MAPLE !!! Images & Impressions :)

[cpmusic]

Nothing quite as fancy here as what's been posted so far, but they suit me just fine. First is my '83 615, and second is my Taylorstock 355ce in maple. The 615 has matured beautifully and has changed more than a few minds about maple guitars. The 355 took a while to find its voice due to a very stiff top (hand-picked by Bob Taylor, no less!) but it now has a clean and crisp tone across the board.

http://www.cpmusic.com/instrument/615-3-a.jpg http://www.cpmusic.com/instrument/355-4-a.jpg
http://www.cpmusic.com/instrument/615-3-a.jpg http://www.cpmusic.com/instrument/355-4-a.jpg

[michaelw]

Oh yeeaaahh.  Stunning burst and quilt, indeed!  Congrats, Steve!

Hey John,
I've never posted sound clips before.  Maybe I'll try it...
FWIW, I was in the "process" of saying goodbye to my beloved GA7-E just earlier today (which fortunately will be within arm's reach so I'll have visitation privileges ), and was doing some serious A/B-ing between this RT and it.  Keep in mind the RT is a Style 2, that's a GC body for anyone who just tuned in.  And it returns a voice that is as deep, if not a bit "throatier" than the larger GA.  Yeah, maple vs roswood, and a smaller body to boot, and it's somehow deeper??!!!  And volume: umm, can it be louder? ...the voice is a bit different, and I dont want to confuse timbre with volume, but informally this style 2 seems a touch louder than the GA.  And the mids ...while I love what cedar brings to the table in warm mids with good presence, the engelmann top (and everything else, I assume, but the engel has got to have lots to do with this I would guess??) on this RT brings eveything I love about a cedar/rw guitar, and then delivers more of it.  Weird, when I try and wrap my brain around it.  I mean, how much more different can these two guitars be, yet somehow the RT cops that big, round, warm tone of cedar, solid defined bass notes, and then kicks it up further.  The treble strings are even a bit thicker sounding, yet has that crisp top that defines the notes well.  All the while being characteristically maple in it's punchy attack and "forward" tone.  All this is through the filter of my innacurate ear, mind you, but that's what I hear.  And it's nice ...very nice given I love the ced/rw combo and this RT-2 makes me feel like the cedar somehow never left me.  Man these RTs are remarkable guitars!

Edward

Edward, thanks for the review/comparo -
that natural 614 left the building a while back & at this point i wish i'd considered
a RT much more strongly in the past, especially well before last September

if the not-so-distant future brings me to the lower west coast, i'd love to hear those 2 beauties
& if for some reason it were to happen in 2014, i'll bring the 30 year old 612 & 650 that replaced the nat 6




i was hoping you'd be here ...
alright Steve
there we go !!!

[John429]

Oh yeeaaahh.  Stunning burst and quilt, indeed!  Congrats, Steve!

Hey John,
I've never posted sound clips before.  Maybe I'll try it...
FWIW, I was in the "process" of saying goodbye to my beloved GA7-E just earlier today (which fortunately will be within arm's reach so I'll have visitation privileges ), and was doing some serious A/B-ing between this RT and it.  Keep in mind the RT is a Style 2, that's a GC body for anyone who just tuned in.  And it returns a voice that is as deep, if not a bit "throatier" than the larger GA.  Yeah, maple vs roswood, and a smaller body to boot, and it's somehow deeper??!!!  And volume: umm, can it be louder? ...the voice is a bit different, and I dont want to confuse timbre with volume, but informally this style 2 seems a touch louder than the GA.  And the mids ...while I love what cedar brings to the table in warm mids with good presence, the engelmann top (and everything else, I assume, but the engel has got to have lots to do with this I would guess??) on this RT brings eveything I love about a cedar/rw guitar, and then delivers more of it.  Weird, when I try and wrap my brain around it.  I mean, how much more different can these two guitars be, yet somehow the RT cops that big, round, warm tone of cedar, solid defined bass notes, and then kicks it up further.  The treble strings are even a bit thicker sounding, yet has that crisp top that defines the notes well.  All the while being characteristically maple in it's punchy attack and "forward" tone.  All this is through the filter of my innacurate ear, mind you, but that's what I hear.  And it's nice ...very nice given I love the ced/rw combo and this RT-2 makes me feel like the cedar somehow never left me.  Man these RTs are remarkable guitars!

Edward

Edward - I love your word descriptions of how your guitars sound. You are second to none in taking a reader along with you on a sound-journey! I'm now hoping more than ever that you get a chance to post a sound clip. Your RT sounds incredible.

