[annoying_2001]

hey, just looked at a topic i had awhile ago that's still up, http://www.guitartab...showtopic=83250, and i read in there that taylors don't age well. i really haven't heard a lot about older taylors, only because they haven't been around awhile.

but to help add things to the list, yes i'm still looking, probably will be for another 6 months to a year, because i want a great guitar, and i want to spend as much time looking for it as possible.

anyway, i am looking for a guitar that will age very well, and i think i'm gonna bump the price range up to $1,000 to $2,000. i'll be willing to go a little higher or lower if i find something outside of that range.

so just wondering what guitars age very well?

[eetdrinkanbmerry]

Gibsons!! hahaha. I think the newer Taylors would age better. The older ones that I have seen don't tend to be in very good condition, but that may be just because their owners were assholes to them. My father has a Taylor 712 from 1999 and it is getting nicer and nicer. I mean the tone is really developing. What sort of ageing are you talking about, couple of years or 40 or 50?

[pimp_vince]

Gibsons!! hahaha. I think the newer Taylors would age better. The older ones that I have seen don't tend to be in very good condition, but that may be just because their owners were assholes to them. My father has a Taylor 712 from 1999 and it is getting nicer and nicer. I mean the tone is really developing. What sort of ageing are you talking about, couple of years or 40 or 50?

ya my 310 from 2002 is opening up nicely (tonally, not physically )

[annoying_2001]

bout 20-30 years

[pimp_vince]

bout 20-30 years

taylor started up in '71 so it's not that likely that you'll find a 30 year old taylor, there are only about 100 or so from the first four years... three from the first year, so they are insanely hard to come by, but the build quality is phenominal, 100% hand built.

[annoying_2001]

so would you say that a new taylor would age better in say 20-30 years time than a martin, sc, lakewood, gibson?

[eetdrinkanbmerry]

I am sure they all age quite similarly but I wouldn't really go for a brand new Gibson myself, call me weird but they feel really cheap somehow. If a taylor is what you are going for the best years in my opinion are '98 '99 and '00. The newer ones also feel a bit cheap. The 5 6 and 7 series dropped the abalone inlay around the sound hole and put in some sort of wood inlay, not as nice. I give you those years because my buddy has a 414 from '00 and my father has a 712 from '99. They are both amazing and ageing very well.

[nnyrad]

We did discover why Taylor is outselling Martin and why many untrained ears will pick a Taylor over a Martin. (Here is my theory on that). The people at Taylor are building a very nice guitar, however they are using extremely thin wood in the construction. This thin wood is what allows their guitars to resonate and give that shimmering crisp Taylor signature tone. It is my theory that if they used slightly thicker wood their guitars would improve with age better than they do now.

The challenge that Taylor undertook was to outsell Martin. To do so they have had to come up with some pretty clever manufacturing concepts and innovations. Personally I am not a believer in what Taylor does. I prefer my guitars to mellow with age. I prefer my guitars to have a little more bottom end and soul. I am not a Martin person (too traditional) but I would sooner own a Martin than a Taylor.

In fact, a good customer of mine who owns a very expensive model Taylor guitar recently told me that his top of the line model sounded OK when he was playing on stage. At home or In the studio however it sounded like the high hat. I couldn't have put it better if I tried. This person was actually given his guitar by Taylor (He is a celebrity) asked me not to use his name in print because he didn't want to seem ungrateful to them for giving him the guitar.

Remember the vast majority of guitar buyers have untrained ears and they don't really know what to look for. I'll bet that 85% of the people who buy Taylor Guitars would fall into that category. Several years ago Taylor did some Brazilian Rosewood models that I sold in the $4,500.00 price range. They were the best Taylor's I have ever sold. However the Tacoma Amazon eats it for lunch. The only other acoustic guitar I consistently like is the Larrivee.

- Ed Roman

Of course, if you like your Taylor then thats fine. I happen to like the Taylors I have played but as I have never owned one, I cannot be sure of how well they age. Taylor are completly machine made which isn't technically a bad thing but their finishing process takes less than a minute, 40 layers of hand buffed pro-ageing nitrocellulose liquor it is not. Anyway eetdrinkandbemerry gives some personal insight into the Taylor guitar, which I find interesting.

On a side note, I would love to own this Taylor:

This post has been edited by nnyrad: 15 April 2004 - 12:20 PM

[annoying_2001]

wow, thanks for the responses guys. just wondering if anyone has any info on how santa cruz and lakewood guitars age? again, thank you very much for my huge undertaking of trying to find a life long friend.

