NEW GEAR!! Buying anything?

[Tadpui]

And just like that it has begun. Began? Beginned? Anyway, chassis, faceplates, and an OT has been ordered.

Well that escalated quickly Glad you've got a cool project on the horizon! You're going to pretty much have a full on Guitar Center showroom in your house before long.

[WhiskeyJack]

And just like that it has begun. Began? Beginned? Anyway, chassis, faceplates, and an OT has been ordered.

[Greg_L]

Well that escalated quickly Glad you've got a cool project on the horizon! You're going to pretty much have a full on Guitar Center showroom in your house before long.

I still got the Bassman project to do too. Maybe I can do them concurrently. The Bassman will take a lot more fabrication and customizing to make work. The 2204 should go together relatively easily....knock on wood.

I bought a Heyboer/Mojotone output transformer. Should be very good. I'm leaning towards a Hammond power transformer and choke...because they're available. It's a wild world out there right now for finding parts and pieces.

[WhiskeyJack]

Ok boys. I'm gassing pretty fucking hard.

So the backstory is, I have a Taylor acoustic. I love the way it sounds, I've not found a nicer (to my ears) sounding guitar. It's the 114e. So kind of their bargain basement offering. But even when i demo'd it back in when i got it there wasn't one in the showroom that sound perfect. The only thing i don't love is the action is a bit high. I have played other Taylors and a few other brands and i have confirmed that the action on mine is slightly high. I understand that this is correctable on a Taylor with the use of Shims and all that stuff. And I have considered that option. Anytime i call the closest Taylor authorized guy (5 hours away in Edmonton) he is always 8 to 10 weeks behind in work. So that kind of sucks. I;ve been humming and hawing over trying to do it myself. It's just a bolt on neck. What could go wrong?!?! I could shim it and call it a day and still have my great sounding Taylor.

Fast forward to Saturday. I was out doing errands and had to take Gilly, my dog, to the groomer and it happened to be next door to Canada's version of Guitar Centre. I was 20 mins early and decided to head in and see what's there. All the usual standard stuff you'd expect to see. I went into the Acoustic room and thought I'd finger bang a few of those for a bit. Made my way to the Taylor and wall and one guitar stuck out like a sore thumb. It just kind of spoke to me. I'd not seen a wood on a Taylor like this before. The top was as expected with the Sitka spruce. but the back and side were of some odd looking stuff that looked like old shitty recycled barn wood LOL!!! Which is right up my alley. The young guy at the store said he thought it was Koa, but i don't know that i agree and there was no one else there i could ask and my time at that point of my visit was limited. Gilly had her date in about 5 mins or so. Of course I picked it up and played it and sure enough it was MUCH easier to play, fret, and a barre than the one i currently own. Immaculate. It was missing a little tiny bit of bottom end or it could be that it threw out a bit more top end than the one I have now. But it did sound a bit different. Could also have been the cut away robbing a bit of sound? the one i have now has no cut away, this one does. Definitely not a not terrible difference in sound. Just a wee bit. more of high end projection. Could also be the strings are new as hell too. Buddy said it got restrung two days prior.

I just couldn't get over how EASY this thing was to play. Like warm butter.

I believe it is a 224-DLX, but when i try to find that exact build all my searches come up empty. I think this might have been a custom make that got rejected and the sold out to wholesale retail outlets at a discount. the price isn't outrageous for 224DLX. 1499CAD. Which seems to ring in about 1000CAD less than all the other 224DLX's i see online. Seems super weird. As I said i had all of about 4 mins with this thing so i am going to sneak down today and have another look and gather some more details and play it a bit more and see if it was just love at first sight or if it is a real forever type love lol.

but i haven't fallen this hard for a guitar this hard in a long time! And with the youngster in the house now my acoustic has definitely gotten more play time than any of my others. Might not hurt to invest in a good one. I am thinking i could probably get about 800 for my 114e. I know they do take in trades at this outfit as well but i am guessing they wouldn't give me much more than 500 or 600 for it. that's the way they roll.

Anyways. more to follow.

PS. it is a another right handed guitar. I have gotten really good over the last seven or eight years of not even really bothering to want (or look at) right handed body guitars and my wife knows that but when I told her she knew I was seriously in love with this one. So this might happen! But not after I spend a bit more time with it and weigh my options. I'm still not ruling out shimming the existing one myself!

[muttley]

Ok boys. I'm gassing pretty fucking hard.

