jeffrey
08-11-2002, 04:38 AM
*Typing this a second time because the page timed out when I tried to subit and all my text was gone when I hit "back". Yay. :\*
The day started with J.R., Jennifer and myself getting the Taylorstock group photo together so we could present it in a frame to Bob that Jennifer had brought with her. I processesed it as best I could, but the original (taken by Rick Crider) was a bit dark due to the overall lighting of the room. All in all, it came out fine imo. The point of the picture is very clear: to show all our appreciation and gratitude for the event that was overall just an amazing get together. Taylor went far beyond what any of us thought they would for this and exceeded all of our wildest fantasies of what kind of guitars we could get and the things we'd get to see and do at the Taylor factory.
A very sound "Thank You" from everyone Mr. Bob Taylor. :)
After we took care of the picture, Jennifer, J.R., Ryan (rsimper) and myself got a quick lunch then headed to the venue (or so we thought, a dozen or so people were already there hehe).
During the wood selection talk, we presented Bob with the framed and signed picture of all of us and he seemed very happy about it. :)
After the talk about wood selection, what we could and couldn't do and briefs on some of the pricing, everyone was off to the wood room. Like off to the races. Literally.
During the talk, the Taylorstock guitars were brought out. I'm decided to avoid the rush and play the Redwood topped 814 first. And I'm very glad I did.
After the extent of playing the new dreads last night, I was set on an x10 for sure (the new dreads really are fantastic). I just wasn't sure which one. Well the Redwood top for me is a very nice medium between Cedar and Englemen. It's less jangly and spongey than Englemen, but not quite as mellow as Cedar. It's somewhere in the middle and very articulate and accurate (Bob and I had a long discussion about my "problem" with acoustics; surprisingly my premonitions were correct :)). As a result of a prior discussion with Bob, he'd said he'd pick out a really stiff top for me from the stacks of Redwood while he was going through them picking out tops for folks.
I didn't want to deal with all the chaos at that moment they'd unleashed us into the wood selection area, so I made a beeline for the table with the flamed Mahogoney and Maple necks and as a result, I got (at least to my eyes) the best Mahogoney one of the bunch. :)
The wood "of the show" was abosolutely Cocobolo. I think close to half or a third of the people that attended, got some form of Cocobolo somewhere (including yours truly).
After I could finally even see the Cocobolo table, all of the Master Grade (which I wanted) was gone. There was a set or two left, but honestly, if I'm paying $1500 msrp for Master Grade wood, I want it to feel Master Grade to me too. Fortunately the endlessly helpful and patient employees of Taylor asked myself and Art McDonald (Amcd, who was also sharing my predicament) what kind of Cocobolo we were looking for (figuring-wise) because they had to go get it out of the kiln. A half an hour later or so, they showed up with some beautiful wood that both Art and myself were very happy with.
After that I waited in line for Bob to pick out my top for me (as was everyone else).
And when that's done, you wait for Ed to go over everything and get your pricing.
Somewhere in there, I managed to eat. They had Italian fare for us this time; lasagna, ravioli, salad etc. It was hearty and we all thusly pigged. :)
So essentially this is the chain of events for "picking your wood".
You choose your back and sides and go over it with one of the two Chris's for grain orientation and whatnot. Then you choose your top with Bob and do the orientation thing again. After you do all of that, you sit down with Ed and go over all of your finish, binding and inlay items (unless it's custom, then you deal w/Pete, Jr.). I'll get into my guitar later hehe.
During all of this, the open mic segment began. Honestly, it didn't get the attention it deserved because the wood selection and pricing ran on so late (it just finished maybe 45 minutes ago).
Steve White played after all of the open mic participants (I didn't play, but it wasn't for folks trying to get me to :)) then Bob and his brother in law (also childhood chum) played a few songs for us. It was nice to see Bob enjoy the fruits of his labor. :) I also got to chat with Steve White for a few minutes and talk about music and New Orleans stuff (that I grew up playing). We'd talked about sitting down and jamming for a bit, but everything ran so late, it didn't happen. Oh well. Maybe next time.
Well I guess this is a good spot to get into my guitar hehe.
It's essentially a 2002 810C LTD (the new dreads absolutely kick :)) with upgrades. It's Master Grade Cocobolo, Master Grade Redwood top (incredibly silked and very stiff), Master Grade Mahogoney neck (very flamed), Cocobolo overlay on the headstock, Koa binding (body and neck) and some special inlay on the back. The inlay on the back of the guitar just in the upper bout (say opposite of the cutaway) I'm getting my Dad's full name and dob/dod and a small sentence saying "I miss you already, Dad." (my dad passed a month ago today as many of you know). Also it will have one of the Koi fish from the 'Living Jewels' guitar in essence 'swimming' from the lower bout to the upper bout made out of Koa and Flame Maple.
Needless to say, I'm excited. :)
I'd also like to say again, and I think I speak for everyone, that Taylor has so far exceeded our wildest expectations and been so accomodating to everything that we just cannot express how appreciative we are.
Also, as a note, there is no guarentee that there will be another one. The topic was actually a fairly hot one. I guess it's up to Taylor after the see how 60 some-odd largely custom guitars all effects their production schedule.
I'd also like to offer to everyone that went that happens to read this thread, that I'm going to set up a private FTP server for the members of this forum to download everyone's pictures that they are interested in seeing. This will keep J.R.'s server from getting hammered with 500 pictures per thread as well as keep the overall forum speed up and make it so everyone doesn't have to say, view 400 pictures to download 400 pictures. I just think it would be easier for everyone. I'll talk with J.R. and see if anyone is interested in uploading their pics and go from there.
