Taylor SolidBody Electric

My Taylor SolidBody electric guitar is my go-to guitar for everything from performances to general practice and rehearsals. Loaded with some Ernie Ball Cobalt 10-46 strings this guitar becomes as versatile as an electric can be. I have enjoyed playing it for many years and I am yet to find an electric guitar that I prefer.

So here’s my detailed rundown of the guitar from basic feel to how it sounds on stage.

 

The Neck

The neck of the guitar is the most important part. It is the part of the guitar that your hand makes the most contact with. So if the guitar has a quality neck it will feel good to play.

One of the major aspects of a guitar’s neck is its dimensions. What shape of curve does the back have? How wide and deep is it? If the neck fits nicely into your hand it makes playing feel easier and more fluid. For me the Taylor SolidBody’s neck fits very nicely into my hand. Far from feeling as chunky as many guitars of its style while also not loosing all its substance like some of the modern rock necks.

guitar neck

Another strong advantage it has is its similarity to the Taylor acoustic guitars. As my main acoustic is a Taylor 814ce swapping between them takes no adjustment time. This makes hot swapping* on stage easy without worrying about jumping straight into harder music.

This next point is largely down to preference but I am a big fan of a matt finish on a guitar’s neck. Many other guitars are very high quality and tick all the boxes but have a heavy gloss varnish on the neck. This adds friction and makes gliding up and down the neck less fluid.

Finally and my only niggle with the neck is that it has 22 frets. Having the high E on the 24th fret is very useful given that the keys predominately used on the guitar rely heavily on this note.

The Bridge

Taylor SolidBody Guitar Bridge

The bridge is without doubt the highest quality static bridge I have used. It is smooth for palm muting with nothing to catch your sleeve or skin. Very precise when setting up the intonation and when setup it is totally solid. It also looks slick and modern which is always a plus on stage.

Sound Quality

The pickups on a guitar are never an essential point as they can be changed out easily for a range of very high quality pickups on the market. Having said this the pickups on the Taylor SolidBody offer an extremely crisp tone! I have performed everything including fingerpicking in acoustic ballads on it. This being the very most demanding sound on a pickup’s tone. This clear sound also means cranking up the distortion for some hard rock is easy to control. As you may know if you play heavier styles, the silences between the notes and on palm mutes are as important as the notes themselves. If the pickups give more static through the line the sound quickly become messy.

Frankfurt Germany Tour

This photo is from an amazing tour with NINA in Germany 2016. Check out her music on Spotify and come join us on tour!

Aesthetics

Of course the looks of a guitar are very much personal taste. But the stunning woods and finish on this guitar draws eyes and I always get questions about it and people asking to have a closer look. Something I do not often get from my other guitars. The front of the guitar is a beautiful inset Tamo Ash which shows a vibrant flaming. This is separated by the low-key purfling* from the Sapele which can be seen on the back and sides.

Modifications

At the moment the only modification I have done on this guitar is adding some Schaller Strap Locks. Then again all my electric guitars have these!

They are the most durable and low profile strap locks around and I would not take any guitar on stage without them. No it is not acceptable to stand in one place and play the correct notes. The audience are there for a show! But this also means the potential for your guitar to smash on the floor if the strap comes off which is not a pretty sight. Want to know more about strap locks? Head over to my rundown of the main Straplocks out there!

Discontinued…

The sad news is that Taylor no longer makes this guitar. It was produced for only a few years from 2008 before being discontinued. From what I have heard they did not take-off and shops did not have much reason to add them to the range as they already stocked enough electric guitars. My thought is that style wise it was in the same category as PSR guitar which had a boost in popularity at that time and this drowned sales.

Before wrapping up here we have the SolidBody on stage playing to 1,500 people in the Reading Hexagon sharing the stage with McFly. Fun story, I was talking to Tom the lead singer from the band backstage thinking he was a stagehand. I only realised the error when he jumped on stage.

So there you have it! A stunning guitar that is a joy to both play and tour with! I would generally recommend Taylor Guitars as their quality and sound are without doubt exceptional. Want to hear about my Taylor 814ce Acoustic? Find out how it compares with another detailed look.

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