Taylor Baritone 8 String Guitar and Serj Tankian STSM-T5
By MNJ
| Posted in Guitar
Taylor Guitars has intoduced the Baritone eight-String guitar at NAMM 2010. It features a Grand Symphony body with Indian rosewood back and sides and a solid Sitka Spruce top. The guitar has a 27″ scale length and Taylor designed baritone bracing. It is tuned from B to B and features additional octave strings paired with the third (D) and fourth (A) strings.
The model came about as a result of two guitars that Taylor was designing – a six string baritone and a nine string guitar – which had three courses of octave strings but proved a little too jangly. After removing the octave string from the second string pairing, a new instrument was born that Taylor was happy to put into production.
The remaining octave strings give the guitar a whole new extended range of sounds, especially a brightness as well as the traditional baritone low end. Taylor claims that it’s like hearing a six-string bass and 12-string guitar played at the same time. Reaction to the new model has been favourable, particularly among metal and hard rock guys who occasionally include an acoustic based song or two in their repertoire and often detune their regular guitars.
The Baritone eight-string also includes a mother of pearl headstock logo and diamond inlays on the fingerboard, an abalone rosette on the soundhole and abalone dotted bridgepins. It also features a bone nut and saddle and Indian rosewood binding. On board is the Taylor Expression System pickup and it comes set up with Elixir Baritone strings. The Baritone will also be offered as a regular six-string version.
NAMM 2010 also sees the release of the Serj Tankian STSM-T5. Tankian was frontman with multi-platinum selling Armenian-American hardcore/thrash/rock band System of a Down. Since their split in 2006, he has gone on to write music for film and musicals. That’s not to say he’s abanoned his musical roots however – he continues to release solo albums on his own label. He has played Taylor acoustics for several years and discovered the T5 in 2007.
The STSM-T5 model features a thinline sapele body and maple top with an opaque black finish. Individual appointments include red purfling outlining the body, neck, and headstock. Unbound f-holes and a red ‘energy wheel’ logo supplied by Tankian are inlaid on the headstock and the fretboard. The fingerboard and bridge are ebony. Electrics are as standard T5 and include five-way switching which reportedly yields a wide varity of tones, from a natural acoustic sound to full ahead rock.
The guitar features three magnetic pickups, an acoustic body sensor, a visible bridge humbucker and an under fretboard neck humbucker. Coupled with its light weight and slim body thickness, Serj is quoted as saying that the STSM-T5 is the perfect performance and songwriting instrument and works perfectly for him in both roles. Each guitar comes with a signed certificate of authenticity.
Tags: serj tankian, system of a down, taylor 8 string guitar, taylor baritone guitar, taylor guitars, taylor stsm-t5