Best Sounding taylor I EVER HEARD!!!
 

Went to a guitar shop, and played my first R.TAYLOR

It was a type 1. watever that means....

It had some exotic woods you would not normally find in a regular taylor.....

A swiss alpine spruce top with cocobolo back and sides.

(it was the sharpest guitar I had ever heard, so focused)

There was also a alpine moon spruce with some striped ebony that was excellent.

(more bassy, and milky)

I tried to take pictures but of course being a fancy guitar shop they wouldn't let me.....

I never thought about getting a R.Taylor but I would only for the exotic woods that you can never get BTO......


Anyone else got exotic wood combo R.TAYLORS?

Yes, I recall the first time I played an R. Taylor alongside the stock Taylors. I love Taylors, but if they sounded "awesome," the R. Taylor sounded "awesomer."

Anyway, I was inspired to bust my budget to buy one, and although I wouldn't call it "exotic" wood, it has a beautiful "flame mahogany" body and cedar top. You can see pics of it at this link.

http://picasaweb.google.com/10360463...91394/RTaylor#

(I also have a rosewood/spruce Taylor BTO, which is pretty awesome.)

What store was it and where?

I have a 2008 R Taylor style 2 - cocobolo b/s and alpine swiss spruce top. I requested a balanced sound used mostly for fingerstyle playing and this is exactly what I got. I love this guitar - it keeps getting better sounding all the time. The swiss spruce provides a mature, warm sound (probably like engleman spruce does) but can be pushed really hard without breaking up. Overtones are quite pleasing - it rings like a bell and plays great all the way up the neck.

I played same kind of guitar in the shop here in IL. I was blown away by the way in sounded. One of the best guitars I ever played. Of course asking price which was around 5K prohibited me from taking it home.

This was one of the best guitars I ever played, but lets be fair here... I played many-many high end guitars, but very few at this price range. I usually stop around 3K, just because I can't see myself spending more than that yet...

those 2 wood combo is a winning combo, I never ever heard a guitar that sounded bad with those two woods...

coco/Alpine spruce....

One of the nicest guitars I ever played, but a lot more money that I could afford at the time (or now for that matter). That wood combination is my dream guitar as a result of that experience.

geokie8

Game over, you're done, sleepless nights await you!

OK, maybe not all that, but I know exactly what you mean. Once I played an RT, from the very fiirst chord (to the very last note trying to justify the financies to take it home) I found it to be a whole different level of instrument. No knock on my Taylors, as I really love those, but RT really does sound like the luthier-made guitar that it is. Opinions on RT vary, to be sure, but I am sold on them (just can't afford to get another one ;) ).

Edward

I was informed by Taylor that they weren't going to make any cocobolo guitars right now so if you like it, you might want to consider getting it or find one that is still available from a seller.

One thing I've wondered about 'Taylor' and the oddly pompous 'R.Taylor' (probably his mother used to call him 'Robert' when he left his tools all over the living room floor ...) division is that in my mind, the presence of one diminishes the credibility of the other. By this I mean that when someone thinks of a quality luthier, are they likely to turn to a maker whose claim to fame is uniform factory models? And for someone looking for a top quality factory model, will they feel that a common-old 'Taylor', whose maker is 'Bob' in his overalls on the shop floor, is now the poor relation of the splendiferous 'R. Taylor', whose maker is now a beatified version of himself bearing the loftier title of 'Robert' and who makes a far better guitar than poor old common 'Bob'?

But they clearly know what they're doing. It does surprise me though that they can pull this one off.

I feel like because of their resources, they can produce better sounding equipment and use more of their $$$ into research to develop a better guitar.

but all being said, Luther will most definitely produce a better personal guitar......considering how many they make a year and all their intention to detail.....

all in all, we get great guitars in the end...

btw...I hear cocobolo is still available for R.Taylors. (not taylor or bto)

Taylor still has a stash of great wood....for their high end wood for R.taylors......

another reason to go R.taylors...

You have to look at it from marketing perspective. I am pretty sure most owners of R. Taylor are ex or present Taylor owners. Let's face it: if you own a Taylor, especially more than one, you are not a poor guy. You can cry all you want about high mortgage cost and unaffordable car insurance, but the bottom line is with a very few exceptions people who own a few Taylor invested at least 3K-4K into guitars.

So, who not capitalized on this market? Some of these die-hard Taylor fans would rave if you offer them yet another Taylor, but glorified! Now, of course it has to be a wonderful guitar, not just name! But Taylor already has captive audience... So, it's not contradiction and not diminishing, it's maximizing your profits. At least this is what it's called in sales. If you have a client, make sure you sell him everything you can offer. It's a lot cheaper to sustain a client, that hunt for a new one. Taylor already has such client - anyone who loves Taylor :-)

I keep seeing this topic, and I always think... "they must have heard MY Taylor"!

Just kidding, kinda :-). Probably most Taylor owners think the same thing, I bet!

Hmmm, the word "pompous" stands out to me here. Your feelings toward the company is clear.

Again, the words "that they can pull this one off" suggest that you feel they are "trying to get away with something." This speaks more of of your stance than of the marque, itself, IMHO.

To the former point you raise, the moniker still bears his actual name. The "pompous" is clearly through your filter.

To your latter point, precious few "get away with" much in the marketplace where the dollar and demand speak louder than words. To connote that RT is pulling a fast one, again, speaks more of how you see them than who the company is. And yes, all IMHO.

