I'm Sick!

[meridian]

:(

IF the pictures that Mary posted ARE my 810-LTD then something went really really wrong!

Check out the dread (on the right)
http://www.stringsnthings.org/hsguitar/TSguitars/Cocobolo03.jpg

and my raw wood set:
http://homepage.mac.com/musicandlight/PhotoAlbum5.html

scroll down to "Cocobolo Back for My 810-LTD" and click on it to enlarge.

As best I can tell, it looks like someone reversed the set and cut away all the interesting grain structure that was supposed to fill the middle of the back!

I sure hope I am wrong!! That coco 810 is pretty but the effect is quite different than what I thought I was gonna get.

Boy, I hope I'm wrong!!!:( :( :(

[rsimper]

Joe- if you want my guess, thats not your guitar on the rack.

couple of reasons...

1- youve got chalk marks on your raw wood showing where it should be glued and which side is up...they arent messing that up!

2- The one on the rack has a PRONOUNCED strip of black grain running right in the middle of the sides...your sides dont have this

3- Right at the center of the bookmatch on the completed one, there are matching black strips of grain at about 3/4 of an inch on either side of the center strip...your wood doesnt have this

4- The swirl features of your wood are MUCH larger than the ones on this guitar

5- There are two parallel orange strips of grain on one side of the back on the completed guitar- yours doesnt have these.

I could go on, but I think thats enough to get my point across...dont worry buddy, its not yours. There are probably at least 500 cocobolo 810s being built...some of them are bound to look similar.

Breathe breathe breathe!

[cpmusic]

Joe, it's a close call, but I don't think that's your guitar. The grain pattern toward the outside of the lower bout is similar to your set, but if your set was reversed as you fear, the grain that meets in the middle would move slightly away from center, and that's not the case on the semi-finished guitar. Also, there's a distinct dark grain line mirrored right near the center of the completed body that doesn't appear on your set. I think you can rest easy.

Edit: Ryan scooped me, but I'll leave this here for moral support.

[buddiesorg]

Joe, I have to disagree with Ryan ... I'm pretty sure it is yours. I said on the other thread what I thought they did with it. And here's the reason I think they did what they did. I think upon further inspection they decided the best sounding guitar would have the set reversed as it looks like the way you have it might have a less dense areas in the middle, especially where the eyes are.

[meridian]

Originally posted by rsimper
Breathe breathe breathe!

Thanks Ryan! I hope you are right as usual!!:)

It is just that Mary identifies this guitar as "Joe's" and it sure looks to me like someone took the piece of raw coco that is on the right half of my set and made a back out of that. It was in a pretty raw state and seemed thick enough to make more than one back from(??)

Anyway I hope you are right!

I SO want to be wrong!

[Gutch]

Joe,

I agree with Ryan -- That's not your guitar. It has similar characteristics, but it also has several "Birthmarks" that yours doesn't. For certain it's a close relative to yours, but not your guitar.

[Cisco]

Gosh Joe
I spent some time studying the facts...and it looks like what you said is what happened ! The wood looks like your's reversed. The swirl marks match really closely. If it's any consolation...it still looks dramatically beautiful. Very rich hues and the contrast of straight and swirl really make it come alive. I originally ordered my 812 non cutaway..then added the cutaway and was told by Ed last nite that they forgot to add the cutaway ! But oh well it's still beautiful hand picked wood. I think if it is your's you'll still love it.

Ron

[Lisa]

I think that it isn't your guitar. I don't think you need to worry about it yet. Just wait. I agree with Gutch & Ryan, I think it is close but I don't think that is the same guitar.

Relax , don't worry, be happy.

[rsimper]

Well the score is 4-2 in favor of NOT Joe's guitar....with respected TGF members on each side of the fence (myself NOT included in this category, of course! :)) ...folks we've got a nail biter here!

[meridian]

Well, 2 things:

1. The sides definitely look wrong for my set (the black stripe), and

2. while it does look to have been made of the same wood, I think SOMEONE would have called or asked me if they were gonna do something that drastically affected the look of the guitar. (?)

If it IS mine, I'll have to see it in person. If not, then I'm still waiting for a glimpse!

