Scub73 R Taylor Pics
 

Steven, here are your pics!

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o.../Guitar001.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o.../Guitar011.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o.../Guitar013.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o.../Guitar010.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o.../Guitar009.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o.../Guitar008.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o.../Guitar007.jpg

http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o.../Guitar002.jpg

Pretty enough to make me want to try it out, that's for sure!

cotten

Very nice looking guitar. I am curious, do their serial numbers start over in 2007?

wow...looks sexy man!!! I'm sure it sounds great

Yes, the serial numbers start over every year.. So mine is 051 for 2007..

Thanks Bill for posting these for me! Sorry for the quality of the pics everyone, my camera just isn't that hot.. oh well, gives you somewhat of an idea! :)

Scub.....Very nice! Your camera picked up enough for me to see that the detail work is special indeed. Its the size of a GS right? With medium strings? Also, I like the fretboard dots. I just cannot get with the idea of a guitar with no marking inlays on the fretboard. If I get the chance to play some R Taylors and they impress me as much as everyone else, like you, seems to be with them...and I sell my 914 to help fund it, which would really take some convincing to do...I'd certainly have to have dot inlays.

Yes, the R. Taylors are called "Style 1" which is the GS body. 914's are beautiful guitars.. What you would notice immediately tone wise would be a much more focused and deeper bass response, like the GS guitars that are getting so much press lately. There is much more handwork put into the R. Taylors though than the GS series. I like the GS's and was going to buy one, but the depth of tone and complex overtones was more much more noticable in the R. Taylors.. Of course all models will be different, lots of differnet wood combos..
Yeah, I like fret dots and asked them to put the most colorful ones on they could find.. which they did!
Yes, they come with medium strings but will set them up and make adjustments for light if you prefer. That's the thing, they will do anything you want and much of it is no charge..
The R. Taylor wouold be much less fancy than your 914, of course you could get all the fancy inlay around in the binding etc, but it will almost double the price.. I personally like the more understated look. I think they look great. You focus more on the woods than the "bling". The fret dots I had them put on were the smallest you can get, 4mm. Anything bigger I think would not have looked right on this guitar.
The ebony peghead and the finish are just superb.
You can't see all the silking (medulary rays) from the photos, but it just shimmers when you turn it.. They really are beautiful guitars to look at, without the "bling".

Re: R Taylor
 

Scub73,

Very nice! Still enjoying it I presume;)

Thanks Scub73. Yours is beautiful and your description has got me dying to try these guitars. To me, wood IS bling. What info did you get about the bracing differences in terms of their effects on sound (modified X versus asymetrical bracing and different woods used for bracing)?

I can only tell you what I was told by Tim Luranc at R. Taylor.. He likes the assymetrical bracing as he feels it delivers more "punch".. He also likes the radius top for the same reason, but my research has led me to believe that over time, a flat top will in time often come out to sound better than a radiused one.. this is my opinion from what I have learned, no flames please!
As far as what wood for the bracings, they would normally use sitka as would most builders, but they have started using the Adirondak as an option. He said that Bob Taylor felt that the Adirondak bracing made a difference in the sound. Mine was the first one built with FULL adirondak bracing, not just on the inside top. Tim said it just really seemed to make a difference, that it was LOUD, he loved the way it really picked up even on a light attack.. So the whole team seemed to love the result. The dealer I bought it through(Wildwood in Denver) had to inspect and play it when they received it and Steve Mesplay (the owner) said they will likely be ordering more with the Adirondak bracing now as he loved the sound of mine. In fact, he said it was the best sounding R. Taylor they had ever had through their shop (that made me feel pretty good!)..

Thanks scrub. That's good information and I'm logging it away for future reference. I guess I'm unschooled as to what a "radiused" top is.

It's scub not scrub :) Radius just means it is not flat but is rounded, arched instead. They like to do this especially on softer woods like cedar or rosewood to give them more strength..

Did you really mean "Redwood" rather than rosewood? My Redwood topped has the 60' radius top, too.

The radius also gives the guitar a more "contemporary" sound rather than a flattopped guitar with a "traditional" sound (more common in bluegrass) - this is according to their website.

Sorry, yes, I meant Redwood. Both redwood and cedar being softer, they recommend radius tops for strength..
I wouldn't know about flat tops and bluegrass. I play zero bluegrass but was told by a few luthiers that a radius top will give a more broken in sound at the beginning but a flat top will sound better over time, all other things being equal.. others may disagree.. That is what I found and why I ordered a flat top. If I would have been ordering a Cedar, Redwood or even possibly an Englemann top, I would have definitely gone with the radius top.