NGD!! 2003 Taylor 710 Ltd Cocobolo

[v32 finish]

Ok, so...happy NGD!!

I pulled the trigger yesterday. Some of you may have seen that in another post, I was asking for some specs for what I believed was a '08 710 ltd. Turns out that the people advising that it was a 2003 were correct. So, long story short, I brought it home with me

A little backstory, before I post some more pics: as i was telling someone else on the other thread, I originally wanted a 614ce. I've always owned dreads, never had any other body style, never had electronics (other than a few actual electrics), never owned a guitar with a cutaway. So.. the 're-voiced' 614ce caught my eye and that's actually still my end-game, albeit, much further away now. I wanted the cutaway, the electronics, Grand Auditorium body style.. everything I'd never really had before. Finding this thing popping up, so locally, 10 mins away.. also had a great feeling about the circumstances and the owner (who worked at a church), and just *overall*, it seemed like this whole guitar was like .. i don't know, somehow, everything coming full circle.

The strings on it are dead, but sound amazing, so I didn't change them yet due to a backlog at the shop I was inquiring at for a setup. 2 week turnaround? Not going to go drop it off for two weeks, not yet, thanks anyways! So for now, it's got some beat up strings, it's not quite* mint cond. but not far away, it's got 1 scratch in the back that bothers me. Not sure if it's broken the finish or if I can do anything about that. No major dings, still very near mint, excellent or above, etc.

The sound is incredible*. Very full, warm, deep low end -- balanced throughout; not a hint of "brightness" that accompanies some taylors. Fully a dread, it comes alive when strumming, but surprisingly has a light touvh when fingerpicking, which is mostly what I do. I'm taking lessons at Tony's Acoustic Challenge to work on flatpicking and just my technique across the board, but I mostly never use a pick.

One question and then I'll post the pics. I recently changed the strings on my Washburn and hated the change. Wish i didn't change them. They were dead but sounded good. Don't know what kind or what gauge they were, but there was a pack of Martin SP med. in the case when I bought it, so I suspect may be those. At the recommendation of the person doing the setup, they steered me away from the med. gauge and I put some Elixir nano PB's on there. ANYWAY. I don't like the sound. It's growing on me, buuut... I just don't want to get this guitar set-up and re-strung and find out that the sound changes. I like the way it sounds now, although it seems to slip out of tune a little bit after playing for a few hours. I'll tune it and then realize later that a couple of the strings have gone a little low.

anyway here are the pics. The pictures absolutely do not do justice to the Cocobolo, and a photographer I am not, but I tried. The other guitar pictured in the pics with 2 guitars is my Washburn WD44S, also a 2003, their 120th anniv. offering or Rarewood series. Trying to think if I'm missing anything, but all I can think is happy NGD!! I will still begin saving now for that 614 but I am VERY Happy with this one as well : ) thanks to everyone who helped me with the specs on this one, told me what to look for, etc etc etc!
have a couple more pics I wanna pull from my phone but here's these for now. i'm excited!!!

( link for the whole album incase the direct post doesnt work again:
https://imgur.com/a/s0eJS )

*edit - took the direct posting of the pics down due to their enormous size.. think I figured out how to resize them. sorry for all the fuss & confusion!

[RussL30]

Congrats! Taylor dreads are awesome. I wish my DN8 had that maple binding, it’s gorgeous. When you get it set up, I definitely recommend medium strings. Taylor dreads are made to use mediums and come with those from the factory. They can also be setup to play very easy with mediums.

[v32 finish]

Good to know. I'll definitely opt for the mediums, then. I apologize in advance for the huge size of these photos- don't see where to 'edit' this post to take them down/alter them. Clearly, I need some more practice with imgur and posting pics here. I just snapped some pics from my phone and not sure why they ended up so huge when posting directly here. Usually there's an option to edit, so I may log out and back in to see why it's not there.

Anyway, thanks for the encouragement. My first Taylor so I guess it's fitting that it's a dread.

[Quake17]

Looks great, congrats! Always nice to get a good vibe from the sale as well. I'll second the mediums for the dred too.

