DAY 2... [Archive] - The Acoustic Guitar Forum

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Steve314
08-11-2002, 03:56 AM
Looks like I'm getting here before anyone else this evening, so I'll attempt to describe the events in a manner which accurately conveys how great today and, really, the whole event was.

As I look at the clock, I see that it's now 2:00am. I got home about a half hour ago. That should give you some indication of how the day went.

The day started out much as we expected. The prevailing event of the day was wood selection for Taylorstock guitars, so Bob and Ed Alves got on stage in the performance venue (where the entire day was spent) to answer some last minute questions, and to explain how the wood selection process would be conducted.

A number of things were taking place while wood selection was being conducted. Melissa, who heads the sound crew at the Taylor venue, made the rounds signing people up for öpen mic". A number of people signed up (yours truly included) to get up on stage and give it a go. I wish I could remember everyone who got up to play, but I simply can't. I can tell you, though, that all performances were great. As for mine, if it wasn't for last verses, I'd have nailed it! Even Bob Taylor and his brother-in-law got on stage to play "After The Gold Rush" and "Willin". Melissa joined them onstage for Willin', and they harmonized perfectly.

Bob unveiled the two guitars that were built specifically for Taylorstock: a Rosewood/Redwood Grand Auditorium, and a Maple/Cedar Grand Auditorium. The Rosewood/Redwood combo was a HUGE hit, and many decided to selct Redwood for their tops when choosing the wood for their guitars.

Bob also unveiled JW's guitar. In a word: Wow! I don't want to say too much about it here, other than it's gorgeous, and I know JW is gonna'love it! This was the first time most of us had seen it (I think JR saw it earlier in the week), and everyone had the same reaction to it: WOW!

Without question, the thing on everyone's mind today was selecting woods for guitars. The selection in hand was impressive, and Bob assured us that he had more if what was on hand wasn't sufficient. You just had to like that.

Wedged in between all of the days'activities was dinner, once again catered. Yesterday we had Mexican for dinner, tonight it was Italian. There was more food than you could shake a stick at, and it was all good. I'd have gotten a salad, but that would have taken up too much lasagna room and, well, we simply can't have that, now can we?

After everyone had selected their woods, and the evening was winding down (I think it was about midnight), Bob was still walking around looking at all the wood sets, making sure that everything was in order, and making sure that everybody who wanted to choose their wood got his undivided attention.

Once he was sure that all the selections had taken place, Bob stayed around to just talk shop with the few of us who were left. The next thing we knew, it was about 1:00am, and Bob commented that he needed to head home. It was shortly after that when the party broke up, and everyone finally decided to call it a night.

I have to admit, I was kinda' wishing that I had decided to buy a guitar at this event. Even still, I'm getting my own version of a Taylorstock guitar. Bob was kind enough to sign the back of the headstock on my 314, and I'll be getting one of the special Taylorstock 2002 TRC's to put on my guitar as well.

All in all, we couldn't have asked for a better weekend. Everyone at Taylor rolled out the red carpet in a big way, and showed a very real appreciation for the fact that we all attended. While I only had to get through six traffic lights to get there from my driveway, others travelled quite a distance (many were from Florida, and Ian Anderson came in from Canada) to attend. Bob Taylor, and everyone at Taylor, was truly appreciative of this.

I'm sure I've left some things out, but it's now 3:00am, and I'm finally starting to feel a bit sleepy. I'm sure others will fill in the blanks, and it won't take long before a complete picture of the entire weekend gets painted for those who couldn't attend. Know that you were all there in spirit.

Now... off to bed...

Steve

JW
08-11-2002, 05:56 AM
Originally posted by Steve314
Bob also unveiled JW's guitar. In a word: Wow! I don't want to say too much about it here, other than it's gorgeous, and I know JW is gonna'love it! This was the first time most of us had seen it (I think JR saw it earlier in the week), and everyone had the same reaction to it: WOW!

Steve Oh come on!!!! I get up like a kid on Christmas morning only to find Santa didnt give me a desciption of my guitar. I counldnt wait to turn on the computer but had to wait for the wife to wake. I got up went in a took a shower hopeing it would wake her and I made as much noise as I could with towels and stuff, dropped the soap and all kinds of stuff. She slept on. So I went in and sat back in my recliner and fell asleep. I woke up with her beside me in her recliner doing her morning Bible read. I asked her how long have you been awake. "you woke me up while you were in the shower but I was still drowsy" so I jumped up (she knew what I was doing) and as I got online she kept asking "any pictures of your guitar?" I said "Baby they wont give me a clue" Antisipation!!!!!!!!!!!!!:roll: :roll: JW

cpmusic
08-11-2002, 09:26 AM
I won't take up a lot of bandwidth here because it's hard to add much to what Steve (and Jeffrey, in another thread) have said, but I would like to add that I'm overwhelmed at the generosity and downright neighborliness afforded to us by the entire Taylor staff. Granted, these are all Guitar People too, so they understand where we're coming from, but we were treated like visiting royalty, and given that it spilled over long into the weekend, it was the proverbial Above and Beyond.

Borrowing from FedEx (which borrows, in turn, from the Navy) I send a big BRAVO ZULU to Bob, Ed (who I hope is getting some some well-deserved rest today!), Andy and the other tour guides, the sound staff, and everyone else involved. This was ovbiously a labor of love for them, and I'll never forget it.

