are great guitars. Neither is “better” than the other. It’s a personal thing. I like them both for what they do.

D-18 hands down. The Gibson and Taylor sound great also but it’s hard to beat the D-18. Love the banter between you guys.

Great video,, can you do the same with a 717, D28 and Rosewood J45??

The switch fro that Taylor to the Gibson says it all.

The j45 is the sound of acoustic guitar for me

Another great vid guys, keep it going, we can't get enough of these guitars you're showcasing. (The sunburst on that Gibson is to die for).

To my ear, that Taylor Grand Pacific sounds like a $300 guitar.

Listening to this, and having played some V Class models in the store, the new Taylors have their own sound and the word competition is probably a misnomer. My impression is that Taylor traded some depth on the bass end for more sustain and up -the- fretboard consistency in intonation. In the 1970s , Gibson ( already a mess in its new ownership at the time) attempted to find alternative and more "ideal" bracing patterns. Tested dozens. They hired scientists and employed instrumentation to measure sound quality. The result was the Mark Series guitars. The bracing pattern they chose had some of the same configuration characteristics as the V Class. The guitars did not sell though because they simply didn't sound like Gibsons. With the Taylor you are getting a torrified top, excellent build quality and playability. You' re not getting the Martin or Gibson sound, but I don't think they were trying for that.

All personal preferences for sound. Great back to back comparisons! To many people judge a guitar by the name on the headstock so their opinion is biased.

Interesting reading all of the opinions - all over the place in terms of the answer, but for me the Taylor has the fullest sound of all three - the Martin and the Gibson both sounded thin to my ears. I guess that's why they all sell a ton of guitars... to each their own I s'pose! Thanks for the comparison!

I love that sweet sound of the J-45 so recognizable.

The warmth of a Martin gets me every time.

Just purchased a j-45 over the martin d-18. I played both side by side. I played the d-18 first since I am a martin guy with a d-35 and hd-28. I wanted a mahogany guitar. The tone of the j-45 and action of the j-45 blew me away. No additional cost for a set up which I would have had with the d-18. I haven't put my j-45 down yet. I play in church and even the people there commented on the good difference.

My ear seems to favor Gibson but i played a d18 in a shop the other day and it was unreal.

Great job demoing these beauties guys. Loved the Taylor for fingerstyle, loved the Martin for flatpicking and riffs, and can hear very clearly how/why the Gibson goes so well with vocals (since your voice is mid-range where the Gibson is quieter). I think I now see why Mercer (The Shins) uses one; it's a really good fit for his stuff. If I had the budget I'd have all 3, but would start with the Martin. In fact I may sell a couple and finally get that D18. 😎

So interesting the different personalities of these three great guitars! Super and very helpful demo again - as almost always - thank you!

With Taylors, you hear the strings; with Gibsons, you hear the mid range growl; with Martins, you hear the wood. It’s all what sounds best to you. I absolutely love my Martin D-18.

Thank you for longer videos! I am really enjoying the demos!

Hey guys. Love your comparison videos. You do a nice job. Can I ask a question now and see what you think? I would love Quinton to talk about the playability of the neck and the fretboard. Just one guitar easier to play because of the neck, etc. how does it feel in other words.Keep up the good work you’re doing great

Growing up learning to play in the 1990s my Dad had a 1970s J45 (it was a square shoulder not a slope but it was a good one) and somehow held onto some of the jangly vibe and bottom the Gibson slope j45s are known for. Dad was a gospel bluegrass musician and that guitar sang oddly well against the Martin's and Taylors, in jam sessions. Lovely to see and this comparison I'm diggin that grand pacific but they all call to me in a different ways as well!

A huge thing missing in all the guitar review videos on RU-vid are segments with someone singing along with the guitar. It changes the sound. Granted we all have different voices but still, no one is doing this and I think it would add another interesting dimension to guitar reviews.

Would love to have an Eastman E-10 added to the mix, it may well hold its own against the others at half the price.

All three of these guitars are fine and fun to play. The Taylor seems best suited for someone who doesn't pick that hard. It makes the most out of light picking and does it really well. I haven't played too many Gibsons, but the one I remember most felt great and sounded great to me as I played it. Like a sports car that really hugs the road. And, built to stand up to 'use'. The Martin that I own (D-35) is the best of both worlds. I play bluegrass style, use medium gauge strings, and bang on it pretty good. It has held up very well, but I'm sure the others would too because of excellent workmanship. Materials matter, but over time, how it was built may matter the most. Hats off to any who do this for a living. And, a big thank you.

