Taylor GS Series Opinions

Anybody play one of these guys lately, how did you like it. I found a GS 8 with a expression system and open headstock that I like but its a concert sized body and not so sure that holds up for playing acoustically in front of a larger group of people.

the GS is the grand symphony. i believe that body is a little bigger than the GC which is the grand concert (and the one that comes with the classical style headstock). there is a GC at the local guitar center that i have played several times while hanging out there for hours on end.

as for the gc, i cant really say much in terms of how loud it would be, because it depends on the acoustics at the venue. and we all know that special room in guitar center has great acoustics hahaha. but if you were going to play in front of a large enough group, you could always just mic the guitar. a decent mic like a shure sm58 would pick up the sounds real nicely, and you would be amplifying the true acoustic sound of the guitar. (i only prefer pickups because im lazy and i like to move around when i play hehe)

as far as how much i like it... im talking about the GC that i played... i loved it. but your ear is more refined that mine. all i can say is i havent played a solid body taylor that i didnt like.

The GS that I played was ordered with the GC headstock. I can alway mic, its just that I want to play with a friend at his church and while its loud enough I would prefer not to have to amp to play for 50-100 people.

Does the one your looking at have the shorter GC scale, or just a slotted headstock? All the production GC's are short scale. I played a GS8 (rosewood b/s) and GS6 (maple b/s) at a local shop a while back. The GS8 was very nice, but the maple GS6 just blew me away! I'm no expert on playing out, but both of the GS's that I played had lots of volume (esp. the maple).

Long scale with the headstock. Its a wierd one.

Well, I really can't answer your question, other than to say the GS's that I played all had a lot of volume. I've never played anywhere but my living room (and the guitar store), but if a GS doesn't have the volume for what you need, then probably nothing will. I almost bought that GS6 it sounded so good, but the body was just too big for comfortable couch playing. I play a Martin a couple of Martins and have a GC3.

Just to clarify (I reread this thread and I'm still not 100% sure)... The one you are looking at is a GS size body (16.5" lower bout) with a slot head, right? For Taylor, GS=16.25" lower bout, GA=16" lower bout, GC=15" lower bout. Your first post makes it sound like a GC, but maybe by "concert size body" you just meant the shape (?).

Rather than me rambling on about what I don't know, I'm sure the guys at the Acoustic Guitar Forum (formerly Taylor Guitar Forum) could give you a definite answer about the unplugged volume:
http://69.41.173.82/forums/

Oops, sorry I just checked that link and got this message...
5-24-08 The Acoustic Guitar Forum suffered a serious hardware failure this morning. At this time, our fine web hosting provider is working to get our community back up and running as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.

Looksl like you're stuck with UU for now.

Man, I love these maple Taylors! The flamed backs and maple neck are just beautiful. I can still smell it...

http://www.buffalobrosguitars.com/images26000-26999/ngb26204-taylorgs6/index.html

http://www.buffalobrosguitars.com/images25000-25999/ngb25683-taylorsg5custom/index.html