Any Iron & Wine fans here?

[Bill Evans]

What Taylor guitar is Sam Beam using here? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGrcPRw6yYU. It's Rosewood right?

Bill

[ataylor]

Yes, yes -- I love me some Iron & Wine.

I know Sam Beam has a handful of Taylors -- that particular guitar looks like an older 710ce or something. I think I've seen him with older (mid-2000s) 514ce and 714ce models too. I remember there was a little snippet about him in one of the old W&S issues and how he liked the ES system for live shows. I saw him around the same time -- they were touring with Calexico for that collaborative EP -- and his Taylors sounded great live.

For all the talk about Taylors being "modern" guitars, he sure gets a great folksy sound out of them, doesn't he?! Just goes to show it's more about the player behind the guitar than anything.

[michaelw]

hi Bill,
it does look a like rosewood guitar, to me

at first glance, it could be an early 98 710ce - rosewood, 3 ring ab rosette, black binding,
large ab dot fretmarkers, gold Grovers & no label visible on the back through the soundhole

the appointments are the same as on the 94-00 700 series & the Fishman OnBoard blender
pre-amp was not used on the standard 710ce until 98, but it could be that the electronics
were retrofitted/installed at a later date, possibly a few years after the guitar was built

at 10:14, the 'smiley' bridge is visible, so it is unlikely that it is a later 99 or 00 model (imho)

[ctkarslake]

I haven't taken the time to really learn Beam's work, but I do appreciate the vibe he generates.