New pics - 1998 Taylor K14c (10 years ago and now)

[NOTP]

About ten years ago, I joined AGF and very quickly acquired a 1998 Taylor K14c from a fellow AGFer. I took some pics at the time and shared them on AGF. You'll see them again well below.

Here are NEW photos, taken ten years later. The guitar is still mostly clean except it has a few tiny dings in the finish on the top, and the tuners are starting to get a little spotty. Anyone know how I can get rid of the spottiness?

I obviously have a better camera now but it doesn't mean I'm a better photographer. I have the same guitar after ten years but it doesn't mean I'm a better guitarist either.

I don't seem to see a lot of these around. Usually, when I do, the koa looks a lot nicer than mine. I only have some subtle flame on one part of the lower bout and some inside the cutaway. I don't care though, as I bought it to play it hard.

Brief rundown on the specs as I know them:
-Almost sure that it's a non-NT neck
-Cedar top
-Koa back/sides
-Mahogany neck
-Ebony fretboard
-Ebony bridge
-Ebony bridgepins with MOP inlay
-Not sure what kind of saddle or nut...
-Nut is 1.75" wide
-Not sure what the headstock cap material is...
-Abalone rosette
-MOP inlays
-Tortoiseshell binding on fretboard, body, and soundhole
-Grover tuners
-Has been tuned down a whole step with 12-53 gauge Elixirs all this time (yes, that is quite slinky as far as acoustics go, but I'm primarily an electric player)

[NOTP]

And below are the photos from about ten years ago when I originally shared them on AGF in this thread: http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...ad.php?t=53882

[NOTP]

[NOTP]

[NOTP]

Hah, it looks like I was using Tortex 0.60mm (orange) back in the day. I somehow always keep gravitating back to using them. I kept trying different materials and moving up and down a gauge, and found that Tortex 0.6mm worked best for me. The weird thing is that I like much thicker picks and of a completely different shape and size when playing electric.

[jcarlos]

That is awesome! Glad you are taking good care of it, do you perform or is it a house guitar? I also play a whole step down, nothin wrong with that, I've never had an issue with it.

[NOTP]

Truth be told, this evening's photo session was the first time I actually exposed it to the outside and sun. I just realized I've lived in three different homes in the past ten years, and traveled a few times between them, but it had never been taken out of its case outdoors before. I've never played a gig before but don't really desire to do so.

I thought I'd mention the whole step down tuning because apparently the x14 shape is "voiced" to take 12-53 gauge strings in standard tuning. So really, being tuned down might mean I should be stringing it with 13-56, but I'm a misfit and don't follow prescribed rules. Being rebellious, I also primarily strum and flatpick this cedar-topped "fingerstyle" guitar.

[Brucebubs]

Beautiful guitar.
If you're worried about the tuners I can only suggest you buy a new set of genuine gold Grover Rotomatics so you can swap them over one day. You will get years out of those already on the guitar but one day you might like to replace them. Buy the genuine Grovers in the sealed pack, I bought some cheap copies for a project and they were rubbish, the 'real' ones are great just check the locating screw position matches up the same, it's an easy, simple swap. You can do it yourself. No drilling.

[Pippin]

Beautiful guitar...and good "maintenance" job, NOTP!

The koa back & side are gorgeous and not overbearing...

Do you recall how the guitar sound evolved over the years? In you expericen did the cedar top opened up with time?

Pip

[Bob Womack]

Last year of the "smiley bridge." And no, it is not an NT neck guitar. The koa line didn't transition into NT until mid-late 2000. That's a lovely K14c! The top has darkened quite a bit, hasn't it?

My cedar top from 1999 has remained a bit more "oatmeal" in color but each one is unique!

Bob

[picassov7]

Very cool that you have enjoyed the same guitar for 10 years! Here is to the next 10

[Jim]

That's a really nice guitar! Congrats on bagging it 10 years ago and keeping it. I am sure it sounds really good. As Bob mentioned, the neck is before they switched to the NT design which I think is a big plus. It is carved out of a single block of mahogany, rather than being three smaller pieces of mahogany glued together. The black color on the face of the headstock is ebony, the same as the fretboar. Notice the quality of this ebony being solid black which is unlike the streaky stuff they are using today. The binding on the fretboard and body and the cap on the heel of the neck are tortoise celluloid which is a high quality traditional material that is made from natural cellulose treated with nitrate and camphor. It is not plastic, and it is more expensive than wood bindings and I agree that the tortoise design is really attractive. My 1995 510 has it on it. It is also better than wood bindings since it protects the edges - celluloid takes moderate hits and rebounds to its original shape while wood bindings just dent. The saddle and nut would be TUSQ if they have not been changed by someone. TUSQ is a synthetic ivory that Taylor began using on their 1995 models and from then on. 1994 models and before used MICARTA. TUSQ is used by most of the big name high end Guitar makers including Martin, Taylor, Larrivee, Gibson, Breedlove, etc.

