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  #31  
Old 01-22-2020, 03:05 PM
donlyn donlyn is offline
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That guitar that changed your mind


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Originally Posted by Goodallboy View Post
Several years ago I went into a shop and played three stunningly fine instruments from a maker I had previously decided held no interest for me. I was stunned at how deep the bass was and how boldly the guitar projected this big, full tone.

Those guitars were "Reimaged Taylors". I think I have the title right, please correct me if I don't. This was probably over 5 years ago and I've never played another Taylor like them.

If anyone can tell me the years they were made, or exact models, I would appreciate knowing. I didn't buy one then but one never knows.

This is gonna be a twofer.

I think the guitars you may have referred to were when Andy Powers re-did the entire Taylor rosewood (81x) line between 2013 and 2014. I remember a Taylor Roadshow in 2014 wherein they demoed a Grand Concert, a Grand Auditorium, A Grand Symphony, and the new kid, a Grand Orchestra. All were both played through a mic and then immediately plugged in. A T-5 was played too if memory serves me correctly.

It was a very impressive display.

And here's my story and I'm sticking to it. I had been looking for a rosewood Taylor jumbo for some years, and never really played one I liked. I had almost bought a nice Grand Symphony about a year previously to that demo, but didn't pull the trigger. Probably should have; it was that good.

So I went to this road show to see the elephants. I ended up liking the Grand Orchestra and played it both plugged in and especially acoustically. So much so that I bought the 818e at that show. Just a dynamite guitar. I eventually restrung the Elixir PB mediums with Elixir PB HD Lights. With the size of that body, I didn't need the medium gauge bass strings. I fingerpick everything with my fingernails, so the .013 - .053 works just fine for me.

And the cherry on the cake was an actual rosewood pickguard to go with a lightly streaked ebony fretboard. Very tasty.

Don
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85 Gibson J-200 sitka/rosewood Jumbo
99 Taylor 355 sitka/sapele 12 string Jmbo
06 Alvarez AJ60S englmn/mpl lam med Jmbo
14 Taylor 818e sitka/rosewood Grand Orchestra
05 Taylor 512ce L10 all mahogany Grand Concert
09 Taylor all walnut Jmbo
16 Taylor 412e-R sitka/rw GC
16 Taylor 458e-R s/rw 12 string GO
21 Epiphone IBG J-200 sitka/maple Jmbo
22 Guild F-1512 s/rw 12 string Jmbo

Last edited by donlyn; 01-23-2020 at 08:24 PM.
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  #32  
Old 01-22-2020, 03:10 PM
Shades of Blue Shades of Blue is offline
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Pretty much anytime I go into a shop, I plan to buy a Martin and walk out with something from Taylor. Taylor guitars have a way of seducing me in a shop, but I always prefer the recorded sound of a Martin. It happened first with a Taylor 414ce about 6 years ago, and then again 4 years ago with an 814ce.

The conclusion I've come to is that I prefer everything about a Taylor except for the fact that it doesn't sound like a Martin. I like the Taylor sound, but just not when you pit it against a Martin. However, I can't seem to find a Martin these days that sounds like the Martin sound in my head. I'm strange for that I guess.

That is why I love my Grand Pacifics so much. They actually do sound like the sound in my head.
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  #33  
Old 01-22-2020, 03:13 PM
jgottsman11 jgottsman11 is offline
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yes, I had every intention of buying another Collings OM2h a guitar purchase or two again. I went home with a Lowden F35 after the store manager told me to give it a try.
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  #34  
Old 01-22-2020, 03:43 PM
bufflehead bufflehead is offline
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I took my pickup into an automotive shop for new tires, and it turned out I needed a brake job as well. They told me everything could be done in an hour, and there was a guitar shop across the street, so I went over there. Ended up buying my first Martin while the truck was still up on the lift.
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  #35  
Old 01-22-2020, 03:53 PM
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Jeremy Jeremy is offline
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This happens to me quite often. In my most recent experience, I went to my local shop a week ago to pick up a Martin 000-28 Reimagined and ended up walking out with an outstanding Taylor 517e Builder's Edition.
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  #36  
Old 01-22-2020, 04:14 PM
DukeX DukeX is offline
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My Webber OM.