[John429]

Nothing quite as fancy here as what's been posted so far, but they suit me just fine. First is my '83 615, and second is my Taylorstock 355ce in maple. The 615 has matured beautifully and has changed more than a few minds about maple guitars. The 355 took a while to find its voice due to a very stiff top (hand-picked by Bob Taylor, no less!) but it now has a clean and crisp tone across the board.

http://www.cpmusic.com/instrument/615-3-a.jpghttp://www.cpmusic.com/instrument/355-4-a.jpg

Chris - you have two stunning guitars there. I'll bet with 29 years of aging, your 615 has reaped some major benefits of aging that Bob Taylor has often mentioned and no doubt sounds wonderful. It sounds like you may have an interesting story to tell about your Bob Taylor hand-picked 355?Would love to hear it

[cpmusic]

Chris - you have two stunning guitars there. I'll bet with 29 years of aging, your 615 has reaped some major benefits of aging that Bob Taylor has often mentioned and no doubt sounds wonderful. It sounds like you may have an interesting story to tell about your Bob Taylor hand-picked 355?Would love to hear it

Thanks, John. The 355ce came about when the AGF was the TGF. The TGF's owner, JR, had gotten to know Bob and some of the other folks at Taylor and worked out a two-day visit to the factory, which included what was basically an in-person BTO with Bob. I had to keep my price down so I stayed with the 300 series which couldn't be altered too much (maple was the 300 LTD that fall), but all of the tops were high-end. Bob went through the entire stack of Sitka before settling on the one that's on my guitar, so what I have is essentially a Plain Jane 655. Regardless of price, all TS guitars came with a hand-signed Custom Shop label. I don't know how many people still have their Taylorstock guitars, but mine isn't going anywhere.

[John429]

Chris - you have two stunning guitars there. I'll bet with 29 years of aging, your 615 has reaped some major benefits of aging that Bob Taylor has often mentioned and no doubt sounds wonderful. It sounds like you may have an interesting story to tell about your Bob Taylor hand-picked 355?Would love to hear it

Thanks, John. The 355ce came about when the AGF was the TGF. The TGF's owner, JR, had gotten to know Bob and some of the other folks at Taylor and worked out a two-day visit to the factory, which included what was basically an in-person BTO with Bob. I had to keep my price down so I stayed with the 300 series which couldn't be altered too much (maple was the 300 LTD that fall), but all of the tops were high-end. Bob went through the entire stack of Sitka before settling on the one that's on my guitar, so what I have is essentially a Plain Jane 655. Regardless of price, all TS guitars came with a hand-signed Custom Shop label. I don't know how many people still have their Taylorstock guitars, but mine isn't going anywhere.

Chris - this sounds like a dream come true - an in-person BTO with Bob Taylor with him hand selecting your wood! What an extremely cool experience this must have been for you. Also, I wasn't familiar with what you mean't by the Taylorstock (TS) guitar reference, so your story did a nice job of explaining that too. I would also hold onto a guitar like this as it it very special. Thank you for sharing this interesting story

[michaelw]

hi Chris,
yep ... those were fun times
this one's still hanging out here

[John429]

hi Chris,
yep ... those were fun times
this one's still hanging out here

Michael - did your blue guitar also come from the Taylorstock build??

[michaelw]

uh-oh ... busted

um, er ... that one did

the other happened the year after
http://www.unofficialtaylorguitarforum.com/index.php?topic=8.msg449#msg449

[John429]

Michael - your blue 2003 614cL2 is special in so many ways and insanely beautiful. Crazy quilting, flamed maple neck, blue paua rosette to match the blue color, 900 grade Engelmann top, and I just noticed the music note on the heel as well - a cool customization I have never seen before. I imagine you have a great story about how this customized guitar came about! This is one that I would consider a guitar to keep for a lifetime. "Wow" does not begin to describe it!

[michaelw]

thanks John

the most recent set of pics are of a 02 614cLTD that has a maple headstock,
mastergrade flamed maple neck (3 pc 'matched' set), flamed maple binding,
Artist fretboards inlays, ebony heel cap & a sitka top that Bob hand-picked

the neck is truly unique & due to the painstaking process required
to make it, i don't believe that it would be done again (at any $)

Taylor really pulled out all the stops on this one & on all of the guitars

the event was amazing & i believe that as more people make their way in,
there will be more pictures & stories that will be shared from that weekend

i'll try to round up some more pics to put up later

[John429]

thanks John

i'll try to round up some more pics to put up later

Michael, I would love to see them if you get a chance to post them. So do you still have both of your blue guitars?

[tnfiddler]

Late to the party, but I just picked up my new 614ce this past weekend!  Loving it already!!!  Just thought I would throw in a couple of pics of my custom-built October 2006 Charles J. Horner fiddle too!!

[CJAZ]

My first real acoustic was a 614ce.  I loved it it just sang and the brightness of the maple was not an issue, particularly as I like my strings to dull out a little bit which provided some balance I suppose.  After getting a W10ce and a 615ce, the sound of the maple on the smaller guitar was lost to me and I stopped playing it.  The W10ce is my go to acoustic because of the fullness of the grafed walnut and the 615ce fills the gaps nicely with the voicing of the jumbo and the tonal quality of the engleman/maple combo.. 

It really depends on what your ear desires and loves.  Sometimes though I just flat out miss the 614ce because it was so pretty and it was my first real acoustic.



edited for language

[Herb Hunter]

I've played many maple guitars that were lifeless but occasionally I find one that I really like. More often than not, when I do, it is made with quilted maple though I've played a few 614s with flamed maple that I would have been very happy to own. I'm fortunate that my Turtle guitar sounds great, at least to my ears.