This post has been edited by annoying_2001: 15 April 2004 - 12:40 PM

[eetdrinkanbmerry]

Ed Roman, have you had any feedback or experinces with Breedlove Guitars? I know the mr Breedlove used to work for Taylor, I was wondering if he perhaps used the same 'thin wood method'. I have a breedlove, SD 20/w. walnut back and sides and a oregon redwood top. I find that it has mellowed out and gotten steadily more bassy. (it is from 1998).

[pimp_vince]

Ed Roman, have you had any feedback or experinces with Breedlove Guitars? I know the mr Breedlove used to work for Taylor, I was wondering if he perhaps used the same 'thin wood method'. I have a breedlove, SD 20/w. walnut back and sides and a oregon redwood top. I find that it has mellowed out and gotten steadily more bassy. (it is from 1998).

that was actually a quote of a well known guitar dealer in Las Vegas... his name is Ed Roman. i find him to be a tightass about everything. he seems to think that only guitars made of 100% american parts, by american companies, in america, by americans are good guitars... everything else to him is rubbish... if a machine touches it, to him it has "no soul" to it.

i mean honestly a little production never hurt anyone (well maybe in a few rare cases where the guitars itself breaks) i'm not saying that you should go out and buy les paul knockoff because it's almost as good as a real one. just that it doesn't have to be french polished and hand sanded to look nice.

[eetdrinkanbmerry]

Oh thanks man I didn't know I was trying to talk to a faceless guitar dealer in Vegas! hahahah, Doh!

[wannalearn01]

I am a newb,

I was just wondering what it is that makes it get better with time? I am assuming that it the aging of the wood, maybe it drying out some....is that right? If so, would more southern climates' guitars age quicker(sound wise)? That could be the reason why more southern climates are filled with acoustics...compared to us northerns

T^roy

[pimp_vince]

I am a newb,

I was just wondering what it is that makes it get better with time? I am assuming that it the aging of the wood, maybe it drying out some....is that right? If so, would more southern climates' guitars age quicker(sound wise)? That could be the reason why more southern climates are filled with acoustics...compared to us northerns 

T^roy

well generally the further north you get the less acoustics are around for that reason, there's little humidity, low temperatures, which makes for crappy playing, so you can't really sit on the porch and play that much.

but the aging thing has to do with how much it gets played. a '34 gibson jumbo (like dadfad's) probably sounds incredible on account of how often it's played. but i bet a '34 gibson jumbo that's been in an attic since '35 won't sound as good (but amazing no less). aging also, like you said is caused by the wood drying out and the finish thinning. allowing for a more open response in sound.

[wannalearn01]

I am a newb,

I was just wondering what it is that makes it get better with time? I am assuming that it the aging of the wood, maybe it drying out some....is that right? If so, would more southern climates' guitars age quicker(sound wise)? That could be the reason why more southern climates are filled with acoustics...compared to us northerns 

T^roy

well generally the further north you get the less acoustics are around for that reason, there's little humidity, low temperatures, which makes for crappy playing, so you can't really sit on the porch and play that much.

but the aging thing has to do with how much it gets played. a '34 gibson jumbo (like dadfad's) probably sounds incredible on account of how often it's played. but i bet a '34 gibson jumbo that's been in an attic since '35 won't sound as good (but amazing no less). aging also, like you said is caused by the wood drying out and the finish thinning. allowing for a more open response in sound.

It's nice that some people don't have humidity....here in the mid-west, I'd argue about it being humid more often than not, well during the summer/spring months.

Well it's awesome that guitars change tune over time, almost makes me wish i could have found a nice older used guitar, but I didn't know of any good places to get one.

T^roy

[panndder]

Taylors should last well...Espcially a solid wood (214 and up) in a hard case with the NT neck...


I have a 02 414

[annoying_2001]

just went into a local music store yesterday, and asked the guy about the taylor's aging process and why it seems bad, and he said it's because of their lacour (sp?). also, that taylors are meant to be machines, and sound the same 10 years later as itdid the day you bought it. so i think i'm gonna be lookin for a martin, or maybe another mellow sounding acoustic. either way, as great as taylors sound, i think they're off the list. overall, i liked a few of the martins more so than the taylors.

This post has been edited by annoying_2001: 18 April 2004 - 06:04 PM

[STRAIGHTACE1]

check it out

[annoying_2001]

check it out

i already did, but they're not the ones, 314ce is a nice guitar, but unfortuatly, not what i'm lookin for. thanks though.