|
Acoustic Guitars
Taylor: CUSTGS-KOAENG
(Item ID: CUSTGS-KOAENG)
Taylor Custom Grand Symphony with Select Koa and Engleman Spruce
It
is well known that Bob Taylor has koa lust, and who can blame him. In
fact, it is reputed that he can sense the impact of a fallen koa tree
(it's illegal to cut one), downs an espresso, and then dons his SuperBob
cape and swoops in to secure the wood! Well, like Bob, old LP (the
steel string pickin' Petsch) has a fever, and it's for more koa!
The
latest cooling salve is this jaw-dropping Englemann-topped Koa Grand
Symphony, our second Build to Order Taylor from the January NAMM show.
Koa is widely considered to be a bright sounding tonewood, with a strong
midrange response and a little more warmth than mahogany. Subsequently,
koa is often best paired with softer soundboards which respond well to
its reflectiveness and tonal color. Given the larger soundboard of a
GS, we chose a beautiful creamy Englemann spruce top, which is not as
stiff as Sitka, but will provide a touch more stability and punch than
cedar. In keeping with our tradition of seeking out performance value
first and foremost, we kept this guitar fairly simple cosmetically.
Like
the Madagascar rosewood Grand Auditorium we designed along side it,
this guitar has Gotoh 510 tuners, a bone nut and saddle, and an abalone
rosette. However, we got a little fancier with this GS and added a koa
headstock overlay with an abalone flourish, and some small abalone
fingerboard markers. Perhaps the most appealing cosmetic feature is the
subtle green purfling and backstrip (ala the famous classical guitar
builder Hermann Hauser), which was a suggestion of the Petsch patriarch
(George), and which elegantly accents the natural beauty of this guitars
woods.
This guitar is very responsive, and it has a
wonderfully rich tone color, particularly in the midrange. Its
projection is strong and focused with plenty of ornament in the
background. This custom GS is undoubtedly a standout Taylor, and it is a
players dream. But, for you koa addicts out there (you know who you
are), it is nothing but pure, delicious trouble - probably worth a month
on the couch, or banishment to the doghouse, or any suffering your
addiction typically incurs!
This guitar includes a deluxe Taylor archtop hardshell case.
List Price: | $6396.00 |
Our Price: | $4495.00 |
Click below to show a larger image. Use your "back" button to return to edmullen.net (Photographs may not reflect actual item in stock)
|