There was a real treat at the Winter NAMM show a year ago by the Taylor Guitars booth.
The master of analog electronic design Rupert Neve was at an MI show. Unhappy with the performance of acoustic guitar electronics, Bob Taylor teamed his pickup designer David Hosler with Rupert Neve to create a system that could capture the sound and nuances of an acoustic guitar.
After much research, the result is in.
Enter the Expression System (ES).
You will only see this new technology on select Taylor guitars, ES uses two vibrational Dynamic Body Sensors(TM) and a sub-fretboard Dynamic String Sensor(TM), the three of which are precisely blended via high-end electronics.
You can now just forget about low-fi designs and cheap pots found in typical onboard guitar electronics.
The summing circuits for the three individual transducers output to balanced TRS (the guitar ships with a TRS-to-XLR cable for interfacing directly to mic inputs) - no direct box required.
To top off the system Mr. Neve designed for the Taylor K4, an optional outboard preamp/equalizer.
WHICH GUITARS?
The ES is available on Taylor's steel-string models (300 Series and higher).
On a 614CE, a "Grand Auditorium" with Sitka spruce top and bookmarked flame maple sides and back.
The "CE" designation is indicative of a cut-away model with electronics.
ES can be adapted for certain Taylor models; you might want to call Taylor for details.
The 614CE plays perfectly right out of its heavy hard case, with immaculate fit and finish, a full, rich balanced tone and intonation that was right on the money.
ES electronics aside, this is an extraordinary instrument.
New attention to details has been added with he ES design, such as freedom from the typical drop-in battery holder/electronics module that mounts in a large hole chopped into the guitar's side. Instead, the ES has three small knobs (bass/treble/volume) in the side wall near the neck.
Above and beyond its elegant look, this approach provides easy access to the detented pots, where "flat" is at the 12 o'clock position.
Near the tailpiece is a holder for two AA cells and the TRS output/strap pin.
The unit powers up when a cable is inserted; battery life's about 20 hours.
The output is balanced and also works with an unbalanced cable for connecting to a standard guitar amp, effects box or tuner.
One question that everybody seems to ask is whether users can tweak the individual levels of the three transducers and the answer is sorry but no.
If you are used to working with piezo or standard magnetic pickups on acoustic guitars, hearing the ES will more than likely come as a major shock.
For the first time from a pickup, you will hear a natural, uncolored sound that requires very little tonal tweaking.
This is miles removed for the surgical, radical EQ needed on a standard pickup to make it sound even vaguely natural.
The guitar's onboard EQ is smooth and gentle and just what you'd expect from a Rupert Neve design.
And whether playing in a stadium or your local pub the system simply will not feedback, even in high-SPL situations.
Another point worth noting is the fantastic amount of headroom the ES electronics offer, bringing you clean reproduction at any playing level from subtle harmonics to banging out chords like the rolling stones!
PRESENTING THE K4
Use this bad boy live or in the studio.
The optional (8) Taylor K4 is an outboard preamp/EQ for acoustic guitar that features low-impedance, transformer-coupled balanced XLR I/O, bass and treble controls, a true parametric midrange with adjustable Q, a pre/post-EQ effects loop, polarity reverse switch, headphone jack with level control, mute and a dedicated tuner output.
An internal 18dB/octave highpass filter removes rumble and LF crud below 30 Hz.
The K4 is powered by an external wall wart and for those times when you forget the power supply and can be powered by two "C" batteries.
In the studio, you may prefer a standard 1U rack package to the K4's stand-alone milled-aluminium chassis, and by removing the battery compartment, there'd be room on an internal power supply.
Here is a plus, the unit doubles as a nice little studio preamp when used with dynamic or ribbon mics.
You can also patch into the loop return jack and use the EQ alone to fine tune any line-level source.
In the studio, the K4 is plug-and-play.
The EQ is smooth and musical, whether using the shelving LF (450 Hz) and HF (1.6 kHz) or the parametric MF band.
The "mid" band is actually extremely wide, 80 to 8,000Hz range and with a touch of EQ, the ES can stand right along side a well-miked acoustic guitar setup.
The convenience of overdubbing acoustic guitar parts in the control room is something that many would have never attempted before the ES system.
Taylor's Expression System applies a high-quality, high-tech approach to the age old problem of guitar transducers, with most impressive results.