Too often, 'It's good' translates to 'It's loud', which generally favors the Martin. Seems to me that Taylor is onto something with this new bracing system. A better-rounded sound, to my ear. I've always favored the Gibson because they're easier to sing with. I always enjoy your discussions and I especially like the comparos.

Your playing and channel are incredible. Talented and informative. Perfect!!

I just met a girl named Taylor. We had a few dates. She was beautiful, in an understated way. Curves in all the right places. Impeccably put together and fine to the touch. Her neck was smooth. But there was something missing. There was no chemistry. In my mind, I wanted to love her, but my heart just wasn’t there. Was she too well balanced and too refined? Was her voice too thin? Did she lack character? I kept longing for my old girl (Martina), with her undeniable presence. Martina had an imposing bottom end and a growl when pushed. Complex yet reliable, her moods were various. She was versatile and suited many styles. Martina had charm. A little out of control at times, but exciting! She had character and when she was in a room, you noticed her. She stood out. So I broke it off with Taylor and went back to Martina ... The above summarizes my recent purchase and return of a Taylor 517 Grand Pacific. “Martina” is my Martin DR Centennial (VTS Adirondack top, rosewood back and sides). I never truly left her. I was just straying for a while. I have a tremendous amount of respect for Taylor guitars and Andy Powers. Instead of copying, they are forging their own path and taking guitar design and manufacture down a new, untrodden path. This takes vision and courage, which is admirable, and from which we will all, I have no doubt, benefit as players and lovers of acoustic guitars. The Taylor 517 Grand Pacific’s fit and finish is top notch, using the finest materials. Intonation is spot on and the string balance is even up the entire fret board and across strings. The tone is slightly rounded and has reasonable complexity, with nice overtones. The sound is somewhat compressed and very much under control. This would be an ideal studio guitar, as I am sure it would record beautifully. It would also nicely complement the singer songwriter. However, for the guitar player, live and unplugged, which is how I play, the evenness can come across as bland and uninteresting. This, of course, is very subjective. Beauty remains in the eye of the beholder and your experience may be different. Though not a keeper for me, the Taylor 517 Grand Pacific is a fine addition to the excellent choices now available. We live in great times for the acoustic guitar buyer. My next date is with a Martin Modern Deluxe D-18. I am very excited ....

The 517 definitely doesn't cut it when compared to the J-45 and D-18! It's a toss up for me between the 45 and the 18. I'd take either any day over the Taylor!

Excellent review, especially how each guitar uniquely represents a particular style of music.

The D-18

I like your videos they're very informative and I appreciate it

I compared a D18 to the J45 at a guitar store just last week and I thought I was a Martin man... but that J45 blew me away. The Gibson had a warmth to it that surpassed the D18 and made it actually feel stiff! I was shocked myself as I thought Martins would win in that category. Anyway My dream guitar might just be a J45 now?

All 3 guitars sounds good, I’m a Taylor guy but it came in 3 rd place today. Martin 1st and Gibson a very close second. I agree the Taylor is a good soloist guitar and I’m thinking Andy is making a few to many changes at Taylor, Bob needs to keep a closer eye on him. ( Good Video)

Yeah Paul, that noise "upstairs" has always been overwhelming ;-) (Read: we can't hear it, even on studio speakers!)

Where’s the Beef? It’s in the J45. I have both & I play my Gibson 90% of the time.

1:07, with Kurt and Bob it's always been about the guitars and music v. "what're those guys over there doing?" Keep "messin'" around boys, great stuff.

To my ear, I'd take the Martin followed by the Gibson, and then the Taylor. I've spent a lot of time demoing these guitars...I have all three and have no real biases with the brands. One thing that stands out right away is the Taylor's lack of volume and projection as compared with the other two. I prefer to play this one plugged in.

Wow that Gibson J-45 is awesome sounding

D18 and j45 both queen of mahogany !!!

I like that you are both guitar savants, but please start playing after 3:30 haha. I'm glad you played the "warm up guitar" Taylor, because when you picked up the Gibson. Wow. And then the Martin.....interesting that you played them all differently according their "gifts" or what they're good for. But then in the end it was easier to compare whey you played them back to back with the same strum and chord progressions. I'm an owner of a Martin HD-28 for 28 yrs, and I guess I'm used to that punchy warm sound, so I'm biased. Oh well, I'll stick with what I got :)

Great comparison. Well done.

