POLL : What options would you like to see offered from Taylor next year ?

[michaelw]

just wondering what options y'all would like to see offered by Taylor next year

perhaps -
standard Gloss Body on 300/400 Series with updated rosette/fretmarkers & more options
more bracing & top options on 500/700 Series
delete cutaway & binding options on 600, 800/900 Series (without having to go BTO)
more BTO options (including RT designed bracing patterns & neck width)

have fun

[John429]

I was wondering if anyone knows if Taylor has ever made a 600 series/Maple b & s with a redwood top? I saw that on the option list of Michael's poll above and it made me wonder. I suppose if they ever did make one, it would have had to be a BTO? I would be extremely curious as to what this combination would sound like.

[flaggerphil]

I don't know...do they already have an option for an all-mahogany GS body?

[jalbert]

Taylor can (should) only stock a limited number of models and variations. What, they have about 100 right now? Otherwise it makes it a lot harder for the dealers to keep stock moving. That's why, in my opinion, Taylor offers the modify-a-model program as well as build-to-order. I'm all for adding options to that program like 1 13/16" neck, deep body, redwood top, etc.

Another thought: Taylor isn't going to offer too many options on the 300/400 series. Imagine this extreme: what if Taylor offered a 254e? (A 12-string laminate rosewood with electronics). That would cannibalize, if not decimate, the sales of their higher-end 12-strings. A related aspect of this is why you don't see the really fancy woods (cocobolo for example) on otherwise plain guitars. Bob Taylor once said regarding Brazilian rosewood, and I paraphrase: "If you want my Brazilian rosewood, I'm going to sell you everything else I've got--abalone purfling, fancy inlays, etc."

So I'd expect to see more and more BTO/MAM options while leaving the predefined series as-is.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Great thread Michael. I went with deep body GC and slope shoulder DN. Would love to be able to order a custom Madagascar/Adirondack slope shoulder dreadnought with short scale and burst finish and a 12-Fret GC with deep body.

[dkoloff]

Great thread Michael. I went with deep body GC and slope shoulder DN. Would love to be able to order a custom Madagascar/Adirondack slope shoulder dreadnought with short scale and burst finish and a 12-Fret GC with deep body.

Ted,
Right on track with the deep bodied otions on the GC and GA.....The Taylor version of a Santa Cruz deep bodies OMS would be perfect.

[Ted @ LA Guitar Sales]

Great thread Michael. I went with deep body GC and slope shoulder DN. Would love to be able to order a custom Madagascar/Adirondack slope shoulder dreadnought with short scale and burst finish and a 12-Fret GC with deep body.

Ted,
Right on track with the deep bodied otions on the GC and GA.....The Taylor version of a Santa Cruz deep bodies OMS would be perfect.

I'm drooling already Dave. 

[michaelw]

I was wondering if anyone knows if Taylor has ever made a 600 series/Maple b & s with a redwood top? I saw that on the option list of Michael's poll above and it made me wonder. I suppose if they ever did make one, it would have had to be a BTO? I would be extremely curious as to what this combination would sound like.

hi John,
i can think of at least 2, although they with pre-Standard II bracing & had extremely figured (quilted) 'non-sinker' tops on them
from what i've played, i feel that redwood takes a good bit of cedar's warmth & adds the 'snap', immediacy & headroom of sitka,
with somewhat 'darker' overtones, still very strong fundamentals with maple, with longer sustain (decay is not a quick as ) & i feel
that redwood is better suited for maple than cedar (although a stiff cedar top with adi CV would most likely close the gap a good bit) ...

all i can say is if one were to spec a BTO with sinker/maple, they'd be for a treat (imho)

[michaelw]

Great thread Michael. I went with deep body GC and slope shoulder DN. Would love to be able to order a custom Madagascar/Adirondack slope shoulder dreadnought with short scale and burst finish and a 12-Fret GC with deep body.

thanks Ted ,
i've seen early 90's X12s with deep or 'D' designations on them & i have a 412 (all satin, rosewood board/pinless bridge)
that has a body depth, at the tail block, that is a hair deeper than the current DN/GA/GS & although it was made a good
while before the GC body was designed in 00 & again in 03, the NSX2s have always sported a 'deep' body on them

save for any tweaks to the bracing pattern (i'm not sure exactly was what done on the Fall 810eLTD deep body DN)
if any, i would think that tooling would already be in place to bend wider (deeper) sides for the GC body ...

there are other builders that have a good amount of success with a deep-body 000/OM & i think that with Andy Powers over there,
that there would be a very real possibility on expanding on Taylor's signature tone ... & a slope shoulder, 12 fret DN would be, imho, 

[michaelw]

I don't know...do they already have an option for an all-mahogany GS body?

hi phil,
i am certain one could be done as a BTO, but i do not know if one could be done as a modify-a-model (GS5 with hog top),
although spec'd with the same appointments, a BTO would like be very close in $ & one would be able to choose CV bracing -
adding a  nice natural edgeburst finish & koa binding ... that'd be kind of  , no

[michaelw]

Taylor can (should) only stock a limited number of models and variations. What, they have about 100 right now? Otherwise it makes it a lot harder for the dealers to keep stock moving. That's why, in my opinion, Taylor offers the modify-a-model program as well as build-to-order. I'm all for adding options to that program like 1 13/16" neck, deep body, redwood top, etc.

