Back in the Taylor Fold

[beachbum205]

Greetings!

I haven't been around here much of late. I haven't been playing acoustic guitar nearly as much as I had in the past. To help our Worship Team at my church, I have been asked to play bass instead of acoustic (long story) and have agreed to do so.

Anyhow, it looks like I will now have some new opportunities to play acoustic, and so for the first time in a long time, I grabbed my 510e, and was blown away with how great it sounded, and how much fun it was to play! I also just picked up a used 110ce which will be my workhorse (at least in a limited sense).

So anyhow, it's nice to be back and seeing some old friends, and hopefully meeting some new ones as well.

[Edward]

Welcome back to the fold, man!

Fwiw, I still see you on that other place (lol!) and am glad to see you back here!

Side note:when I have been thrust into a bass spot on occasion in the past, man do I get nervous because I suck at it!  Few things worse that a guitarist playing bass like a guitarist.  But the one good thing about playing bass is it forces me to think like a bassist, and that stretches me.  Hope you had a good time at it, and I'm confident you did a world better than I ever did!!

Edward

[TaylorGirl]

Welcome back beachbum and congrats on your new-to-you 110ce. I have experienced a break on a particular instrument before, it can be refreshing to come back to. 

[beachbum205]

Edward- thanks. And trust me, I'm positive that I am worse at bass than you! Yet despite that, I have enjoyed the challenge of learning something new. But I'll always be an acoustic player at heart. (And BTW, I'm really fed up with the "other place". Can't remember when I was there last).

Taylor Girl- thanks for the warm welcome back. Glad you and others are still holding down the fort here!

[Edward]

And also a congrats on a 110! 

Fwiw, many years back I helped a friend find a used one and I was genuinely impressed with it, and not merely good "for its price" but because it was a genuinely good guit!  Not long ago I found a killer 210 used that I couldn't pass up and, sure enough, it's made itself a keeper (when other high-buck Ts have gone).  Stellar guitar line these 100/200s ...enjoy that, my friend!

Edward

[Earl]

Years ago I bought a 114ce to keep in Alaska, when I was traveling back and forth for work and guitar camps.  They are fine instruments -- much better than what I bought for more money in the 80's -- and worked well for week-long guitar camp.  It allowed me to have MY guitar there while not risking anything precious with the airlines.  That 114 still lives up north with friends and has actually become the de facto "camp guitar" at Acoustic Alaska Guitar Camp.  It has rescued some campers when the airlines lost or delayed their guitar.  The delay is really devastating when you are there only for the week of camp.

[beachbum205]

Yes, I have owned both 100 and 200 series in the past, and they have been consistently great! I don't remember why I sold or traded them- I guess I have often been deluded into thinking that "the grass is always greener". That's what GAS will do. Now these are pretty much all I can afford, but I don't feel bad about that at all.

The older I get, the more partial I have become to loud guitars- and these guitars are cannons. Not sure why- maybe it is the curved back?

Edward, enjoy your 210! And Earl- cool story- a great camp guitar indeed!

[Earl]

I really enjoyed going to that camp (www.acousticalaska.com) and learned a lot over the 13 times I attended.  When I lived in Anchorage it was only about an hour from my house, so I could take several guitars along.  I would play six string for classes and practice and at the campfire jams use my twelve string.  Putting wear on different areas of fingertip callous helped with endurance toward the end of the week.  Most of us don't log 60+ hours of acoustic playing in a normal week. 

When I moved south back to America again (a very Alaskan phrase) suddenly I had to trust a guitar to the airlines.  Since I had many friends up there willing to babysit, I bought the 114ce one trip and just left it there.  Between the excess baggage fees and the constant worry, that guitar paid for itself several times over.  Now it gets to help out fellow campers.  I would still go to the camp in a heartbeat every year, but commercial flying is out of the question for me now.  And driving from Idaho to Anchorage is 3400 really TOUGH road miles on the Al-Can Highway in each direction.

[beachbum205]

Earl- seems like the perfect guitar for that application. Just out of curiosity, what was the 12-string that you used?

[Earl]

At that time it was a Seagull S12, and I really liked how the cedar top mellowed the jangly nature of a 12-er.  Then I upgraded to a Taylor 354ce - the first non-dreadnought that they made in twelve strings around 2003.  It wowed me in the store when my wife handed it to me during a casual conversation in the nice guitar room.  I was noodling on it for nearly five minutes while chatting before realizing that it was a twelve-string.  Obviously it went home with us that day.