For me who loves that bottom end, at least over this mic, the answer is "no." D-18 by a hair over J45, for all that engine on top of the bass, despite a big place in my heart for J45's growly thump, not quite as many ghosts in it as the D-18.

Oh my goodness, talk less and play more please

I felt the best over all tone is the Martin. The first strumming pattern you did at the end I liked that deeper sound with the J-45, but moving into the second rhythm pattern that’s when I felt the Martin moved ahead because it was super close with the first rhythm pattern with the J-45 and the Martin, but, again, I felt Martin pulled ahead within the second rhythm pattern. The Taylor sounded nice but it just doesn’t have that signature acoustic depth that the other two has. The Martin just seems to have a better tonal balanced over all of the three.

Hi! Just saw some of your Yamaha reviews. Can you do a fgx820c vs fgx830c or just a demo of the fgx830c?

They all sound so good 😍. Martin takes the cake though :)

Would like to see a classic Maton dreadnought added in along with these 3 to see how it fits in to the mix.

Taylor’s are fantastic guitars. No doubt about it. But they don’t excite me enough to buy them. I’m sort of a guitar geek and I get wrapped up in the Martin and Gibson history. They have the sound and look that takes me back to Grandpas front porch so many years ago. They sound like home.

If you're doing a lot of flat picking runs, I'd take the Martin, but for everything else the J-45 is the gold standard. It just has the big bass and the soul. And of course it has to be in Sunburst. I wouldn't turn any of them down.

I'll take all three! Then sell the Taylor and buy a backup J45 :)

Martin DSS would've been a better comparison with them, they all sound a little different and awesome. That Martin is a cannon!!!

Why is the Guild D 40 not included in the comparison? It is an outstanding guitar!

J 45 all the way. And no, the Taylor can’t compete

Went buy a J45 a couple of weeks ago at Fretted American in Amherst and come home with a 2010 D18V ;0)

I liked the J45 the best, but have to admit that I simply LOVE how a Taylor "fits" and feels when playing. Martins.... they just seem a bit "blocky" to me and don't melt into me like a Taylor does.

Gotta say I'm prejudiced in this department, since I've got both a Martin HD28 and a Gibson J45, but to me and my loooooong trained ear the Taylor has more of a "tinny" sound - it's so much thinner sounding than the others. I like the basses of both the Martin and the Gibson, although the bass of the Gibson isn't as full as the Martin. Oh well, like I said, that's my prejudiced opinion.

Gibson J 45 all the way! As far as I’m concerned - Only A Gibson Is Good Enough !

I like the J-45 for first and the Martin for a really close second (I usually prefer Martins, but this J-45 sounds great!). They represent the two classic flavors of what big-bodied guitars were designed for: big sound.. The Taylor just seems like a pose. It has nowhere near the punch, depth or fullness of the other two. I'm guessing because of V-bracing and the Taylor neck design? (Full disclosure - I have and love a 2015 320e, which I'm pretty sure would blow the Grand Pacific out of the water (I bought it because it stomped on a Martin D-18 and a D-15M in the store; and ran neck and neck with a D-28).

I have a tele, a Santa Cruz firefly, and the Gibson hummer

Taylor makes great instruments, but to me they always sound a bit too jangly/bright and a little clinical. Good for strumming I think. Martin has the best fundamentals, very strong sounding, but I'm kind of biased, I own a Martin.

I heard this through my Bose QC 35 headphones and it sounded very “boomy”, so it was hard to hear nuances. Also he was not sitting still, but moving the guitar sometimes away and sometimes towards the microphone, which also disturbed the volume and colour of each guitar. But since this was not meant as a comparison, then never mind. I liked all three, but favour the Gibson and Martin. I may be biased though, as already own a Martin OMCPA4, a Gibson Songwriter and a 12-string Gibson Hummingbird Pro. All outstanding guitar for each type of music. Martin for the fingerpick, Songwriter for heavy crosspicking, and the Hummer for “folksy” delicate tunes.

D-18

D18 for my taste

I believe the square shoulders of the Martin design give it a specific nature to boost the bass, in both a positive way which to me turns on you when you play it hard. The low frequency resonance is so pronounced, I interpret it as a kind of "buffeting" I imagine the sound waves bouncing inside from end to end and back repeatedly like they do inside a jug. The bluegrass players call this the "boom" of the Martin. and they pretend to like it and I really love the bass played moderately but when it gets to the boom stage not so much. It becomes noisy and less musical. This only happens though in rhythm played firmly. I think the slope shoulders of the Gibson shape somehow break up the buffeting and it never gets boomy. It won't have quite the big bass sound as the D-18/28 but still plenty- and is my personal preference in most settings. No doubt the Martin D is the king of the boom.

