What if ...

[73171]

....don't even know if Taylor would make this....

Grand Orchestra
12-fret
24.9 scale
non-cutaway
no pickup
Rosewood sides and back
Cedar top
Mahogany neck
Ebony fingerboard, bridge, & headstock overlay
Cindy inlays on headstock, fingerboard, and bridge only


and a matching baritone with a 28" scale...........

[jrporter]

i went with 800 as i am enthralled with the idea of the new 800 series. i've played about a dozen 814's. i've loved them all but i've yet to  own one. if the 2014's are a vast improvement, i'd love to add one to my happy little family !

I've determined that the GA is my cup of tea, and I've love to add one of the new 814s without c or e to the family...

with the HP package & the lightest, most transparent tobacco sunburst top, that would
blend the nicest features of the all the gloss rosewood series models into one, imho ... sweet

I agree. How did I forget the sunburst on top?

[michaelw]

i went with 800 as i am enthralled with the idea of the new 800 series. i've played about a dozen 814's. i've loved them all but i've yet to  own one. if the 2014's are a vast improvement, i'd love to add one to my happy little family !

I've determined that the GA is my cup of tea, and I've love to add one of the new 814s without c or e to the family...

with the HP package & the lightest, most transparent tobacco sunburst top, that would
blend the nicest features of the all the gloss rosewood series models into one, imho ... sweet

I agree. How did I forget the sunburst on top?

i mentioned lightest, most transparent, hoping it would be the "thinnest", because
on page 9 "finish by the numbers", a sunburst could  be anywhere from 0.5 to 3 mil
thickness, so it could  bring the finish up to 6+ or to 9 on a 5, 6, 7, 9, koa or PS
http://www.taylorguitars.com/sites/default/files/Wood-Steel_Winter-2014_EN.pdf

i remember reading a "what are you working on ?" W&S article & there was a mention of a sunburst being
applied to a 912ce & the amount of "paint" that was used was a lot, imho, close to 10 oz or something -
the 814 web page currently shows an upcharge for tobacco sunburst & no upcharge for honeyburst, but the price list
shows an upcharge for a sunburst only on the 500s, along with edgeburst, otherwise there should be no upcharge

i hope that matte 2.0 is offered on next years Custom program options, along with AP bracing

gotta eek every last bit o tone outta that sucker

[pjroberts]

i went with 800 as i am enthralled with the idea of the new 800 series. i've played about a dozen 814's. i've loved them all but i've yet to  own one. if the 2014's are a vast improvement, i'd love to add one to my happy little family !

I've determined that the GA is my cup of tea, and I've love to add one of the new 814s without c or e to the family...

Looking at your current arsenal, looks like a 6xx should be next in line, though I think the new 8xx is hard to ignore if given this "blank" check.

Can you drop a whole book of those blank checks off at my house, Michael?

[Jersey tuning]

An all koa GS 12 string with all wood bindings including soundhole and wooden fretboard inlays

with flamed koa binding, headstock overlay, backstrap, rosette & the tropical vine inlay
in koa with edgeburst finish, flamed mahogany neck,  florentine cutaway & adi bracing -
i can picture that one being on the back the cover of a future wood & steel

Yeah, and I ain't selling mine!

[Black Dog]

Is R. Taylor an option ?
Cocobolo / Sinker GS, no bling. Maybe an armrest.

[michaelw]

....don't even know if Taylor would make this....

Grand Orchestra
12-fret
24.9 scale
non-cutaway
no pickup
Rosewood sides and back
Cedar top
Mahogany neck
Ebony fingerboard, bridge, & headstock overlay
Cindy inlays on headstock, fingerboard, and bridge only


and a matching baritone with a 28" scale...........

Taylor's yet to offer a 24 7/8" scale option for the X18, i've only seen a pic of one cedar top X18 & perhaps after building it,
the decision was made to remove that option & the 12 fret would require the bridge placement & bracing pattern to change -
the baritone is currently offered in a 27" scale, with the X10, X10 deep body, GA or GS shape, with only one nut width & neck carve &
with the standard baritone models being discontinued, unless they're phased back into the 500 & 700s later on, i don't know if more
R&D could be expected to be put into them, as for a more "common" spec, such as string spacing at the bridge, it's a set 2 3/16"

interesting ideas, though -
a 12 fret X10 or possibly X16 would be , if those models are expanded upon further ... or a deep body X12

[michaelw]

Is R. Taylor an option ?
Cocobolo / Sinker GS, no bling. Maybe an armrest.

sure ... there's an "other" option

how i understand it, R Taylor was put on hiatus & the effort put into the builder's reserve series & some features,
such as solid lining, seemed to borrow a page out the R Taylor playbook, while others, like the tapered cutaway

& ukulele voicing, were pretty much the result of Andy Powers developing them & Bob being able to implement them into production -
R Taylor offered an asymmetrical bracing pattern & flat top geometry on the RTS1 X16 style shape, but only one bracing pattern &
top geometry was offered on the RTS3 X10, there were very few RTS5 X15s made & a RTS4 X14 was not developed, which is a bit
surprising to me, as the grand auditorium is likely Taylor's most popular body style, but seeing that Andy Powers will be responsible
for the majority of the input on the guitar's voicing, it might seem a bit out of place to have the R Taylor name on what could be
some of Andy's designs, which may work for other companies like PRS, whose acoustics were pretty much designed by steve fischer
http://www.stevefischerguitars.com/

the purflings, mitered corners & finer detail work, among other things, amounted to about 3X the number of man hours on a RT,
compared to the standard models, but design features, such as the paua rosette with bound soundhole & 0.080 back centerstrip
blurring the aesthetic line between the standard & RT, but i'd be interested in A/B'ng a 14 810 & 816 to a sitka/rosewood RTS1 & 3

[werkout52]

Mmmmmmm! Deep body GC sounds nice. Need a 12 string too but I need to unload a guitar or two first

[fretted]

After reading all of these, I think it would be a highly figured koa, deep body GC, 12 fret, no cutaway, no electronics with matching koa bindings nicely purfled with maple and ebony. the rosette would also be of maple and ebony. The fretboard  would  have the flamey koa binding too with a narrow maple purfling line like the one that goes on the R Taylors. And every part would be dressed in the new thin, gloss finish.

[Edward]

I thought the contoured cutaway was nothing short of genius! 

I had forgotten completely about it until reminded here...dang, what a great design!  Too bad it was deemed cost prohibitive as such a design detail really showcases factory ingenuity and manufacturing prowess ...not to mention it's just a dang cool feature, IMHO!  Bummer it was a non-starter!

Edward

[Strumming Fool]

I have a lot of fun with BTOs these days, but if the check were blank and good, I'd add a 914 with a few options, a tricked-out all koa (perhaps a 12 string version, just for fun)...let's see...this can become quite addictive - may have to move to Colorado!

[ericjungemann]

Michael and Jersey nailed it for me.  All Koa GS 12 with all the trimmings.

[michaelw]

Michael and Jersey nailed it for me.  All Koa GS 12 with all the trimmings.

that would make for a pretty 40th commemorative K series,
imho, especially with adi AP bracing, 3.5 finish & gotohs -
a deep body no c K20, 12 fret K22 & K24, K26, K66 & a K28 perhaps

[fretted]

I forgot to mention the Adi - AP bracing and the bone fittings.