1998 I went to Buffalo Bros to buy a fingerstyle guitar (currently owned a very nice Larrivee D-05). I went looking for C. F. Fox, Martin, Taylor, Larrivee, Breedlove, and many others.

I had never heard of David Webber. Nothing in my $1,500 price range even came close to the Webber. I didn't want a Webber, but I couldn't not buy it. 20+ years later, and I still own it and still love it.
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  #37  
Old 01-22-2020, 04:25 PM
boombox boombox is offline
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Another "sort of" story. I went in to try a Martin Whisky Sunset 00-17 12 fret, with which I was really impressed and it was in my £2k budget. Then the sales guy suggested I try a second-hand Taylor 312 12 fret. Very nice, but the Martin still had the edge. He then, as all good salesmen try, suggested I play something over my budget, just to see... That was a 712e 12 fret and it was a "WOW!!" moment, but it was a fair bit beyond my budget. However, I looked around and was able to find another new one at a less wallet-busting price. This year we celebrate our fourth anniversary
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  #38  
Old 01-23-2020, 03:09 AM
LeftyKev LeftyKev is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by foxo View Post
Aye, I love it, it’s bold and loud and you could say even a bit brash in a good way. I find it’s equally suited to strumming and fingerstyle which is what I was after. I need to get better at DADGAD because it sounds so great in that tuning.
Yeah, just saving up for a 32C, after playing one a while ago. as you say, loud and bold, but just RIGHT, you know?
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  #39  
Old 01-23-2020, 03:42 AM
foxo foxo is online now
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LeftyKev View Post
Yeah, just saving up for a 32C, after playing one a while ago. as you say, loud and bold, but just RIGHT, you know?
Hope you manage to get your hands on one! I definitely know, when the chap in the shop asked me “are you dead set upon a Martin?” and handed me the Lowden I fell in love with it that instant. Haggling it really took my best poker face.

I played it last night unamplified to a crowd of about thirty and the volume really helped, at home though I am developing a softer touch with it - it can be quiet if you need it that way but it’s fun to drive it hard.
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  #40  
Old 01-23-2020, 04:18 AM
philjs philjs is offline
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I have two, related but separate...

In the early '70s, in the Toronto area, I was a budding fingersylist enamored of Bruce Cockburn and other local guitarists. In the early '90s I discovered Michael Hedges and realized that I was being limited by my old guitar...it just wasn't up to the task. So I set out on my first ever guitar shopping trip and quickly found that I was very attracted to jumbo-bodied guitars. What can I say? I like big bouts (and I cannot lie).

In late '91 I found a Taylor 615 that I liked at a local shop but the very next day I found a Larrivee J-09 at a different shop that also sang to me. Went back and forth between the two and finally, in early '92, decided on the Larrivee (one of three in that shop...when I started lessons with Don Ross shortly after the purchase (a whole other story) he said, "Oh, good, you got the good one!"). I still have it, now some 30 years old, and it still sings to me.

Fast forward 10+ years and I'd finished a PhD and was now in Austin, TX. The Larrivee had been my only guitar and I decided that I really needed a second. Went out looking for something smaller, an OM or a GA size was my focus, something to complement the Larrivee but not compete with it. But there hanging on the column in the acoustic room at the Guitar Center was a massive Tacoma baritone, a BM6C with it's 6" deep 18" lower bout (yep, I still like 'em) and 29" scale. Got bit by the baritone bug that day...and the Tacoma one, too. I did eventually get that small-body guitar, another Tacoma, a dream ECM38c that I also still have.

Sold the BM6C 'cause the scale was just too long for my small hands but I still love baritones and have re-purposed the Larrivee as a short-scale semi-baritone (3 strings down two whole steps and the other three down one) that does remarkably well. Recently ordered a Emerald X-30 (yes, a jumbo) fan fret (but that's another story, too).

