strange battery arrangement on Taylor 314-CE

[oldbob]

Dear all,

I'm a new comer in this interesting forum , just bought and used Taylor 314-CE of 2006.
The very odd story is that battery 9v is fixed inside, on the back side of guitar, close to the electronics of ES, but no round cap on the bottom for battery housing as for standard delivery is present.
Nevertheless no visible marks of aftermarket modifications are present: how can have been removed the round cap without permanent tracks on the bottom of the guitar?
I've contacted Taylor, and they say that this seems a "postproduction modification", but no comments of the fact that no visible tracks are present.

Have you any idea on what can be happened? The private seller claims that he bought the guitar as it is by an important italian dealer.

Thanks,
Roberto

[joeguam]

Roberto, you'll probably get better replies if you include a picture.

[oldbob]

you are right, but it seems I'm not enabled to post attachment
If I click on "Insert Image" I'm asked for the url of the picture

[dhalbert]

Originally Posted by oldbob

you are right, but it seems I'm not enabled to post attachment
If I click on "Insert Image" I'm asked for the url of the picture

AGF doesn't store pictures for us, because it would use up a lot of disk space and bandwidth. You have to put the picture somewhere else yourself, and put in the URL to it. I use photobucket.com for this (you can get a free account); there are other choices like imgur.com.

[oldbob]

Thanks Dan.

Here the picture of the internal battery fixing:


and here the bottom of the guitar, where we can see only an input jack without any track of the "postproduction" changes that Taylor suggested me to explain the missing of the standard battery box.


It sounds to me quite strange that someone could have removed the box rebuilding the bottom wood of the guitar.
I would more think in a limited Taylor delivery of the arrangement of my guitar, but they do not support my view

If some one has happened something similar I'm glad to share opinion.

Roberto

[jonfields45]

Clearly not factory original, but given the invasiveness of installing a ES magnetic system inside the NT neck pocket, it is hard to imagine it was done by anyone other than Taylor. Maybe the person who paid for the installation insisted on no battery box at the end pin??? Jon

[briggleman]

I can't wait for the theories on this one.

My first thought, a pre-production of the ES1 version 2.
Maybe a road show guitar that was introducing the new 9 volt system.

A special order would explain it, but in a 314? I would expect this in a BTO 5 series on up.

I think this was clearly done by Taylor if the mag. pickup is installed and the label says 314-CE. Or, if the mag. pocket is in all the Taylors, then someone picked up a ES system and had it installed and did a great job of electrical modifications.

Send the picture to Taylor, call them up and they will give you the address to send it to, or give them the link to look at it here. Go straight to the horses mouth and see if its one of theirs!

[oldbob]

Hi,
I've already posted to Taylor through a form I found in their site, with pictures of the issues and of the S/N. A guy effectively answered in short time, but his explanation was about a "postmarket" changes. No explanations given, even if I requested, on the fact that is quite improbable to remove the standard battery box (no reason to do it) without seeing tracks of the change.
He gave me the address of European Taylor assistence center, in Amsterdam, in case I want to put the standard box. A pity I live in Italy and I do not want to spend hundreds of euros more, otherwise I would have bought a new one...
My expectation is only to find a logical explanation. By the way I also tought to a limited preproduction directly by Taylor, but the guy who answered me didn't confirm.

bah, a real pity 'cause I followed since years the "dream" of such guitar, and now that I got it I've some bothering noise in mind

[Bob Womack]

Here is a scenario that might explain your guitar:

The guitar was special-ordered by the end user or a dealer as a 314c, no e, as in "no electronics." Taylor built the guitar and shipped it, putting a standard factory label on rather than printing up a special one.. This has happened before - someone here had a special-order K14c after they switched to the Engelmann top (2003?) that he had ordered without electronics but that had showed up sporting a K14ce label. At that point they were no longer making any stock K14c guitars so they didn't print those labels. That would account for the label and the lack of a battery pack at the lower strap button.

