Awesome! What kind of 8-string do you play? The taylor is definitely easier to pick up and play like a normal guitar. I think a big part of that is the closer spacing of the paired courses. The guild model set them farther apart, which made hitting individual harmonics a lot easier. I'm going to play it a few weeks at this point, but I'm already considering replacing the saddle to have a slightly wider spacing on the paired strings.

Correct and thank you! I've been mostly playing A E A D E A (dadgad, but lower). I've been toying with minor modifications (a fav so far is the first string down half a step to g#) though.

Thanks! 27in is the scale length according to taylor's website. It's definitely easier than the jumbo Guild baritone, which I think was 27"--but yes, both of them are devastating on calluses compared to standard guitar. Actually, I mostly play mandolin these days and still baritone is quite a bit more difficult on my fingers.

The action is slammed down (lowered saddle & truss rod) to the point it buzzes a bit with a pick, but it plays like butter. I might loosen the rod tension a bit once I'm more comfortable with it.

B E A D F# B is "standard", although I've been mostly playing in open A tuning: mainly A E A D E A (dadgad, but lower) and more recently A E A D E G#.

pm'd you a short clip! :)

Sending you a pm w/ a couple of links if you're still interested!