In the January edition of Premier Guitar magazine, acoustic editor Gayla Drake Paul found a “divine” new voice in the Baritone 8-String. Paul, a prolific guitarist and singer-songwriter, lent her considerable playing — and writing — talent to a review of the guitar. On first impression, Paul notes that the double octave (D and A) strings “work brilliantly, providing a shimmering high end that many baritones desperately lack without crossing over into the jangly 12-string territory,” and that “the addition of those two octave strings opens new possibilities….”
As an enamored songstress, Paul discovers that “every time I put my hands on it new ideas, new approaches or new grooves come flying out of the soundhole almost faster than I can play them.” She attacks the guitar as a fingerstylist, noting that “when I wanted an accent, sha-wing, I could dig in and let it shimmer…. It didn’t take long before I was completely comfortable with it.”
With a flatpick, Paul also dug in and experienced the guitar’s “lovely, warm-but-shiny sound…. It’s brilliant, but never cold sounding…and [I] never notice the difference between the doubled strings and the normal strings.”
Paul also had plenty of compliments for the Taylor Expression System®, calling it “really intuitive and easy to use,” and “terrifically ‘guitary’ and warm.” She also noted that when the bass was cranked up, she was “treated to some of the leanest warm bass I have ever heard, which is totally shocking considering I was playing a baritone guitar. It was incredibly full, but not even remotely muddy, and I had not a hint of feedback, even turned up pretty loud.”
Her “final mojo”? Paul declares the Baritone 8-String “more addictive than Facebook. Like your typical Taylor, it’s beautifully made, comfortable to hold and outstandingly playable. Add to that a remarkably reasonable price, and you have yourself the first ‘must-have’ acoustic guitar of 2010.”
The Baritone 8-String earned the magazine’s prestigious Premier Gear award and a perfect rating of a 5. You can read the complete review by visiting Premier Guitar.