Oh yeah -- thanks to all the folks who were able to make it. It was great to put faces and personalities to the names, and it only reinforced my feelings about the people here. I'm only sorry that more couldn't attend, but maybe someday....

Oh yeah, again -- JW, I don't want to spoil anything, but I think it's safe to say that your guitar outshone everything else on display, and it'll be well worth your wait.

JW
08-11-2002, 11:01 AM
Originally posted by cpmusic
Oh yeah, again -- JW, I don't want to spoil anything, but I think it's safe to say that your guitar outshone everything else on display, and it'll be well worth your wait. OK just turn the dial up on the Anxious meter up about another 3 clicks:roll: JW

buddiesorg
08-11-2002, 11:09 AM
Now everyone ... let's not get JW's hopes up so high that when he sees the guitar he's disappointed ... JW, actually, they're all lying. It looks horrible ... looks like Uncle Bob went out to the dumpster to look for some usable scraps of wood after everyone threw out their lunch break garbage :)

Steve314
08-11-2002, 11:25 AM
Originally posted by buddiesorg
looks like Uncle Bob went out to the dumpster to look for some usable scraps of wood

But Mary, we all know what happened the last time Bob built a guitar out of wood found in a dumpster... :)

Steve

Mike G
08-11-2002, 11:31 AM
Steve...and others:

Thanks for the TS updates. It's good to experience it from afar.

SonShine
08-11-2002, 09:44 PM
Overall, an incredible experience! Like many others have said, the entire Taylor staff from Bob T. himself all the way to the others who helped throughout the whole event were extremely gracious and just downright nice people. They certainly went "above and beyond" the call of duty to make sure that we all had our questions answered and that all of our selections were the ones we really wanted.

It was also great to meet everyone in person as well!

My only concern is that I hope we didn't wear them out so that they'll never want to see us again! I think our selection process might have been too long - Bob was selecting wood from 3 PM until the end and Ed had to get to all of us to process the price sheets. Still, I think that Bob could have just decided to stop and call it a night and none of us would have thought he didn't spend enough time with us. He obviously enjoys/loves what he does and it showed throughout this whole weekend. Ed looked absolutely beat when I last saw him (at around 11 PM Saturday) and he still had several people to process!

cpmusic
08-11-2002, 10:00 PM
You know, I'm thinking that thank-you cards to Ed would be a nice touch, as he was kind of the unsung hero of the day. Whaddya think, and does anyone know his last name?

SonShine
08-11-2002, 10:08 PM
Great idea - I forgot his last name, but I think there was a post somewhere that had it. I'm sure it won't be a problem finding out how to get it to him. I'm sure he'd appreciate it...

bubbamatt
08-11-2002, 11:15 PM
Ed's name is Alves, nice guy.
As a Taylor staffer, I must say the 2 day whirlwind tour known as "Taylorstock" was a lot of fun! We bust our buns trying to make the production of Taylor guitars to be the most consistantly excellent guitars in the world. It is always nice to see the people who REALLY appreciate the work we do here. We can get jaded by being around these works of art and just talking with some of you in the group sure gave this geezer a good feeling about what we do.
I always tell people that the internet is our friend. :) The connecting of so many people with a similar interest from so many states and countries could only have been done in this media.
Keep up the interest and enjoy the music, I certainly enjoyed hearing the forum members play, my vote is for another fest!

Matt Guzzetta

:)

jeffrey
08-12-2002, 12:08 AM
Matt, plain and simple YOU GUYS RULE!

I just thought I'd say that. :)

If there were another Taylorstock this Friday, I'd buy my ticket right now.

Think I'm kidding? :D

buddiesorg
08-12-2002, 01:08 AM
Originally posted by Steve314


But Mary, we all know what happened the last time Bob built a guitar out of wood found in a dumpster... :)

Steve

Yes, I know my Taylor history a little bit ... :) ... that reference was actually intentional :)

moop
08-12-2002, 06:09 AM
Did you all get good deals on the guitars? Considering the new woods and stuff, how did you know you were getting a good deal aside from the fact that it was straight from taylor? How much does a true custom shop guitar run?

tbondo
08-12-2002, 06:18 AM
Hey Moop,

No one left this weekend's event without knowing that they had gotten the deal of a lifetime, whether they bought a guitar or not! That's just how excellent, over the top, awe inspiring and outrageous Taylorstock was.

We were treated as royalty by the entire org, given behind the scenes tours, special insights, and BobT interacted with us like the very wonderful and special forum member he is (he is a way cool dude).

Absolutely Killer! My wife now understands TAS and my daughter wants an 814CE and a Jewel Sig model, ......what more needs to be said?

Oh,yeah! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all the great folks from Taylor and the TGF who made this weekend such an unforgettable experience.

OBTW, I'm ready to sign up for the next one...any time, any where....and so are my wife and daughter...they really enjoyed meeting everyone and my daughter sounds like a longterm Taylorite, talking GAs, GCs, dreds, flame, quilt....what a blast!

amcd
08-12-2002, 08:12 AM
Moop,
I am not sure about the deals everyone got on guitars but I do know that around 11:00 PM Saturday there were about 50 people who looked like they just met Santa Claus!! Without a doubt, this was an experience of a lifetime. Thanks to JR and the TGF and to Taylor Guitars.
Art