If you do much photography and would like to be able to take better photos of your guitars, you should look into investing a few dollars in buying a circular polarizer filter for your camera. If your camera can accommodate one that affixes to the front of the lens that is ideal, but if you have an inexpensive camera without the threading around the front of the lens you can just hold a polarizer filter in front the of lens. You can buy cheap ones for $20 to $40 or fancy super high quality ones for $70 to $100 if you are a real shutter bug.

Here is a comparison of what a photo looks like with a Circular polarizer filter on the left, and then on the right the same object photographed again in the same light with the filter. The filter removes 95% of the reflections.

[Dru Edwards]

Talk about a lot of great pics! Love the headstock inlay. It's great that you were able to revisit a purchase from 10 years ago. I take it that it's a keeper?

[NOTP]

Thanks to everyone for the kind words! I performed a cleaning, maintenance, and setup about two weeks ago and decided to capture what it looked like while it still looked reasonably "fresh".

Originally Posted by Pippin

Do you recall how the guitar sound evolved over the years? In you expericen did the cedar top opened up with time?

Unfortunately I don't have an ear that is able to pick up on subtleties. Maybe the previous owner already broke it in before I got to hear it for the first time. All I know is that it sounded great then, and it sounds great now.

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

Last year of the "smiley bridge."

Great eye! I hadn't even noticed the bridge pins arranged like a smile until you pointed it out, and that the current releases have them all lined up straight now! What has been seen cannot be unseen.

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

And no, it is not an NT neck guitar. The koa line didn't transition into NT until mid-late 2000.

Thanks for confirming!

Originally Posted by Bob Womack

The top has darkened quite a bit, hasn't it?

Possibly, but I can't be sure. The photos I took ten years ago were in completely different conditions with a different camera and different photo editing software compared to today's photos, so I can see why they would appear differently.

Originally Posted by Jim

As Bob mentioned, the neck is before they switched to the NT design which I think is a big plus. It is carved out of a single block of mahogany, rather than being three smaller pieces of mahogany glued together.

Here is something I had forgotten over the years and rediscovered when I shot the below photo. I notice the mahogany neck has a core with two wings flanking the core:

Originally Posted by Jim

The black color on the face of the headstock is ebony, the same as the fretboar. Notice the quality of this ebony being solid black which is unlike the streaky stuff they are using today.

I was unsure about the cap on the headstock only because it was absolutely devoid of pits found on ebony fretboard and ebony bridges. The headstock cap is smooth as glass, while the ebony fretboards on all three of my guitars have tiny pits characteristic of the wood.

Originally Posted by Jim

The binding on the fretboard and body and the cap on the heel of the neck are tortoise celluloid which is a high quality traditional material that is made from natural cellulose treated with nitrate and camphor. It is not plastic, and it is more expensive than wood bindings and I agree that the tortoise design is really attractive. My 1995 510 has it on it. It is also better than wood bindings since it protects the edges - celluloid takes moderate hits and rebounds to its original shape while wood bindings just dent. The saddle and nut would be TUSQ if they have not been changed by someone. TUSQ is a synthetic ivory that Taylor began using on their 1995 models and from then on. 1994 models and before used MICARTA. TUSQ is used by most of the big name high end Guitar makers including Martin, Taylor, Larrivee, Gibson, Breedlove, etc.

Thanks for the extra info!

Originally Posted by Jim

If you do much photography and would like to be able to take better photos of your guitars, you should look into investing a few dollars in buying a circular polarizer filter for your camera. If your camera can accommodate one that affixes to the front of the lens that is ideal, but if you have an inexpensive camera without the threading around the front of the lens you can just hold a polarizer filter in front the of lens. You can buy cheap ones for $20 to $40 or fancy super high quality ones for $70 to $100 if you are a real shutter bug.

Now that I've seen how glossy and reflective this guitar is, I'm going to be looking for a polarizing filter. I shot the majority of the photos in the shade and there was still plenty of glare bouncing off the guitar because I never got around to buying ANY kind of filter for my current camera... and I've dropped the camera lens-first onto a hardwood floor a couple years ago... (no damage to the lens but it left a dent on the floor!)

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

I take it that it's a keeper?

Yes sir! That, and the fact that I stayed away from forums, stores, reviews, etc. for the last ten years really helped to get rid of any GAS temptation, and I was happy with the amount of sonic ground the three guitars in my collection covered.

[The Growler]

Really, really nice. What a beauty!