2007 R. Taylor style one. EC. EIR/Alpine Moon Spruce. Addie braces. exc+ OHSC
Recent 812ce is far more comfortable for me and my shoulder is beginning to push me to smaller guitars. Love this guitar it and I will miss the tone of this special guitar greatly if it moves on but time for me to admit I am a small guy and am getting older. Would consider trade for something special in GC, 000, or 00 size and similar value. In same condition I received it in from the ever loved Guitars44me here on AGF. Trade value is 4000, sale price is 3000. This one has a very good tone thanks to the asymmetrical bracing and very nice set of “moonspruce” from the supply Bob Taylor purchased in 2005. Supposedly the wood was collected twice a year at night, etc. Has very deep register but responds to light touch as well. It is very even across the register. Previous owner played it with light strings as a professional plugged in mostly. It has mediums now and really growls.
Below is the description from Guitars44me.
New (8/22/17) neck set, buff, inspection and setup by Tim Luranc.
Tim was the Head Luthier in charge of RT! He has played this guitar at gigs with me and REALLY likes it a lot! Tim Luranc is now Senior Repair Tech at Taylor Repair in El Cajon! He has setup guitars for hundreds of big name stars for Taylor for decades. You will see why they ask for his TLC!
25 1/2 inch long scale. R.T Slim carve neck! 1 3/4 inch nut. 2.25 inch string spacing at saddle. For older or smaller hands, the slim carve neck is very comfortable! However, if you have large hands or fingers you may be happier with a larger neck.
Action is 6/64 or 3/32 inch at the big Estring and 4/64 or 2/32 at the small E. This is Taylor's recommended action height. Very versatile. Works well for finger style and accepts hard flatpicking with grace and ease.
R.Taylor's style one is the same size as the Taylor Grand Symphony. But there are several significant structural differences under the hood. 16 5/16" inch lower bought. Kind of like an oversized dreadnought with more curves.
Super smooth and accurate brushed gold Gotoh 510 tuners, with black ebony look buttons to lighten the headstock a bit.
R. Taylor bone nut and wave compensated bone saddle. Aftermarket bone bridge pins added to wring out a tiny bit more tone.
Beautiful Ab rosette, and dots on the neck.
Original Ameritage Taylor branded OHSC, is in excellent condition. All latches work perfectly. No dings or gouges, and it smells fine. These cases are extremely protective, although they are heavy. Fits the guitar like a glove, and does the job admirably!
Factory installed ES system works perfectly. I took it to Tim L at the factory, and had the pick up upgraded to the ES 1.3 system. This is the last pickup that Taylor used until the ES2, and still installs as a special order. Taylor literature describes this pick up as sounding the most like a good condenser microphone.
So, to be clear, it is the 2010 redesign of the ES. This has the magnetic sensor embedded in the neck, and one body sensor on the inside of the top.
FYI, if you occasionally clean your frets with steel wool, be careful to completely cover the sound hole! Magnetic pickups do not like steel wool shavings. A lot of pickups which have problems are result of bits of steel wool attaching to the magnetic pups. This has never happened on this guitar, as I only clean frets with a Scotch-Brite pad.
Speaking of careful maintenance, this guitar has been kept in its properly humidified case when not being played or massaged with a ToneRite guitar vibrator. And stored in my climate controlled, humidity monitored, plant filled music room. In my non-smoking pet free home. Yes, perhaps I am a bit obsessive…
This guitar sounded incredible when I bought it! It had been played enough to open up nicely. Now that has been hung MANY times for a week at a time with the ToneRite, the sound is out of this world. Perfectly balanced, incredibly warm, lush, and fat. Huge low end, yet clear as a bell.
I am the second owner of this guitar. I purchased her in 2011, at Buffalo Brothers guitars in North San Diego County, gently used. She has been babied ever since.
Even though I prefer a smaller guitar as I am old and beat up, I could not resist the siren song this magnificent instrument. I a/b compared this guitar to over $500,000 worth of guitars, over the course of three visits to Buffalo Brothers! At the time they had 29 R.Ts, and this one took the cake.
R.Taylor was a completely separate company from Taylor guitars. Their guitars took about three times as long to make, due to extensive individual voicing and handwork. Unfortunately they turned out to be in competition with Taylor's Build To Order and custom guitar programs. They ceased production at the end of 2011. I have it on good authority from folks I know who worked at R.T. that if they ever start up production again the guitars will be a lot more expensive!
R.Taylor only made about 200 guitars a year for six years. In contrast the two Taylor factories turn out about 400 guitars per day!
R.T.s have significant structural differences from any other Taylors. Among them, solid Kerfing resulting in extremely rigid sides, which allowed the top to be made a bit lighter and braced a bit lighter, which needs to be done by hand, resulting in more volume, and better tone!
Also, the "snake head" headstock results in considerably smoother tuning due to a straighter string angle over the nut. And the Gotoh 510 tuners cannot be beat!