I gave up biting my nails! You can bite yours if you want!:roll:

[jeffrey]

I have to jump in with the "It's your guitar" Joe. :(

I'm sorry, but it is. I'm pretty confident. I wish I could attach a fricken picture on this forum, I'm too lazy to setup my web space. :\

Joe, you have mail.

[jeffrey]

Wait, you don't have mail. I can't send it to you via the forum. :(

I made an image I want to send you.

[meridian]

Try again, I just unlocked that email thingy,:)

[jeffrey]

Ok, now you have mail. Likely not mail that you want, but you have mail nonetheless. ;)

[Cisco]

Joe
It looks to me like it's yours...especially after looking at Jeff's image. BUT !!! It still is most beautiful. I firmly belive in the end you will be totally happy !!!!


Ron

[meridian]

Thanks Jeff. I e-mailed you back!

[rubberdog]

I vote same guitar, set reversed. The other side of the plank will always show some additional markings. I also believe they matched it in the standard way, dense pattern to the middle.
The sides look like the same wood to me also.
I think it looks real good, but it isn't my vision that counts.

Interesting how every other post sees it differently. Different perceptions. Seems like one of those definate opinion things, like green split pea soup - love it or hate it.
I LIKE green split pea soup.

I'm VERY sorry this guitar didn't turn out as you hoped. I can't imagine how dissapointing that it.

[jeffrey]

Well as I told Joe in his email, regardless of how this turns out (ie: if it is his guitar and it's not as he wished), we are talking about Taylor here.

I'm sure whatever is wrong, Uncle Bob will make it right. Just give it some time. :)

[tbondo]

1) I'm with the same guitar group and 2) I'm with the" think it's beautiful" group..... I hope that I'm wrong on number one above (for Joe's sake), but I'm with Cisco, I'd take it anyway....course, I'm getting desperate at this point, so I might take anything. BTW, Steve314 assures me that I have a placed order.....so, I got that going for me!

[meridian]

Thanks all for the kind words!

I really have to see the rest of the back. If I lost that other swirly bit (where the "S"s are drawn above the "11"s) that would be hard to take.

And of course, if they HAD to make it that way for sound properties, I sure wish one of the guys there (Joe or "other" Ed) had told me sooner. I was actually shown a guitar shape over the wood (the first set, the one that BobT rejected) joined like this set was marked.

Anyway, the color sure looks a dang site better than my raw wood did! And it hasn't even been laquered yet!

Mary, IF you get a chance next week and you are there again, PLEASE ask if you can get a shot of the full back and sides! THANKS!

Whew!

[meridian]

I took Mary's shot rotated it and lightened it up etc to get an idea about the rest of the back and it looks pretty cool. Not what I had in mind, but pretty cool. Definitely from the same piece of cocobolo (set 11).

Here is Mary's shot of another coco dread in process. I thought that the sides of this one looked more like the sides of my set. See what y'all think!

(First guitar on the left)
http://www.stringsnthings.org/hsguitar/TSguitars/Cocobolo02.jpg

my sides set:
http://homepage.mac.com/musicandlight/PhotoAlbum5.html
scroll down to "Cocbolo Sides for My 810-LTD" and click the thumbnail to enlarge.

I hear Mel Brooks singing . . . "High Anxiety!"

(The smiley for how I feel doesn't exist!)

[jmeinel]

Joe...I think that other Coco is mine. I compared my side pictures with Mary's and the sides look very much alike. I threw them on the web so everyone can see for themselves.

http://www.greenmonk.com/Taylorstock/810Compare.html

I stretched the pictures a little, so they aren't the clearest, but you can see the basic paterns match well.

[meridian]

Hi Jen,

I definitely see what you are talking about.

Oh well, Time will tell! It may be an improvement, its just a shock!

What does the back of your 810 look like? I don't recall seeing shots of your wood set anywhere.

[jmeinel]

This is the best picture to show at least what half of the back looks like. The other side pretty much looks the same though.

http://www.greenmonk.com/Taylorstock/Coco_Back.jpg

[buddiesorg]

All I can say Joe, is that when I saw that guitar at the factory, I thought it was the most beautiful cocobolo there that I've seen so far (well ... I haven't seen mine yet, except for about a quarter of an inch of the top edge) ... and I thought you'd be really pleased with it. I'm sorry it's reversed ... but my first impression even when just walking past it and giving it just a glance was that it was stunning. And that doesn't happen to me while walking through the Factory very often. I mean, I see very nice sets of wood and beautiful guitars, but that one really caught my eye ... and not just because it was cocobolo.