Both are long gone now, and these days I play a custom Emerald carbon fiber X20-12.  The custom part was a shorter scale (24.6") that takes about 7% off the overall tension at standard pitch, so it is a delight to play.  I find myself leaning toward shorter scale guitars these days anyway, with 24.75" being my happy place.  I can still play 25.5" scale just fine but shorter is feeling better as my hands age.

[jricc]

Welcome back and congrats on the 110 beachbum!

[donlyn]

Hey beachbum205,

This is a nice happy place even if just for a soothing visit.

Welcome 'home'.

Taylor's are my 'home' acoustic guitars. Still love playing them.

Taylor's 100 and 200 series are excellently made instruments and play/sound way above their 'weight'. And offer even more options in Taylor model selection.

It is known.

Don



 

[donlyn]

Hey Earl,

Sorry, I don't mean to be mean or nit-picky, but maybe it was just the wording.

"Then I upgraded to a Taylor 354ce - the first non-dreadnought that they made in twelve strings around 2003."

As far as I know, Taylor had been making 12 string Jumbo guitars for some years at that point.

My introduction to Taylor guitars was my 1999 355 12 string Jumbo, bought in it's birth year. While I do tune it down a semi-tone to 'D#' (as I do with all my 12 strings), it has never given me any problems in all the years I've had it. Just a great guitar. I often play it in alternate tunings. It can do anything, including whatever it wants, when I get in the zone.

It has seen a few more relatives join my 'Heard' since then.

Be well and play well,

Don

[Earl]

Hey Earl,  Sorry, I don't mean to be mean or nit-picky, but maybe it was just the wording.
"Then I upgraded to a Taylor 354ce - the first non-dreadnought that they made in twelve strings around 2003."
As far as I know, Taylor had been making 12 string Jumbo guitars for some years at that point. great guitar. I often play it in alternate tunings. It can do anything, including whatever it wants, when I get in the zone.

No worries, Don.  You are correct that Taylor made 12-string jumbos (x55 series, LKSM-12) before then, but that 354 was their first pass at making a smaller GA twelver.  And it was my first one that was smaller than a dreadnought.  My shoulder issues prevent me from playing most guitars larger than a GA, and GA is only workable because of the narrower waist and lower position relative to my shoulder.  Long ago that is why I bought a Martin J-40 to replace my D-28.  But I'm feeling much better now....   

I play slack-key guitar a lot on six strings using Open G [DGDGBD] but I find that to be less than ideal on a twelve string -- just too many sympathetic D strings there for my taste. 

[donlyn]

Hey Earl,  Sorry, I don't mean to be mean or nit-picky, but maybe it was just the wording.
"Then I upgraded to a Taylor 354ce - the first non-dreadnought that they made in twelve strings around 2003."
As far as I know, Taylor had been making 12 string Jumbo guitars for some years at that point. great guitar. I often play it in alternate tunings. It can do anything, including whatever it wants, when I get in the zone.

No worries, Don.  You are correct that Taylor made 12-string jumbos (x55 series, LKSM-12) before then, but that 354 was their first pass at making a smaller GA twelver.  And it was my first one that was smaller than a dreadnought.  My shoulder issues prevent me from playing most guitars larger than a GA, and GA is only workable because of the narrower waist and lower position relative to my shoulder.  Long ago that is why I bought a Martin J-40 to replace my D-28.  But I'm feeling much better now....   

I play slack-key guitar a lot on six strings using Open G [DGDGBD] but I find that to be less than ideal on a twelve string -- just too many sympathetic D strings there for my taste.

Earl,

Yeah but consider 'D' tones.

And I've met some unsympathetic 'D' strings too, even when there's only two of 'em, but both served on the same 'course'.

Sorry about the shoulder. I'm average sized and shrinking, but my shoulders are a bit on the wider side. Tough to get shirts that fit well, but baggy-ness has some advantages, especially as the waistline grows 'older' too.

I've had some off and on issues with my hands that have temporarily derailed my guitar train. My 412e-R is my only short scale, and it has earned a place in my heart as the only guitar I could play at all when I was able to start getting back on track. Had trouble stretching with my left (fretting) hand and fingers, and the 412 was the first one with which I could move around the fretboard while recovering. Once from a fall and once from a sprain. Both originated in stupid-land.

Don