Phil
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  #41  
Old 02-29-2020, 12:28 PM
JFB JFB is offline
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Red face Last minute change of mind

Saved up the money. Went to try the HD28 i dreamed of for a long time in a few different stores nearby. Came the day to pull the trigger, while waiting in the acoustic room, i heard a guy playing a guitar that sounded absolutely out of this world. When he finished, i picked it up and played it. After a few minutes i was hooked. I brought it home. It was a 2016 Boucher Bluegrass Goose Master Grade Flamed Bubinga. Just has the right amount of everything.
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  #42  
Old 02-29-2020, 01:59 PM
Racerbob Racerbob is offline
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Default Total surprise

Had a custom order SCGC F which fell short of my expectations and responded to a listing by a local member Tadol for one all mahogany which I thought would have the more mellow tone I was after. Took my new F to compare and was disappointed but he has a lot SCGC guitars so ended up playing a number but none was what I was looking for.

Then he pulled out a SCGC which, based on the wood and body size, wouldn't be expected to have the tone I was after. It was a OOO 12 fret with an adi top and koa sides and back. It was exactly what I was seeking. The 12 fret configuration combined with a slightly deeper body made all the difference. It went home with me.
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Last edited by Racerbob; 02-29-2020 at 03:33 PM.
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  #43  
Old 02-29-2020, 05:57 PM
Yrksman Yrksman is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robey View Post
Sort of. I walked into Gruhn's about 30 years ago with $2000+ in my pocket and my sights on buying a '60s Brazilian D28. Spent the night in a Motel 6 and was a bit disheveled looking. (Honest - I'm always a bit disheveled.) I was the first and only person in the shop that morning and was ignored the whole time, so I left in a slight pique and went to the Nashville Guitar Show and fell in love with a 1935 00-18. I later called Gruhn's to speak to the supervisor about my experience, and he told me they thought I was homeless. I thought he was full of it - who lets randos in the shop and pull expensive guitars off the rack? I think, because of my appearance, they just thought I was not worth their time to say "hello, what can I do for you?"

Saved myself some dollars, too.
I had a similar jump to conclusions situation a few weeks ago. I was flying to Zagreb from London Heathrow using up expiring air miles. I had a guitar with me and carried it to the gate where I sat down. Immediately I was called over to the Croatia Airlines desk and brusquely informed that I would have to check the guitar as the plane was full. I queried if Business Class was full? “Are you travelling business class”. “Yes”. “Oh I’m so sorry sir I didn’t realise, yes of course you may carry your instrument on board. Please accept my apologies”. What a change in attitude! I wasn’t dishevelled but casually dressed with a hat and guitar.
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  #44  
Old 02-29-2020, 06:48 PM
loco gringo loco gringo is offline
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I've tried to buy a D28 at least twice, starting before they were re-imagined. First time I came home with a D18. Second time a Southern Jumbo. I came to the conclusion that I was a mahogany guy and gave up on rosewood dreads.

Recently, I picked up a used pre-re-imagined D35 in a store and wham! There it was. Apparently, I was looking for the wrong guitar.
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  #45  
Old 02-29-2020, 07:32 PM
Jengstrom Jengstrom is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robey View Post
Sort of. I walked into Gruhn's about 30 years ago with $2000+ in my pocket and my sights on buying a '60s Brazilian D28. Spent the night in a Motel 6 and was a bit disheveled looking. (Honest - I'm always a bit disheveled.) I was the first and only person in the shop that morning and was ignored the whole time, so I left in a slight pique and went to the Nashville Guitar Show and fell in love with a 1935 00-18. I later called Gruhn's to speak to the supervisor about my experience, and he told me they thought I was homeless. I thought he was full of it - who lets randos in the shop and pull expensive guitars off the rack? I think, because of my appearance, they just thought I was not worth their time to say "hello, what can I do for you?"

Saved myself some dollars, too.
Same thing happened to me there on a visit to Nashville. I don’t do business with people who act like they’re doing me a favor by taking my money.

John
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