Like my Taylor 214ce, but HATE the ES2 System.

I’m getting good results from a Seymour Duncan Woody in my Taylor dreadnought. - a 2007 210. I use it through my Yamaha Stagepas IK. it’s the humbucker version and I’ve listened to others play my guitar at open mics. Obviously they sound better than me.

Barry has walked out because I bought another banjo. No K&K in my future.

I spotted a Taylor 516 Custom on Gryphon's website. No "C" or "E", so I grabbed it. A Taylor without a factory pickup is pretty rare. It is all mahogany, which is the "Custom" part.

I really like the guitar, and plan to put a K&K in it.

My 516 (no "E") has the standard strap pin on the bottom.  Looking at it from the inside, I can see that it is dug into the wood block with a 3-point piece of hardware (don't know what to call it).  I wonder if that will be difficult to remove so that I can have a hole drilled for the K&K?

Thanks, funky, very good to know. Yes, it has the hex slot. A dowel would work perfectly, I should think.

A question for you, Mark: What do you think of the acoustic sound of the second and third strings. I've got a 214ce, and I can't the sound of those two strings. All I hear is attack and high frequencies—pings, in other words. I been able to tame the Taylor brightness on the other strings by doing stuff like cutting my fingernails, but the not at the second and third strings. I think I'm going to unload the guitar, even though it's a recent purchase. It's a shame because I really like the Taylor neck profile and its resonance at the upper end of the neck.

Ayns, I think the way you tell the difference is to look at the bridge. The ES1 has one set screw on it, while the ES2 has three. Pretty sure, anyway.

I sold the guitar. No more Taylors with ES2 for me.

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When I retired I bought myself a Taylor 812ce. Same experience - I couldn't get the ES2 to sound right. I didn't keep it long. I know memories can be unreliable, but I'd had the much cheaper 312ce around 2002 and was very happy with the amplified/recorded sound. I can't remember what that pickup system was called, but it had a built-in Fishman preamp/eq/notch filter.

When I decided to mic my Guild B-50 fretless I kept going back and forth. I really studied every thing I could concerning transducers. Transducers are simple technology. The ribbon transducer is used for under saddle guitars and triggers for traffic light control, same stuff. The disk transducers come in a few diameters. I’m not sure how they might be relevent for our purpose.

I ordered a buch, I used the 20mm transducer for my Yamaha, and my Martin 00015S. If I recall for the B50 I used a little wider disk. Not sure it made any difference. Both instruments sound great.

I started making these funky cigar box fretless bass’ inspired by the Ashbory I owned, I made all of them fretless. I made 3 or 4 of them. They sound great, I use mine with the Phill Jones Two by Four. I use a wireless connection and get a lot of interest when I play this thing.

You can get 20 disks pre wired for $10.00 at Amazon.

I dislike all versions of the TES. My older (2002) 814CE has a Fishman Blender and it sounds way better than the TES. I can't find the link anymore but there was once a page that told the history of the development of the TES. They were trying to achieve the sound of an unplugged acoustic in a small coffee house setting mic'd up with an SM 57 one foot away from the sound hole and going into a small P/A system suitable for that size of venue. I think they succeeded admirably but I don't want a system that sounds like a microphone. I want a system that sounds like the guitar. I have friends with TES guitars and I have tried and tried to dial them in to sound like my Fishman but for the life of me I just couldn't get there. I continue to search the Taylor site every now and again for new guitars that don't have it but now days there are only about 4 models available and none of them are otherwise desirable to me. I sent them an email last winter telling them I wouldn't likely buy another Taylor because of it but got no response.

Wow, what a timely thread. A local musician is selling a brand new 214ce dlx LTD for $800, which seems a solid deal, AND I hear that these Taylors are easy to play, which I very much need, so I'm intrigued. But I also need a pickup to work with a PA and it seems that this one has issues. Have no intention in buying and installing the above Go Acoustic system and would just choose a different guitar. But Funky K is getting acceptable results, hmmm, what to do what to do?