DANG DANG DANG DARN!!! hehe

[TheTaylor310]

hello~

after reading all the TaylorStock posts and looking at the few available piccies.... id have to say that i really REALLY REALLY wish that i woulda went!!!!!

heck its only like a 2-hour drive for me, and i wouldnt have minded the gas hehe... and i have friends down in San Diego, so i coulda stayed at their house hehe

i think i speak for the other Forumers that didnt go..... WE WANTED TO BE THERE TOO hehe

but reading all the TaylorStock happenings and them pictures do give us a taste of how really great Taylors are. even if i were to just go to the factory tour, i think i would be really really amazed

keep on giving us more pictures!!! and has there been talk of more TaylorStocks in the near future, maybe?? id really like to go one day, if it happens

[david_m]

Well considering I came from North Carolina, and you couldn't even make a two hour drive.....

SHAME ON YOU!!!:roll:

The week end was so much fun. The people at Taylor were so accomodating it was scary, the tour was really interesting, the food was excellent, playing in the Taylor performance room was awesome and getting to actually meet so many forum member was exciting. However, there were two big highlights for me...

First, picking out wood for my guitar, and having Bob Taylor personally work with me (as he did with every one else. That guy is amazing!) was fantastic. I didn't think anything could be any better than that. BUT......

The MOST fun thing was on Saturday night after I selected my wood. I looked at the wood selection area and saw all these forum members walking around and selecting their wood. Bob Taylor was running around helping everyone select the best piece given their guitar type and playing style. Each set that had been selected was placed in a folder with a name on top. It was SO MUCH FUN walking the tables and looking at the wood sets different people selected. I spent HOURS just watching the selection process and looking at all the different sets. Although EVERYBODY got splendid wood, a few do stick out in my mind.

Terry's violet/purple rosewood
Ian and JR's quilted mahagony
ALL THE COCOBOLO. It was very cool.
Ryan's unbelieveably stright and tight rosewood
Jennifer's amazing maple
The sitka top on Cpmusic's guitar
Bob Prater's ziricote (if you like sapwood, you'll LOVE his choice)
Cynbrad's flamed ovankol
Mike A's whole guitar. When it's done he's going to have a MATCHED pair of 714s with Florentine cutaways; a 6 & a 12
Tbondo's redwood topped 912c
amcd's MASTER grade cocobolo with MASTER grade redwood
JR's ziricote. Where did they find it? It looked like it came from some long forgotten area. It hadn't even been sanded yet to clean it up, but it's going to be great.
Trombone's ziricote set. I came THIS CLOSE to picking that set!!!

And, of course my favorite:

David_m's ziricote with ultra silky engleman top

I'm doing this from memory. There were many other INCREDIBLE sets that I can't place with the owner by memory. When the pictures get posted people are going to be very envious. But seeing everyone select their one (or two) dream guitars in rough form was a blast. Definitely the highlight for me.

David

[Tae]

gee...

Was there anyone didn't build own TS guitar?

[Cynbrad]

I know that this has already been stated, but I need to echo the same thoughts regarding Taylorstock weekend. What a blast! The people at the Taylor factory were above and beyond wonderful. Bob Taylor is such a great guy. I believe that he actually spent time with every forum member attending, especially those of us who ordered guitars.

Meeting members of the forum was awesome - you guys are wonderful people. It was exciting being in a room with individuals who share the same passion -- music and guitars.

BTW - David, I am so excited about the ovangkol wood for my guitar. I can't believe how figured it is. It's going to be a beauty. Hey, your piece of ziricote is absolutely stunning.

[rsimper]

Cynthia- your piece of ovangkol was indeed amazing...i LOVE that stuff...and if BobT is right about how easy it is for them to get, then the satin backed Taylors have a BRIGHT future!

Did you look into a gloss back at all? I thought about glossed ovangkol for a while but I had no idea what the cost would be...

[cpmusic]

Ryan, I asked Bob about doing a gloss finish on a 300 or 400 and he said that he'd have to huddle with the folks to see if it was possible. Ed was more succinct; he said "No." :) Actually, what he said was that by the time they worked it all out, it would cost just as much as a more expensive model. Too bad, though -- I'd love to see a gloss finish over that stained maple.

Cynthia, I didn't see the exact wood you picked out, but I saw some in the ovangkol stack that was like the NS-42 they had in the theater, and it was beautiful! A 455 was actually my first choice until I heard about the maple 300s.

Mmmmmmm.......maaa-ple...... :)

[tenthumbs]

You live two hours away and you didn't go? tsk tsk tsk.:rolleyes:

[Cynbrad]

Ryan - I was so excited about how beautiful the ovangkol was that the thought never crossed my mind about a gloss finish. I do remember the question being raised during Q & A with Bob T and I remember him saying that he and some others would have to have a huddle about it. It looks like Chris was able to get a definite answer regarding this issue. I bet it would make one beautiful guitar.

[rsimper]

It sure would, but you know what? The figuring on that ovangkol could carry that guitar whether it was gloss, satin, or painted black!

Such great wood. The 400s are one of my favorite series'!

[J.R. Rogers]

I'm with you, David! I don't think I can pick a favorite moment... it was all incredible. But the wood selecting was so much fun. I had a great time talking to people and just seeing their eyes light up when they showed me what wood they had picked. A few that stand out in my mind:

Mark H's quilted maple - I was standing by the quilted maple table helping him sort through the wood when we came across this incredibly tubular quilted set. Waaaay too pretty for words!

David and Bob's Ziricote - These sets are too pretty for words. David's has the most amazing figure and Bob's has this great sapline that runs top to bottom.

Rick Crider's Cocobolo - Wow!!!! Show us the pics, man! That's some incredible wood!

TaylorSmitten and Cynbrad's flamed ovangkol - I had the opportunity to help these ladies pick out some incredible flamed Ovangkol, and they're both opting for Engelmann spruce tops. I know they'll be impressed. My 412CE has an E-spruce top, and is one of the best guitars I've played.

My ultra-flamed African Mahogany - Yep! Bob explained that this set of wood is about one in 10,000 pieces! After watching these two sets of mahogany sit there lonely all night, I just couldn't bear to let it go. I decided to go with Mahogany/Redwood instead of Cocobolo/Redwood. I guess not everyone sees the same beauty in the flamed mahogany that I do. Ian ended up getting the other set - a very killer set, also.

They ran out of Ziricote, so I asked them if they could go find me another set. They came back with this set of rough wood that looked like it had been sitting in the mud. But through the mud, I could tell that it was going to be a special piece. Once Bob layed it out and marked off the guitar pattern, I could see how incredible it's going to look.

J.R.

[Mike Carter]

I have to agree that the Ziricote that David picked out was one of the most beautiful pieces of wood I can even imagine.

Terry's master grade Rosewood also was incredible.

The Matching Flame Mahogany necks trombone got can't even be described they were so beautiful.

But my favorite was still the AWESOME master grade Cocobolo.

I can't wait to see the finished Guitars.

[Cynbrad]

J.R. - It was great meeting you. Thanks again for all of your help when I picked out the wood for my guitar. It is absolutely beautiful.

TaylorSmitten - Thank you for your help as well. I hope that I didn't poke your eye out when I grabbed for the piece of wood. :roll: