What happens when you “play-
in” a guitar? I have a koa
Dreadnought and didn’t know if it
would play-in with light fingerpick-
ing or if I need 10 years of heavy
strumming for this effect to take
place. Could you accelerate this
effect at the factory by vibrating
the guitars after they are made,
on a vibration machine at differ-
ent harmonics for a continuous
period? I understand if it’s just
another guitar myth, backed up by
perceptions and anecdotes from
musically knowledgeable people,
but I’m curious to see if you have
a more scientific take on this sub-
ject.
Richard Nelson
Butte, MT
Richard, it’s more than a myth that
guitars sound better with age and
with playing. However, people don’t
know why. Not that it couldn’t be
studied, but who’s going to do
that? There are some theories, like
the vibrations from playing break
down the wood, or the age and
seasoning of wood break it down
somewhat. Yes, people have made
“time machines” to vibrate guitars,
and a difference can be perceived,
but not a difference that is as appar-
ent as the natural change in aging.
I can tell you this: When spruce is
relatively new, its grain structure is
like celery. If you pick at one strand
you can pull off a long strip, even
with your hands. We clamp binding
to guitars with masking tape and
have to be very careful not to pull
up the spruce grain when removing
the tape the next day, as you can
pull a strip out, like pulling a hang-
nail gone bad. When a guitar gets
old, this is no longer a problem, as
the grain becomes less stringy. So
toss that into the data bank of things
that make you go, “Hmm.” I have
noticed that guitars change with both
playing and with age. I have a 20th
Anniversary Taylor that sits in a dis-
play case in my house. Today it
sounds way better than when it was
new, with very little playing in its his-
tory. It’s undeniable. Currently it’s
getting played a lot just because it
sounds so good. Your guitar will con-
tinue to age for the better, and your
effort won’t really speed or slow the
process.
I have been gigging [with] a 614
and love it to bits. I am consider-
ing the BTO program. I know I like
the 614 shape and a Florentine
cutaway. I have fallen in love with
Macassar ebony and wondered if
that would work as a top, as well
as back and sides? The visual
is important for me, too. If not
Macassar ebony, then what sort
of similar, visually appealing tone-
wood would you recommend for
the top?
Ben Hicklin
Ben, I wouldn’t recommend an ebony
top. It’s just too heavy, too hard. Top
wood needs to vibrate. I haven’t tried
ovangkol, like the back and sides
on a 400 Series, but it would prob-
ably make a top similar in sound
to koa, which sounds pretty good.
Mahogany makes a good top. The
hot ticket, though, on a Macassar
ebony guitar is sinker redwood with
gray streaking that matches the color
of the ebony. It’s very limited and
comes and goes here at the factory.
You could inquire whether we have
some or not. I own such a guitar,
it sounds great, and it’s amazing
how the looks of these two woods
complement each other!
I am fortunate enough to own a
Taylor 310 imbuia LTD from 2001
and love the look, sound and
especially the smell of imbuia. In
my opinion, it is one of the more
underrated exotic woods out there.
Are there any plans to reintroduce
imbuia to the Taylor line or into
the BTO program in the future?
A custom imbuia Taylor with
the newest voicings would be
wonderful!
Dennis
Greensboro, NC
Dennis, imbuia is a classic example
of a wood species that needs a
much larger audience than the guitar
buyer. There was a time when other
woodworkers used imbuia, although
for what I’m not sure. During that
time we bought some. The method
was to go to a large lumber com-
pany that imports the wood and sort
through it, buying the guitar-grade
stock. A year later we’d return to do
it again, but their inventory would
be the same as the previous year
and already picked through. Without
other people using it, we get no
fresh stock to select from. The other
method is to develop a source
whereby the tree is selected and cut
into guitar wood. But we don’t use
enough to do that. So, we keep our
eyes open and look for good imbuia
at the right price when it comes
along. In 10 years it hasn’t. It could
change tomorrow, but it would be
from some outside influence that
happens on its own. I can tell you
that I’m also a big imbuia fan, but 99
percent of imbuia is not guitar quality.
I was paging through
Wood&Steel
[Fall 2009] and saw the 8-string
head. As a mandolin player my
pulse raced, but I quickly saw that
it was for your baritone series.
Still, wouldn’t a mandocello bridge,
saddle and nut be relatively trivial
compared to programming the
headstock?
I’ve taken to the mandolin
as my preferred instrument for
tunes. For singing, however, it’s a
little high pitched, so most often I
use a guitar. I see artists like Tim
O’Brien and Ricky Skaggs use
a mandocello as a vocal rhythm
instrument, and it sounds great.
I think the “Taylor sound” would
be well suited to a mando family
instrument. If, as you say in the
latest
Wood&Steel
, you’re going to
use the growing flexibility of your
manufacturing process to fill spe-
cialty niches like 8-string baritones
and 9-string guitars, why not add
the mandocello to the list?
George Wilson
San Antonio, TX
I just got Volume 61 of
Wood&Steel (Fall 2009) and
have fallen in love with the 35th anniversary bari-
tone guitar and the new 8-string baritone. After
reading in the 8-string article the sidebar [about]
the 6-string baritone, I wondered if that option is
simply for a guitar made for baritone purposes, or
if I could experiment and try the 6-string baritone
option on my 310ce. Would I be able to use bari-
tone strings?
Chris Garnett
Chris, I think you’re asking me if you can put bari-
tone strings on your 310ce and tune it down. If so,
I’ll say yes, but it’s not the same guitar because the
baritone has a much longer fret scale. You need a
longer string to get to the low notes. With a stan-
dard guitar scale, when you tune down, the strings
get loose and floppy and don’t really do a great job.
This is why it’s a big deal that we made a baritone:
because it took a real investment to produce the
tooling for an all-new neck. But give it a go; there
are no fret scale police.
10
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The art of aging, elusive imbuia, G-string
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