Vox V845

March 2010 Guitarist 133
QUICKTEST
MISCELLANEOUS
CONTACT: Fender GBI PHONE: [phone] WEB: www.taylorguitars.com
CONTACT: Tascam UK PHONE: [phone] WEB: www.tascam.co.uk
The Bottom Line
We like: Build; playability;
steel-meets-nylon style
We dislike: It’s priced the
wrong side of a grand for
mainstream appeal
Guitarist says: One of the
most successful steel/nylon
hybrids we’ve played, ideal
for percussive styles and
easy for a steel-string player
to handle
Tascam US-122 MkII £139
Taylor NS24ce £1,123
New version of a long-established audio interface
You might not know it, but Taylor makes nylon-string guitars too
Sounds
With quality preamps and
converters, the US-122 MkII
provides really good sonic
results. It’s also tough
enough to go anywhere
that you happen to take
your laptop and has large,
easily grabbed controls,
making hands-on operation
a doddle. This means you can
quickly set up the monitor mix
knob to get the right balance
between the computer output
and your raw input sound for
latency-free monitoring.
Verdict
The US-122 MkII is about as
practical an audio companion
for your computer as you’ll find
and, as a copy of Steinberg’s
Cubase LE4 software is
included, it will provide a useful
rosewood back and sides, with
14-fret-to-the-body mahogany
neck (with truss rod), slot
headstock and 20-fret ebony
’board. The nut width is trim at
47.6mm, the fingerboard has
side dots and is cambered, not
flat, and the neck shape is slim
with a typically Taylor ‘C’
shape. The only ‘bling’ to the
all-satin-finished guitar is the
GUITARIST RATING
Tascam’s original
US-122 audio
interface was one of the very
first ruggedly portable audio
interfaces that came equipped
with a dedicated guitar input.
Flash forward to six years later,
and the basic premise of the
original unit is as valid as it ever
was. But now Tascam has
revamped it, with better audio
specs and a fresh look, to create
the US-122 MkII.
A two-in/two-out
96kHz/24-bit interface
connected to computer via USB
2.0 and powered via the cable,
the US-122 MkII features XLR
inputs with phantom power,
plus a pair of 6.4mm jack line
inputs, one of which of course
doubles as a high impedance
guitar input. You also get MIDI
in and out for connecting
synths and the like.
The Bottom Line
We like: Sturdy; good sound;
latency-free monitoring
We dislike: It won’t fit into
your pocket!
GUITARIST RATING
In 2009
Taylor announced its
most affordable nylon-string
electros to date, both based on
the company’s most popular GA
(Grand Auditorium) shape in
non-cutaway (£970) and
cutaway versions, as we’re
looking at here.
It’s a typically flawless piece:
ultra clean Sitka spruce top,
deep and rich brown laminate
entry point into computer
recording. If you want extra
facilities, the US-144 MkII
(£161) adds digital stereo
S/PDIF input and output for
four-in/four-out operation and
also provides individual volume
knobs for the headphone and
line outputs. [TC]
laser-cut soundhole rosette:
smart and understated.
Sounds
Acoustically it has surprising
life, resonance and projection.
It’s snappier – more Flamenco-
sounding, perhaps, than a
rounder, fuller concert classical
– yet that suits percussive Latin
styles, not to mention standard
strumming and picking. It’s
very well set-up with none of
the struggle that’s usually
associated with a nylon-string,
and tuning-wise it’s very stable
too. The NS-T undersaddle
pickup runs to volume, treble
and bass rotaries and the
plugged-in sound accurately
captures the life and snap of the
acoustic performance.
Verdict
Not a powered-up classical, it’s
a Taylor with nylon strings, an
exciting hybrid of steel and
nylon that any steel-string
player would take to. [DB]
GIT326.rev_quick 133 29/1/10 10:39:57 am