Taylor's new Cedar/Walnut offering

[Schen]

Has anyone had the opportunity to try the new limited edition 416 with the above combination?

I am quite interested in this guitar, however there are none near where I live so I would be ordering online if I decide to purchase it. Yes, I know some dealers offer a return period, but I'd also like some opinions from fellow forum folk. I have not had pleasant experiences with the previous Cedar/Rosewood 716 series, I found them to be very muddy even when lightly strummed, even though the 714 versions sound great for strumming. I prefer the bass of the Grand Symphony over the Grand Auditorium on Sitka/Rosewood Taylors, but prefer the Cedar/Rosewood Grand Auditoriums over the Sitka/Rosewood Grand Auditoriums.

The latest limited edition is only in the Grand Symphony body shape, and I wonder if the Walnut back and sides would make it sound less muddy than the Rosewood version. If anyone has had any hands on experience, I would be grateful for your opinions. I would be playing general singer/songwriter strumming songs on it, not so much flatpicking or fingerstyle. Thanks!

[Lake Sagatagan]

Stevie Coyle at Mighty Fine Guitars has an Applegate SJ for sale with redwood over walnut, http://mightyfineguitars.com/invento...ne-walnut-6450. If you wanted to get a sense of what this similar combination can do, I'd bet Stevie would Skype it for you.

Disclosure: Stevie is a neighbor and I have residual good feelings for Brian Applegate from when he was working on my own commission.

FWIW, we A/B'ed my redwood/ cocobolo SJ with it and found them to be a great deal different.

[Lake Sagatagan]

Schen,

Because I had expected your question to attract more comment, I gave as neutral an answer as I could. I didn't want to color your impressions with mine. But you (and onlookers) may want more info, so...

Redwood tops are said to have many of the same qualities as cedar; comparing cedar/ rosewood to cedar/ walnut guitars is probably a similar experience to redwood/walnut and redwood/rosewood. And remember, cocobolo is a type of rosewood.

The two guitars I mentioned are by the same builder, Brian Applegate, and are the same age and style, SJ's. When Stevie Coyle and I played the same passages to each other, we each had the impression the cocobolo had a lusher timbre and the walnut a brighter tone. I said I thought the cocobolo Applegate was better suited for a ballad and the walnut-backed guy might provide a better fiddle tune. Stevie can speak for himself.

So, based on my experience, I would expect to hear something like same difference between any maker's walnut-backed and rosewood-backed models.