I wonder if what happened was that it got planed or somehow the marks got rubbed off before it was glued and cut ... they might not even know you wanted it the other way.

[meridian]

Originally posted by buddiesorg
All I can say Joe, is that when I saw that guitar at the factory, I thought it was the most beautiful cocobolo there that I've seen so far

Hi Mary, I am SO glad to hear you say that! I think I was just kind of IN SHOCK at seeing the pieces reversed like that!! I still like the wood, and as I said this whole thing may just be a blessing in disguise!

Considering it is "just" standard cocobolo, I think it looks pretty cool!

If you are able to get a full pic of the back, I'd really appreciate it. From what I could see in the dark shot, it looks like they fit the interesting grain into the curves of the upper and lowert bouts and THAT would definitely be cool with me! Especially if it sounds better that way!

As the "shock" wears off, I feel better about it. Gotta trust the pros! And IF it is not my guitar, I still think it is gonna look just great!!

Thanks for the encouraging words!

[buddiesorg]

And Joe, I'm not just spouting words ... last night when you brought it up, I was in an analytical mindset and was just doing wood comparison. I know what you mean by shock ... on my first PS-15, I was in total shock when I saw it first ... I couldn't believe it was my guitar since it looked so different ... although they kept the set the way I saw it, they cut it out upside down, so when I turned my wood set upside down, I saw it was mine ... BT rejected that one because the wood was "spongy", but I know I would have gotten used to it after awhile.

But really, at the factory when I got a good look at it, I said, "Gosh, darn that's beautiful." And a couple of factory workers ribbed me on my explicatives. All I can say is that when I was growing up, we weren't allowed to use any colorful language. All I can say is I'm glad I didn't say, "Shucky darns" (which is what I probably would have said if I hadn't added "that's beautiful") or I really would have gotten laughed at.

Gee whiz guys ... stop laughing. :)

BTW, I should have qualified myself ... yours is the most beautiful no sapwood set I've seen so far ... I really don't like the stuff so when I see it, so I don't have the same reaction to the wood even if the rest of it is nice. Of course, selfishly, I hope that when mine comes through, I'll say that mine is the most beautiful set I've seen at the factory ... :)

[meridian]

Thanks again, Mary!

You really have gone above and beyond the call!

I trust your taste, and you have actually SEEN this guitar, so I feel confident that it will come out way better than just OK (!). I am getting used to the idea, and from the glimpse I've had, I think they did a nice job with the wood, just not what I was expecting!

I really DO hope that when you see your 810-LTD, it will be the most beautiful cocobolo guitar you have EVER seen anywhere! We should each get what most pleases us.

That's a funny story about the upside-down PS!!

I should say that while I like sapwood, I didn't like it well enough to nearly double the cost of the 810, especially since I was doing that Gothic Vine inlay! I think that for a set of standard cocobolo, this is about as good as it gets!

In other words, I am feeling better and better about this and thank you so much for your encouragement! Shucky Darns! It just means a lot to me!:)

[buddiesorg]

Well, that upside down PS wasn't funny to me at the time ... but it's in the past ... and I never had to get used to it since I never got the guitar ... and I love the one I got.

Maybe I'll get a chance to see yours after it gets its finish ... it should be heading there soon ... it's going to have some nice browns and reds, I think, that will come out with the finish.

Have to work alot this week though ... I'd rather be at the Taylor Factory ... :)

[Rick Crider]

Joe....

Here is my professional analysis and solution:

A.) That *is* your guitar.

B.) It is ugly as sin.

C.) You should not be expected to take possession of that Samick look-alike.

D.) It simply cannot sound good with the wood reversed like that.

SOLUTION:

A.) Simply contact your dealer and refuse delivery.

B.) Have dealer's Taylor rep revert the guitar to my dealer with my name as the recipient.

CONCLUSION:

Normally, Joe, I would be expecting to extract a fee for such analysis and relief. However, since it's you, and I think a great deal of you, I am willing, on this one occasion, to take personal delivery of this travesty to prevent further suffering on your behalf.

You can thank me later.

Your friend:
Rick