Cannyou suggest me an acoustic-electric guitar but very vibrant great volume by itself without connecting to amplifier?

Via headphones on a iPhone, it’s the J-45 in first, D-18 in second and I have no interest in the Taylor at all. Yet I’ve liked ‘em in store.

Very good demo gentleman. I’m a mediocre musician at best. But listening through some headphones off my I Pad, the J-45 and D-18 both sound amazing. The Taylor came across kind of like speakers in a car door with no sound deadening material. If I had to play one guitar for the rest of my life, it would have to be the warmer fullness of the J-45.

I like the darker, "smoky" sound of the J45, but I wouldn't kick the D18 out of my studio. The Taylor? Did they fit that with Elixir strings? I wasn't a fan. Be interesting to insert that 1D Eastman/Sapele for $450 or so into that mix. I was VERY impressed with that bad boy.

Gibson j-45 if we want best of both world. But i am always sucker for that martin thick tone 😭😭

the Taylor is obviously the weakest of the three. My ear likes the D-18 ....Great Video! I like the shirt bit during the intro. Good Stuff.

Im think about getting the taylor 514 or the Gibson j45

Martin

I appreciate these reviews but feel that the guy on the right cuts off the player and rushes him through these videos too much. Slow down and let us hear these beauties!

the v class brace should not be compared to those x braced guitars. its a matter of personal preference

Yes, as many guitars as you can hide from your wife🤔🤗 I can tell the nuances between my 4 classicals and 4 steel strings, some for knock-around practice and some for quality performance. They all sound the same to most non-players🙂

what is the song 7:05?Could someone tell me?thanks

Awesome video

I don’t quite understand why Taylor can’t bring the real depth and warmth of the other makers. They discontinued their dreadnaught, evidently due to weak sales, then introduce a “slope shoulder” dreadnaught and sell it as a “classic vintage”?? 11:45 Your discussion of playing in a room full of guitars is vital. Somehow when I play in a room full of other players like a jam session, all the sound hits in the middle of the floor and falls apart. It’s hard to hear anything. Good news, when you hit a wrong note, no one knows but you.

To my ear, the J-45 killed it.

Being an owner of at least one of each, I've learned to appreciate each one. Taylor is a good all around player. It can fill in for bluegrass in a pinch and a great fingerstyle guitar. My J45 or '64 J50 makes me want to play rock of nearly any genre. Martin, definitely bluegrass. I used to think there was only Martin. Then I happened upon the '64 J50 and fell in love instantly. I heard the sound of nearly every 60's or 70's rock song coming out of it. I'm leaning more toward Gibsons nowadays.

D-18 ALL THE WAY 🎉

In this video the gibson sounds best of all three... Sad but true....

I’ll save you all the suspense. The answer is “NO” says I.

I went to the music store to buy a J45. I left with a D18

I thought the Martin clearly had the best bass of this group, and was also the most open sounding guitar - but the treble response seemed close to non-existent. The J45 had the classic lo-fi sound you would expect from this guitar. And the Taylor was clearly the best balanced of the 3 but it sounded a little tight to my ears. If I had to pick one, if I had some assurance that the Taylor would open up more, I would take the 517. Otherwise it would be the J45.

Great hang………..

The Taylor has more upper range and would be a good fingerstyle guitar. Overall it sounded a bit thin. The Gibson was full and throaty. I liked the Martin best. I play a D-18 and love it.

I would pick the Martin. I was surprised by the Taylor. It had the fullest ..not scooped midrange..but no presence in the high end at all. I thought Taylors were known for their shiny sound. Not in this one.

You never see vintage Taylor’s now, where are all the early made Taylor’s now?

The 517 sounded more like a Martin 000 with the midrange focus.

Good video comparison, the Taylor does sound good, but at this price point, Gibson has the edge, due to they have a knack for making the guitar not only sound good, but just a little more better looking, for the money. Looks is not the right reason to buy a guitar, by any means, but let’s face it, a lot of people are gonna do just exactly that… 🤣

Too much talking, too little playing the guitar.

D18 hands down

Taylor has a jangly/sparkly sound while the Gibson is warmer but overall the Martin owns it here.

J45 is mine