Taylor Guitars T5z Classic Rosewood

The Hybrid Revolution

Given Taylor’s track record for innovation, we shouldn’t be surprised when they come forth with a revolutionary design. However, the radical nature and inspiring tone of the Taylor T5z still caught us off-guard when it came out, and we’re still astonished at its versatility a decade and a half later. Basically, it’s Taylor’s attempt to merge the functionality of an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar. They accomplish this with an intuitive pickup switching system. The five-way switch allows you to toggle between a concealed neck humbucker for warm, bluesy, jazzy tones, an acoustic body sensor for natural acoustic sound, and a bridge humbucker for muscular rock punch. Having all of these sounds in your tool-kit allows you to switch timbres (and genres) on the fly and cover all sorts of ground without ever having to switch instruments. And, since its compact body shape and fast neck make it incredibly comfortable to play, you won’t want to switch, anyway!