Either when the guitar arrived at the dealer or afterwards someone could have decided to add ES-T (body sensor only) electronics to it. The ES-T is normally a 100 and 200 only installation. But, without the neck pickup, it would be a simple field upgrade needing only the three holes for the controls to be drilled. Taking apart the neck wouldn't be necessary. In 2007, Taylor switched to the 9v battery system. One way to find out what ES you have is by looking to see if wires lead to both a body sensor and a magnetic pickup mounted in the neck. No neck pickup wires? It is an ES-T.

So, there is one scenario that would allow for your guitar's condition. There could be others. Perhaps you have a rare bird there. If it is an ES-T, there are flocks of people on the board here who will congratulate you for not having a magnetic pickup.

Bob

[fazool]

What Bob said.

installing the ES system is not invasive at all.

[oldbob]

WOW! Great investigation at the end.
What I completely missed in my view is a possible starting point from a 314-C, not electrified, that really make the scenario quite logical, even if the whole story is not to be teached to marketing guys...
At the end I'm not sure if there are ES or ES-T system, not easy to look under the top.
Thanks for all comments.
Roberto

[briggleman]

Well, I see two switches on that pre-amp inside, so turn them both off and see if you still have sound, leads me to believe if you do, its a full ES1 version 2 system.

[oldbob]

Done the test: I have sound whichever of the 4 combination on/off of the 2 switches, apparently without any difference. I wonder what they are for
So Briggleman, if your conclusion is correct (preproduction ES1 version2), at least this explains the label 314-CE, not so "ethic" for Taylor if the other scenario were true.
Do you know where I can find specs of this ES and differences with the current (ES2?).

Thanks again to you and other forumists for helping in this tricky story. I can enjoy my 314 more relaxed than the beginning, when I was afraid to have been cheaten.

[briggleman]

One more thing to check.
Look into the soundhole, toward the neck, and see if you can see two wires running up and to the neck about two frets back. That would confirm the presence of the magnetic pickup. If so, you have a rare bird, and I would be more excited than dismayed about it. I would try and get a little more history on this guitar.

Thanks for posting!

Oh, as for specs.... well, I can just tell you my understanding of the various versions.
ES1(balanced or unbalanced output) came in basically three versions... First ES1-1 the 3 volt (two AA batteries) pre-amp, two body sensors, and magnetic pickup. ES1-2 upgraded pre-amp, 9 volts (standard 9volt battery) two body sensors. ES1-3 revised the system to 1 body sensor, magnetic pickup and refinements to the pre-amp again. ES2 (unbalanced output only) does away with the body sensors and magnetic pickup which are replaced with a 3 part pressure adjustable bridge sensor and a pre-amp.
ES1 version 3 and the new ES2 are both being offered in Taylors in production today. Others in the forum are much more knowledgeable when these systems came on-line or incorporated into the guitars and specifics as to what each one improved over the other.

I am one of those that prefers the ES1 sound over standard mic/ust/ or body sensor type pickups. Some really dis-like the tone the ES1 produces or should I say some find it too magnetic sounding.
( I never really understood that statement since the output your ear hears is going to be produced by a amplifier and speaker. Maybe because they compare it to electric guitars with humbuckers... I don't know)

[jseth]

Yep, sounds like it was an after-market installation, BUT probably done by either Taylor or a "Factory Authorized" Taylor technician...

If you play it amplified much, try using a TRS>XLR cable with it; if it's the older version of the ES, it should sound much better and have a much hotter signal. Basically, it's like the ES is a stereo system and when using a normal guitar cord, you only get half of the true output signal... this is not exactly accurate, but close enough for government work!

The TRS portion of cable has the facility to capture both sides of the signal and send it, in a balanced line-level format, to the XLR (most microphones have this type of connector); when the signal is balanced, you can use a very long cord without losing any signal (or much, anyway).

The ES CAN be used with a normal cord, and if you are happy with the sound, no reason to change, really. If you aren't thrilled with the tone of the ES, then try the different cord and see what you think. Many folks on this site have been quite pleased once they switched to a TRS>XLR cable for their ES systems...