Well I'm really tired and looney from all this excitement of the last few days and think it's time for sleep.
G'night folks. :)
The day started with J.R., Jennifer and myself getting the Taylorstock group photo together so we could present it in a frame to Bob that Jennifer had brought with her. I processesed it as best I could, but the original (taken by Rick Crider) was a bit dark due to the overall lighting of the room. All in all, it came out fine imo. The point of the picture is very clear: to show all our appreciation and gratitude for the event that was overall just an amazing get together. Taylor went far beyond what any of us thought they would for this and exceeded all of our wildest fantasies of what kind of guitars we could get and the things we'd get to see and do at the Taylor factory.
A very sound "Thank You" from everyone Mr. Bob Taylor. :)
After we took care of the picture, Jennifer, J.R., Ryan (rsimper) and myself got a quick lunch then headed to the venue (or so we thought, a dozen or so people were already there hehe).
During the wood selection talk, we presented Bob with the framed and signed picture of all of us and he seemed very happy about it. :)
After the talk about wood selection, what we could and couldn't do and briefs on some of the pricing, everyone was off to the wood room. Like off to the races. Literally.
During the talk, the Taylorstock guitars were brought out. I'm decided to avoid the rush and play the Redwood topped 814 first. And I'm very glad I did.
After the extent of playing the new dreads last night, I was set on an x10 for sure (the new dreads really are fantastic). I just wasn't sure which one. Well the Redwood top for me is a very nice medium between Cedar and Englemen. It's less jangly and spongey than Englemen, but not quite as mellow as Cedar. It's somewhere in the middle and very articulate and accurate (Bob and I had a long discussion about my "problem" with acoustics; surprisingly my premonitions were correct :)). As a result of a prior discussion with Bob, he'd said he'd pick out a really stiff top for me from the stacks of Redwood while he was going through them picking out tops for folks.
I didn't want to deal with all the chaos at that moment they'd unleashed us into the wood selection area, so I made a beeline for the table with the flamed Mahogoney and Maple necks and as a result, I got (at least to my eyes) the best Mahogoney one of the bunch. :)
The wood "of the show" was abosolutely Cocobolo. I think close to half or a third of the people that attended, got some form of Cocobolo somewhere (including yours truly).
After I could finally even see the Cocobolo table, all of the Master Grade (which I wanted) was gone. There was a set or two left, but honestly, if I'm paying $1500 msrp for Master Grade wood, I want it to feel Master Grade to me too. Fortunately the endlessly helpful and patient employees of Taylor asked myself and Art McDonald (Amcd, who was also sharing my predicament) what kind of Cocobolo we were looking for (figuring-wise) because they had to go get it out of the kiln. A half an hour later or so, they showed up with some beautiful wood that both Art and myself were very happy with.
After that I waited in line for Bob to pick out my top for me (as was everyone else).
And when that's done, you wait for Ed to go over everything and get your pricing.
Somewhere in there, I managed to eat. They had Italian fare for us this time; lasagna, ravioli, salad etc. It was hearty and we all thusly pigged. :)
So essentially this is the chain of events for "picking your wood".
You choose your back and sides and go over it with one of the two Chris's for grain orientation and whatnot. Then you choose your top with Bob and do the orientation thing again. After you do all of that, you sit down with Ed and go over all of your finish, binding and inlay items (unless it's custom, then you deal w/Pete, Jr.). I'll get into my guitar later hehe.
During all of this, the open mic segment began. Honestly, it didn't get the attention it deserved because the wood selection and pricing ran on so late (it just finished maybe 45 minutes ago).
Steve White played after all of the open mic participants (I didn't play, but it wasn't for folks trying to get me to :)) then Bob and his brother in law (also childhood chum) played a few songs for us. It was nice to see Bob enjoy the fruits of his labor. :) I also got to chat with Steve White for a few minutes and talk about music and New Orleans stuff (that I grew up playing). We'd talked about sitting down and jamming for a bit, but everything ran so late, it didn't happen. Oh well. Maybe next time.
Well I guess this is a good spot to get into my guitar hehe.
It's essentially a 2002 810C LTD (the new dreads absolutely kick :)) with upgrades. It's Master Grade Cocobolo, Master Grade Redwood top (incredibly silked and very stiff), Master Grade Mahogoney neck (very flamed), Cocobolo overlay on the headstock, Koa binding (body and neck) and some special inlay on the back. The inlay on the back of the guitar just in the upper bout (say opposite of the cutaway) I'm getting my Dad's full name and dob/dod and a small sentence saying "I miss you already, Dad." (my dad passed a month ago today as many of you know). Also it will have one of the Koi fish from the 'Living Jewels' guitar in essence 'swimming' from the lower bout to the upper bout made out of Koa and Flame Maple.
Needless to say, I'm excited. :)
I'd also like to say again, and I think I speak for everyone, that Taylor has so far exceeded our wildest expectations and been so accomodating to everything that we just cannot express how appreciative we are.
Also, as a note, there is no guarentee that there will be another one. The topic was actually a fairly hot one. I guess it's up to Taylor after the see how 60 some-odd largely custom guitars all effects their production schedule.
I'd also like to offer to everyone that went that happens to read this thread, that I'm going to set up a private FTP server for the members of this forum to download everyone's pictures that they are interested in seeing. This will keep J.R.'s server from getting hammered with 500 pictures per thread as well as keep the overall forum speed up and make it so everyone doesn't have to say, view 400 pictures to download 400 pictures. I just think it would be easier for everyone. I'll talk with J.R. and see if anyone is interested in uploading their pics and go from there.
Well I'm really tired and looney from all this excitement of the last few days and think it's time for sleep.
G'night folks. :)