Another thought: Taylor isn't going to offer too many options on the 300/400 series. Imagine this extreme: what if Taylor offered a 254e? (A 12-string laminate rosewood with electronics). That would cannibalize, if not decimate, the sales of their higher-end 12-strings. A related aspect of this is why you don't see the really fancy woods (cocobolo for example) on otherwise plain guitars. Bob Taylor once said regarding Brazilian rosewood, and I paraphrase: "If you want my Brazilian rosewood, I'm going to sell you everything else I've got--abalone purfling, fancy inlays, etc."

So I'd expect to see more and more BTO/MAM options while leaving the predefined series as-is.

hi james,
i believe that Taylor's intention in 07 with the introduction of the acoustic series & revamping the CE line
was to reduce the overall # of models ... & then the addition of the T3, SB, expanded X16ce/100/200ce & GS Mini

the 416ce was introduced this year & Bob stated in a recent W & S that the 316ce is coming &
i would think that for a small upcharge, a couple of updates (rosette/fretmarkers) & a gloss body
would not be unreasonable to be considered, as the gap has closed a good bit on 500-800 $s &
if one were able have a top option available (admittedly, a sapele or ovangkol top is a bit 'out there'),
one would not have to spec a full BTO ... or perhaps this one of the options that will remain 500/up

if Taylor were to expand on the 100/200s i imagine that a 112 or a 116 would likely be next (imho)...
perhaps an offering 100/200 LTDs steel strings with cedar tops (a la 2011 Fall NS24/ce LTDs)

to make a change in a standard feature & to add an option or 2, is mostly not out of the realm
of possibility i would think, but in order to keep a set line of differentation between what has
been always know as gloss top & gloss models, perhaps it will continue to stay that way ...
still, i think a engelmann/sapele or cedar/ovangkol would be a neat combo on a gloss top model

after all, one can dream, can't one
hmm... dear Santa 'Bob'

[andyi5]

Great question. Well, I'd be interested (as others have also expressed) to see a few options on the GS mini. Whether it's a hog top substitute as on the BT2, or a solid body with higher finishes, I'd be fascinated to see how different tonewoods may or may not affect the sound of this guitar.

[Strumming Fool]

Not on the poll but I would love to see wood binding as an option on Taylor's acoustic guitars (GC, GA, GS, DN). Maybe it is just a price point issue but it has alway seemed a shame that Taylor did not at least offer maple binding on the higher level models as they do with the acoustic/electrics.

I would love to know the explanation for Taylor's decision not to do so.

I agree, Schooner. I had asked Bob Taylor that plaintive question in W&S some time ago. Bob said that ivoroid, while being more expensive, provided a simpler, elegant, classic look for us acoustic purists. I'd rather they do away with the acoustic series altogether, and go back to offering the option of no electronics or no cutaway on the ce series. That's how I ordered my 514ce back in 2001. I got the wood bindings without a cutaway.

[michaelw]

it is possible to BTO a guitar to the acoustic series specs & add wood binding,
but when maple or koa is added, the $ is nearly identical to a 800 series, no E

i think that if the 5 & 7 series had rosewood binding & the 8 flamed maple,
it would be less likely that the acoustic series would remain consistent in $

i cannot recall the different prices for the original GA series in 95, but the 06 GS models were all priced identically
(the MC was a bit less) & i think that based on their popularity, they decided to go with it & expand upon it ...
in a way, the GA acoustic series seems (to me) to be like a 'throw-back' to when the GA were first introduced

perhaps providing more 'standardization' & covering more configurations with fewer options was an idea,
as 2 options on 2 models for all 4 configurations  -  GA (no C, no E), GAe, CE, or CE no E, rather than a
X14CE, no C no E (if there was not a specific X14 model offered), or X14CE, no C, X14 add C or X14CE no E

between  06 & 07, Taylor was able to add 66 new models & increased the total # of models by 40  (114 to 154)
rather than having to offer 180 models & by standardizing things a bit, it seems to become more managable

[Iplay2]

All Gloss on the 300 and 400 series

Adi CV bracing option for everything!