Played a few Limiteds this afternoon..

[photomat]

I stopped by the local Taylor dealer this afternoon to see if they had the new 12 fret 814. They did not, but I did get a chance to play the 510 and 514 limiteds. I really like the fretboard inlay, and the koa on each was visually different, but the sound was crisp and warm on each. Another person was looking at them as well, and we played a bit together using both guitars. He said you could tell they were from the same family. Both sounded the same tonally, and you could really tell the difference the body size makes. They were the best sounding koa's that I have played from Taylor. Very full sounding, and crisp.

This shop also had the 714 Spring limited with Imbuia. These spring limited do have nicer appointments and tuners than the 500 fall series. I preferred the brighter sound of this compared to the fall Koa 514. It was like comparing a guitar like the 614 in the area of brightness and note clarity, but with the tonal bass and warmth of Cocobolo. This shop also had a 2009 fall limited GA with Cocobolo (three piece back) and it sounded very dark compared to the 2010 500 series and the spring 714.

As I was getting ready to leave, I saw a GS case in the corner and opened it up to find the new Figured Mahogany GS. YOWZA!!!!! what a beauty. The figured wood is stunning! and the flamed mahogany neck was the nicest looking mahogany I have ever seen. The new inlay was very interesting and unique.

I own a GS5 that I play all the time (my workhorse for playing plugged in at church) and I also own the 2008 Cocobolo Fall limited GS, and the sound of the Figured GS to my ears was so close to the GS5, but what you would expect of a Mahogany GS with a spruce top, more headroom a slightly richer sound. I can honestly say that this would be a visual only purchase at the price level Taylor set on this. Sound wise, I would snap up a GS5 or a BTO Mahogany spruce combo first, as the sound was so close to a standard series.

It seems like the getting a Fall limited guitar with upgrades compared to the standard series at a price close to the standard series are long gone. The prices on all these guitars were higher than the 2008 Fall limiteds that had much more in the way of upgrades and visual appointments.

The guitar I was most impressed by was the Taylor 714 Spring Limited. I was most amazed to find a 2009 Fall limited, a 2010 Spring Limited and three 2010 fall limited all in the same shop at the same time. Sales must be slow for them!

The one guitar that was the loudest and most different than the ones I already own was a martin 0-28VS. What a canon with attitude and a wide neck!

Now, I hope to play that 814CE 12 fret soon, as that seems to be so unique.

Oh yea...no GS mini there either. Still waiting to play one of those, too.