Edward

Hey, steady on there, chief! ;)

Firstly, 'to pull something off' in no way suggests anything underhand or dishonest, and nor was it intended that way. It simply means 'to be successful at something despite the odds'.

Secondly, I have nothing against Taylors and have one on order right now. That said, for a guy who is universally know as 'Bob' Taylor to label his special stuff as 'R' Taylor does smack of pomposity. It sounds a bit like a boss who insists on being called by his first name on social occasions and by Mr. ... in the office. 'Robert' is the loftier, more formal version of 'Bob', and although Bob Taylor himself seems to be a delightful guy, for me, the choice of 'R. Taylor' as a label for the cream of his crop adds an elitist and, in my view, pompous connotation. 'Bob' Taylor is a guy who hangs around with the guys on the factory floor in a T-shirt and jeans and is photographed jamming with his team (as in one edition of Wood and Steel). 'Robert' Taylor, though, sounds as if he wears thousand dollar suits and expects workers to doff their caps as he passes.

But as I say, nothing against the guy or his company, just the unfortunate word associations which go with that choice.

Selling my Style 1 in the Classifieds.

No fancy wood (just Cedar/Hog), but the sound blows my mind every time I play it.

Can't wait for that D.Martin to come out. kidding.....

btw it's true....

i hear they still offer cocobo on R.taylors...

I guess thats the only way to get cocobolo on new taylors...

Which Shop did you go? one in Korea?~

yea there is this one shop here that is known for high end guitars. The price was almost double what it would cost in America because of the import tax.

oh you mean guitar shop in Seo Cho dong?

yea the place in gangnam. You have to wear a bibs. -____-;;

btw you ever hear of a guitar company called gwood? made by a lutheier.....

Look inside ANY Taylor guitar. It says, ROBERT TAYLOR. I guess he was always pompos. I never knew!

Yeah you have to wear that..

try woodsound.co.kr .. they carry all the high end guitars..

i know Gwood guitar, they used to work for Cort guitar in the past.~

My best friend has a Taylor "Artist" deal, so I've had the chance to play many Taylor guitars - he's had at least 6, maybe more... I was impressed with them all, but still love my Mark Angus, #35, much more. Truth is, when I ordered my Angus in 1979, I played one of Bob Taylor's guitars from Lemon Grove - and I liked Mark's guitars better, so I bought one.

So, this best friend of mine tells me about the R Taylor's, says he's getting one with Brazillian rosewood b/s - and that the guitar retails for around $11k, although his price was much, much less than that!

When he finally got the guitar, I had a chance to spend some time with it, and MAN OH MAN!!!! What a sweet instrument! Amazing sound, brand new; it had the unique quality of sounding really nice when you played it at normal volume or even slightly soft, but the more you dug into it, the more it rang out - didn't just get louder, it was hard to describe... but I could be playing chords, or some pattern - then dig in with a flatpick for some single note stuff, and it JUST SCREAMED TONE!!!

I immediately started lusting after one of my own, lol! If they hadn't run out of that mahoghany from "The Tree", I'd probably have one right now!

R Taylor's are truly "a cut above" the standard Taylor line, without doubt. BTW, the one you played is a "Style" 1... that's the only shape they made, in the beginning. Now they make a Style 2 (slightly smaller) and a Style 3 (dreadnought) - I've heard rumors of an R Taylor Parlour guitar, too.

Heck, for what one pays for a car (which needs repairs and breaks down frequently), the price of an R Taylor ain't so high... especially if you plan on keeping it for a lifetime of playing!

You may be reading much more into the name choice than what is really there. I can sort of see where you might get that impression, but frankly you are the first person I've heard from that took the negative or pompous vibe from the R. Taylor name. People named "Robert" routinely use "Bob" and/or "Robert" interchangeably - depending on the circumstances or context. Obviously, Bob Taylor already was using his last name for the Taylor line. He probably wouldn't call the boutique line "Bob's Guitars" :D. R Taylor seems like an appropriate moniker (at least from my point of view) and really doesn't have any pomposity unless you are inclined to read that into it.

While I'm not currently in the market for a new guitar, I would certainly consider an R Taylor to fill out my acoustic collection. They really are a cut above in my opinion as to tone, playability, fit and finish.

Out of a sense of irony, Bob should offer a line of Skid Pallet guitars under the R Taylor marquee

GJenson, "McPherson MG 5.0 XP (Striped Macassar Ebony/Redwood)"
I am filled with a jealous hatred of you brother! That is an ultimate cause of GAS.

"Bob's Guitars" - I like that! :lol: Maybe that should be the name for his 100 and 200 series ...

Well, someone has mentioned that "R.Taylor" is written on the inside of all models, so maybe that's his preferred title. However, he must be aware that he is universally known as "Bob", so to put the "R" very visibly on the headstock is a clear statement of something - what that is can be up for debate. But I don't agree that such things are insignificant. Nothing in marketing "just happens"; there are very clear and hard-headed decisions that go into the smallest detail. The connotations that buyers would attach to the "R" will have been the source of much discussion within the upper echelons - absolutely no question about that.

Maybe my interpretation of motive is wrong, but if so, another interpretation will be correct. The name doesn't appear in its present form by chance.

I'm thinking that "B. Taylor" just doesn't have the same ring. In fact, it almost makes it sound like a lower level Taylor, like the B-series, or B-lineup, or B-sides, you know, like the ones that didn't quite make the cut to being the A. Taylors. Therefore, I think R. Taylor makes much more sense for a higher end line/company.