NGD but with issues

[Locky]

So the Taylor 214ce-k deluxe came today. Plays and sounds great but there is a couple finish blemishes that I am not sure what I should do. Send it back for another or just keep it. On the fretboard you will see the unfinished area between 10th and 12th fret and on the headstock there's an unfishished mark on the corner. I am also throwing in a picture of the wood grain of the Koa wood on the back which looks cool.

[Greg Ballantyne]

Are you sure those are unfinished spots? Could they be lighter colored grain in the wood? The back of that guitar is beautiful.....

[aknow]

Nice guitar. If it sounds good, and plays well for you, keep it. Cosmetic blemishes on the fretboard don't bother me. Might disappear if you oil it the 1st time? Good luck.

[ADG]

Those are not finish defects but rather natural variation in the color of the wood. If it bothers you, you should seek to exchange it.

[Goat Mick]

Originally Posted by ADG

Those are not finish defects but rather natural variation in the color of the wood. If it bothers you, you should seek to exchange it.

^^^ This. Taylor doesn't dye it's fretboards so you're just seeing natural variations in wood color. That is a gorgeous guitar. Enjoy that thing!

[arwhite]

Those aren't blemishes. They are natural variations in the grain. I think it looks pretty cool. If you like the tone keep and appreciate the uniqueness of its appearance.

[HOF dad]

I may be wrong but a lot of guitars (Taylors in particular) keep some of the natural grain color variation intact. I've see it mostly on the fretboards.
I think it looks great but it has to make you happy
+1 on the koa back and sides - gorgeous.
I almost bought one of those. I loved the sound, playability, and looks.
Congrats


Dan

[bigreddog]

Once you ding it for the first time those blemishes will seem trivial. I call it the new car syndrome---you know when you first get it you're all anal about it and wash it 8 times a week then the new wears off and it's "just another car".

Play that sucker and enjoy!

[L20A]

I like my new guitar to be blemish free. If that was mine, I would ask for a different guitar or a big discount on that one.

That fret board draws my attention to the flaw. It would really bother me.
Same with the headstock.

I've seen and played a lot of Taylor guitars and I have never seen one with these flaws on it.

[jim1960]

They look like natural variations to me as well.

[Scoobtay]

The headstock looks like a defect to me. The fretboard is as designed but it looks like the stain came off the headstock 100%.

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by jim1960

They look like natural variations to me as well.

Same here. I am a guy who likes these "distinguishing" sorts of things as opposed to "Yeah, it looks just like every other one I've ever seen."
That's just me. On this guitar I can see why you might want to exchange it.

...it's a "one of a kind"

[Chedeng88]

Those are indeed NOT blemishes. Taylor recently had made a move towards sustainable Ebony:

https://www.taylorguitars.com/about/sustainable-ebony

[cmd612]

I'll pile on: those aren't blemishes, they're wood grain.

I think it's beautiful, but what I think doesn't really matter. If you don't like it, send it back and get something you're happy with. Good luck.

[MrErikJ]

Those are just variations in the color of the ebony. Taylor now controls the majority of Ebony supply in the biz and they are refusing to waste viable ebony due to inconsistent coloring nor will they dye it. Bob talks more about Taylor's involvement in sourcing ebony responsibly below:

https://youtu.be/anCGvfsBoFY