Bad NGD - Taylor 614ce

[dodge]

I personally don't like bearclaw so I can understand why you would be disappointed.

[zoopeda]

After watching a bunch of Bob Taylor interviews, I learn from him two things:

1) Visual markings never correlate to sound in the way you might expect. Some guitars look ugly and sound phenomenal. Others look pristine and sound awful. Some claim bear claw actually improves sound. I've never heard anyone show a strong correlation between bear claw markings and diminished sound however.

2) A huge part of Taylor's image, mission, and marketing is Sustainability. They intentionally use streaked ebony on their fingerboards, for example, because it's otherwise thrown away as waste. (It also happens to be a lot cheaper, but many people also feel it really looks cool.) By using wood that would typically be discarded for its visual appearance (yet still passes inspection for having a great potential sound), Taylor is both keeping the cost of their instruments down and decreasing the amount of waste produced by the industry. Even if they can save an extra 10% of their tops from the firewood pile, at 100,000 guitars a year, that's 10,000 tops that don't get wasted.

Go on sound, and take some psychedelics and stare at those smears for a while. You'll emerge with a soul mate, no doubt.

[Sarasin]

Originally Posted by Volfan615

You may remember my NGD post a week ago after receiving from Musicians Friend my new Taylor 614ce First Edition. It arrived with the wrong case (Not the FE Case) and a pick guard that was peeling up.

MF credited me my next day deliver shipping and shipped me out a replacement that I just received today. I was excited to finally have this all resolved....

So I was rather disappointed to open the case to see a top that I think is horrible looking. I'm really surprised that Taylor would use this wood on a First Edition model. Is this typical of Taylor? I've already called MF to say I'm returning this for credit.

I agree it's kind of ugly. It's your opinion that matters most, if you're spending your hard earned cash and you're not happy, it will stick in the back of your mind that you settled on the guitar because it was a hassle to return it.

[Lister]

It's broken! I'll give you a $100 for it!

Seriously though, just as some like brunettes, blondes or redheads, some like bearclaw and some don't...personally I like it. My 2013 618 FE has bearclaw and IMO the claw sets it apart from the other 618's that I've seen. Think of it this way, if your 614's ever stolen(God forbid!) and you need to ID this guitar, you'll have no problem picking it out of a lineup!

[martingitdave]

Perhaps ask for pictures of the actual instrument before they ship out another one. I wouldn't put this in the "defective" category. Silking or Bear Claw is more of an aesthetic preference. Sorry, you're having such a tough time.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[The Growler]

Originally Posted by Guitarsan

Yep, bearclaw. In no way a defect, but beauty is in the eye of the beholder. These days many folks seek it out for its distinctiveness. I like it myself.

Check out this Custom Taylor that was specified to have a bearclaw top:

http://www.musiciansfriend.com/guita...itar?rNtt=516e





Now, should they have told you it had bearclaw before shipping? My opinion, it doesn't rise to that level if you didn't specify anything about the top. But, like some others, I would have not had an online dealer ship me a guitar unless I saw photos beforehand. Not sure that's even possible with your situation, but anyway, there you go.

I really like bear claw. Try this one: http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/f...d.php?t=368068

[flaggerphil]

Personally I like bear claw and think the top is beautiful.

You may want to call mf and see if they'll send you one with a "plain" top.

[cooper59]

Originally Posted by Volfan615

I had never heard of the term "bear claw". I checked out the thread linked above and some of them looked kinda cool but to me this one just looks like defects.

not a defect. just bearclaw. looks great I think.

[Flgatorgirl]

I agree on seeing pictures first. I personally think your guitar looks awesome!

[AndrewG]

Want 'perfect'? Don't buy anything made from wood. I don't understand how a piece of naturally-occurring material can be described as ugly-unless it's a Kardashian

[mattcran]

Musicians Friend will absolutely send the detailed pictures, especially when dealing with private reserve. All you have to do is ask. When I bought my 914 cocobolo, they had 6 in Stock and they all looked like a "file" photo. They must have emailed me 50 photos before I picked the one I bought. I'll never buy a Guitar over 1000 without actual photos. Good luck getting it straightened out!

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by Glennwillow

I'm sorry you're not happy with the top Taylor chose for that guitar. From my viewpoint, I would make the judgment based on how it sounds. Some people don't like bear claw in a top -- my wife doesn't, for example -- but I think it looks kind of cool, assuming that it also sounds really good. I hope this all works out to your satisfaction.

- Glenn

I agree, Glenn. I happen to like bearclaw and consider it a plus rather than a minus. I also don't think Taylor can be held responsible for not anticipating every customer's tastes in top aesthetics. The suggestion made by an earlier poster seems good to me; customers should be able to see the exact guitar they're buying to avoid problems like this. Sweetwater does it, but maybe MF is such a 'machine' that it really doesn't have the capability to provide pictures of the guitars we receive.

[sled]

I like it and would have considered myself lucky to get it...but, personal tastes and all....

[Rev Roy]

Definitly not just a Tayor thing. I had some bear claw on the Martin D-28 I just sold to finance the purchase of my 814. I liked it because it gave the guitar some uniqueness. Certainly didn't harm the tone. That baby played sweet.

BTW I've heard that unlike Sweetwater, which gives every guitar a checkup before shipping, MF never takes it out of the box. Just ships it to you in the same package they recieved it from the manufacturer. Rings true to me because when I bought my Taylor 214 from MF two of the bridge pins weren't seated right. How do you miss that if you've inspected the guitar?

[Gasworker]

I dont think I could buy a $3,000 factory made guitar sight unseen. Wrong case and peeling pick gaurd is a little unnerving. Bearclaw tops are not unusual but if I were dropping that kind of dough I would want to at least like the appearance to.
Did MF have these on sale? Your location says Nashville. Probably some decent guitars stores in the area?