[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by GunR

Hi,
I have installed GoAA replacement system in my Taylor 414-CE and I’m very satisfied! I was so disappointed with Taylor's ES-2 when I first plugged it in. It sounded really bad. Hard, bright, quacky and brittle. Lack of body.

Replacing the ES-2 wasn't very complicated. Took a couple of hours in my kitchen. I'm pretty handy, but you don't have to be a pro luthier to do this. Of course, I was a little nervous about drilling into a new $3000 Taylor, but the accessories and the instruction that come with it to support the installation made it easy. I though had to spend some time fine-tuning and filing the saddle – height and intonation. If you are unsure here, it might be a good idea to consult a luthier.

Now the guitar sounds fantastic. Warm, deep and full body tone, but the clarity remains. Plugged in it sounds close to the acoustic sound, both live and on recording. No tendencies at all to piezo quacky. And it's actually not very sensitive to feedback either when playing live and being dependent on monitors at stage. As I said – I am very pleased.

Hi GunR…
First of all Hello and Welcome to the Forum! Glad to have you aboard…

I help with the Worship Teams at our church, and the Taylors which 'survive' without us throwing preamp-interdiction at them are the higher end 12 string acoustics.

Humans are amazingly attracted to the sound of the amplified 12s in the mix, and we just point the tone pots at noon, and turn it half-way up and it does nicely on it's own.

Others we have found better success with players who have installed alternate pickups in them (mostly K&K Pure Mini) and we have a Baggs Venue, and an older UltraSound preamp - either of which nicely improve the tone of them for mass consumption (and sound tech tolerance).

In band situations we're already doing a low cut at either 80hz or 100hz (depending on the acoustic in question). Doesn't matter if they are playing through simple or sophisticated rigs. We're not going for studio sound…