[pukematrix]

Nicely done! And it came with a non-monkey butt case, too. Upgrade! Congrats on the pick-up. Regarding strings, like folks have recommended, mediums are probably the place to start. Taylor strings them up with 13's from the factory. I always tend to come back to John Pearse phosphor-bronze on most of my guitars. I've got JP mediums on my cocobolo GS and really like the tone I'm getting. I recently tried DR Sunbeams on my 714 and have been pleased with them too. Both brands run $6 and change, so it's not a huge investment to try them out.

Welcome to the wonderful world of cocobolo - hope you enjoy it!

Austin

[marty bradbury]

Congrats on a beautiful guitar!!

[The Growler]

Beautiful. Congratulations!

[kcnbys]

Awesome! I've been a Taylor dread player for 20 years, and am only recently "Taylorless" (for now). Taylor dreads are my favorite of the brand, and that 710 looks fantastic! I also recommend using medium strings. Congrats, and enjoy!

[JLed79]

Gorgeous guitar man. Nice find!
I’m a big Taylor guy, but if I had anything negative to say about them it would be the string gauge set ups from the factory. Only the GO and Dreadnaughts come setup for mediums, while everything else gets lights. I have no doubt that the reason for this is to add to the “Wow, Taylor’s play really easily!” thing they have going for them. I’ve set both of my GAs up with Mediums and it really increases the tone they put out. I still have lights on my GC, but am actually thinking of bumping them up too.
All this is to say, absolutely go with mediums!
Nice guitar, congrats!

[Earl49]

Nice acquisition!

FWIW I have used both lights and mediums on all my Taylor guitars for years (I have everything except the GC size). These days I use medium almost exclusively. I like driving the top a little harder and any Taylor can handle it.

[v32 finish]

Thanks for all the replies!

I'm leaning towards using the extra set of medium Martin SP's that I've had since they came with my Washburn when I bought it. Hard to argue with free. Then again, I may just experiment. I went with elixir PBs (lights) when I re-strung the Washburn and I'm not a fan. I can deal with the slippery, but I don't like the twangy, metallic sound. I play alot of fingerstyle and light strumming, occasionally picking it up a notch, so I prefer something warm, rich, responds well to a lighter touch. I wish I knew which strings were on it right now, but then again, they're literally years old, so not really a comparison. They're definitely mediums by the look of it.

Thanks again guys! I will do a forum search on strings for taylors and come up with a few more recommendations, then go pick up a couple sets and experiment. the fun begins.. For now I'm just loving getting acquainted, songs just sound better on a nicer guitar and for me this is a heckuva upgrade/addition

many thanks once again to all who contributed and left good vibes in this thread

[pukematrix]

Originally Posted by v32 finish

...I prefer something warm, rich, responds well to a lighter touch.

You might want to give the DR Sunbeams a try if that's what you're after. Your mileage may vary, but they tend to warm up my 714 nicely. If you try them, just be careful not to cut them before you've got them tuned up - they're wound round core and will unravel on you if you cut them before they're installed all the way.

[StevieJ]

That looks a fine instrument. I’ve got a 710ce Ltd Coco and agree with you ... mediums. Word of warning! Keep it in the case with a humidity device or in a room with a humidifier ... they hate central heating!
I love the mellow sound, incredible action, beautiful woods and it plays like a dream. Enjoy yours.

[Wasper]

Originally Posted by v32 finish

but I don't like the twangy, metallic sound. I play alot of fingerstyle and light strumming, occasionally picking it up a notch, so I prefer something warm, rich, responds well to a lighter touch.

Hi,

First off, congrats on the new Taylor!

As for the strings for your Washburn, perhaps there was a reason the person recommended to go with the lighter string choice (anything going on there?). That said, there are options out there to put on some lower tension medium sets.

Read this post from the other day:

http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...29#post5660129

The Newtone Heritage is warm and responsive and the Medium set is only 155lbs of tension, compared to Martin's sp mediums at 181 lbs. Might be a happy medium between the tension and sound you looking for ( )

[polarred21]

Very nice guitar...hope you enjoy it!