Excitedly awaying delivery of my first Taylor - a beautiful 310e !

[PastorKenWells]

After my 40-year friend, a 1976 Alvarez 5034 was stolen from my church office the weekend of January 22, 2017, I finally decided upon its replacement.  I had been dreaming of upgrading to a Taylor for many years, ever since I heard great guitar players like Phil Keaggy playing one.  (He was the first I noticed with a Taylor.)

I debated long and hard between a 210e and a 310e.  After discussing it at length with Rob Cramer at Sweetwater I decided to go with the American made, solid wood, "real Taylor" and ordered it last night.  They sent me the pictures of the exact guitar I will receive and it should be arriving today.

I am looking forward to adding it to my "working collection" of guitars, which includes a 60's era Les Paul, and a 98 American Series Strat to which I have added a custom 5-way switch and push-pull volume and tone knobs so I can go with series & parallel of mid-bridge, mid-neck, and neck-bridge combinations, and throw the neck PU out of phase if I want.  (I don't use that much.) 

I play mostly Praise & Worship stuff at church, but also do some song-writing and occasional off-site performing.

I have been playing since 1975 as a Sophomore in High School and this is going to be the best acoustic guitar I have ever played -- even borrowed from someone else.

Pastor Ken Wells - Indiana

[TaylorGirl]

Welcome Ken. Sorry to hear about the theft of your Alvarez. Stealing from a church, that stinks. But, congrats on ordering your new Taylor. Tecate Taylor's are definitely real Taylor's, just as much as those made in El Cajon. They have very strict standards, regardless of where they are made. Nothing wrong with the series' made there. That said, you'll enjoy your 310e.

[zeebow]

welcome! stealing at a church..crazy and unfortunate

you'll love taylor and welcome!

[mgap]

Welcome to the forum Pastor.  Sorry about the Alvarez.  Maybe the new owner of the Alverez will be blessed by it.  Lets hope.  Maybe it was just good fortune for you.  Congrats on the new one.

[PastorKenWells]

The guitar arrived today, after a delay because the delivery people went to the wrong door and couldn't find anyone.  Once it arrived, it was torture waiting the time for the case to equalize temperature before I could take it out of the box!

I just played it for the first time.  WOW!  nice.  But my fingers need to adjust to the different spacing and scale.  That won't take long, since I play three different guitars, all different scales and spacing. 

[TaylorGirl]

Great. Would love to see pics.

[Soof]

Welcome Pastor Ken from a new member myself!

I thought of Rom 8:28 right away.  Definitely, this will be a good experience for you!

Russ

[michaelw]

congrats on the 310e, ken

sorry to hear about your alvarez -
i was looking around the interwebs & happened across this
http://www.guitarcenter.com/Used/Alvarez/Vintage-1976-5034-Acoustic-Guitar-112910146.gc?

granted, clearwater fl is a way's away from indiana

[Knight]

I know you will become a fan of the 300 series Taylors. The necks and finish feel so good to the hand

[NavyChap]

Pastor --  you have been bitten by the LETHAL Taylor bug -- welcome to the family and the forum!!!

[PastorKenWells]

Here are two pictures of my new guitar:

Pastor Ken Wells

[PastorKenWells]

oops, one of the pics didn't link...

[TaylorGirl]

Very nice!

[cotten]

Hi Ken! Congratulations on such a wise choice for a replacement of your stolen Alvarez. Hope by now you've had a bit more time to bond with your 310. It's a very versatile guitar, perfect for singing along with your church's preschoolers and seniors, as long as you can keep both groups from drooling on it - oh, and your guitar playing teens, too! I know that the demands of ministry don't leave a lot of free time, but one good thing about the UTGF is that you can enjoy it in small bite sizes, when you're waiting for that person to drop by the office or Mrs. Jones to call and tell you that her husband came through his surgery just fine.

(I retired last year as a full time music minister, and often had my Cotten 612c in my lap at such moments. It's smaller size suited that purpose perfectly, yet it still has a big enough voice for most other occasions.) Blessings and best wishes!

cotten

[PastorKenWells]

Well, the first couple of weeks with the 310e have been fun.
I have not, however, been able to play it much.  One song on Maundy Thursday, and then led Sunrise Service at the park all on acoustic with the Taylor.

Boy, does it sound nice!  And it is simply beautiful.  A work of guitar art.  I love the wood.
It is lighter, and the body is thinner (distance from face to back) than my Alvarez.
I hadn't noticed before, but it is thicker near the base than up towards the neck.  I am assuming that this is part of the sound response profile.  My other one was a more constant thickness.  (as have been most of the guitars I have played.)

One thing I have noticed....  It arrived with Elixers in size .13 (on high E)
I have found them to be a little stiff.  (Perhaps it is because I have lived only with my electrics since January.)

How much will the sound change if I go down a size to .12's?
And will I need to adjust anything on the neck/bridge, etc to keep the action correct?

Pastor Ken