So the backstory is, I have a Taylor acoustic. I love the way it sounds, I've not found a nicer (to my ears) sounding guitar. It's the 114e. So kind of their bargain basement offering. But even when i demo'd it back in when i got it there wasn't one in the showroom that sound perfect. The only thing i don't love is the action is a bit high. I have played other Taylors and a few other brands and i have confirmed that the action on mine is slightly high. I understand that this is correctable on a Taylor with the use of Shims and all that stuff. And I have considered that option. Anytime i call the closest Taylor authorized guy (5 hours away in Edmonton) he is always 8 to 10 weeks behind in work. So that kind of sucks. I;ve been humming and hawing over trying to do it myself. It's just a bolt on neck. What could go wrong?!?! I could shim it and call it a day and still have my great sounding Taylor.

Fast forward to Saturday. I was out doing errands and had to take Gilly, my dog, to the groomer and it happened to be next door to Canada's version of Guitar Centre. I was 20 mins early and decided to head in and see what's there. All the usual standard stuff you'd expect to see. I went into the Acoustic room and thought I'd finger bang a few of those for a bit. Made my way to the Taylor and wall and one guitar stuck out like a sore thumb. It just kind of spoke to me. I'd not seen a wood on a Taylor like this before. The top was as expected with the Sitka spruce. but the back and side were of some odd looking stuff that looked like old shitty recycled barn wood LOL!!! Which is right up my alley. The young guy at the store said he thought it was Koa, but i don't know that i agree and there was no one else there i could ask and my time at that point of my visit was limited. Gilly had her date in about 5 mins or so. Of course I picked it up and played it and sure enough it was MUCH easier to play, fret, and a barre than the one i currently own. Immaculate. It was missing a little tiny bit of bottom end or it could be that it threw out a bit more top end than the one I have now. But it did sound a bit different. Could also have been the cut away robbing a bit of sound? the one i have now has no cut away, this one does. Definitely not a not terrible difference in sound. Just a wee bit. more of high end projection. Could also be the strings are new as hell too. Buddy said it got restrung two days prior.

I just couldn't get over how EASY this thing was to play. Like warm butter.

I believe it is a 224-DLX, but when i try to find that exact build all my searches come up empty. I think this might have been a custom make that got rejected and the sold out to wholesale retail outlets at a discount. the price isn't outrageous for 224DLX. 1499CAD. Which seems to ring in about 1000CAD less than all the other 224DLX's i see online. Seems super weird. As I said i had all of about 4 mins with this thing so i am going to sneak down today and have another look and gather some more details and play it a bit more and see if it was just love at first sight or if it is a real forever type love lol.

but i haven't fallen this hard for a guitar this hard in a long time! And with the youngster in the house now my acoustic has definitely gotten more play time than any of my others. Might not hurt to invest in a good one. I am thinking i could probably get about 800 for my 114e. I know they do take in trades at this outfit as well but i am guessing they wouldn't give me much more than 500 or 600 for it. that's the way they roll.

Anyways. more to follow.

PS. it is a another right handed guitar. I have gotten really good over the last seven or eight years of not even really bothering to want (or look at) right handed body guitars and my wife knows that but when I told her she knew I was seriously in love with this one. So this might happen! But not after I spend a bit more time with it and weigh my options. I'm still not ruling out shimming the existing one myself!

...........................

The young guy at the store said he thought it was Koa,

Not a prayer at that price point for real Koa. True Koa is pricey. They do used Hawaiian koa lookalike and veneer on lower end models and call it Koa.

True Koa would start at the 5k USD.

[WhiskeyJack]

Not a prayer at that price point for real Koa. True Koa is pricey. They do used Hawaiian koa lookalike and veneer on lower end models and call it Koa.

True Koa would start at the 5k USD.

100% agreement. I couldn't find anything by any reputable maker citing "koa" that was under 3500K. Whatever this stuff was looked like old blotchy sun greyed shit barn wood. It was such an odd wood choice for a Taylor. I'd not ever seen anything like it ever. Which made it a little more appealing to me. NO Koa i have seen in my googling looks like whatever this is. I think the young fellah is just young and trying his best. He's wrong. But trying his best.

I'll know more later today.

[liv_rong]

@WhiskeyJack did you buy guitar yet?!

[Armistice]

Not a prayer at that price point for real Koa. True Koa is pricey. They do used Hawaiian koa lookalike and veneer on lower end models and call it Koa.

True Koa would start at the 5k USD.

100% agreement. I couldn't find anything by any reputable maker citing "koa" that was under 3500K. Whatever this stuff was looked like old blotchy sun greyed shit barn wood. It was such an odd wood choice for a Taylor. I'd not ever seen anything like it ever. Which made it a little more appealing to me. NO Koa i have seen in my googling looks like whatever this is. I think the young fellah is just young and trying his best. He's wrong. But trying his best.

I'll know more later today.

I was at the local guitar shop the other day, also looking at acoustics, and Taylors, and I think I saw the guitar you're talking about. Striking looking wood, no doubt, and it played pretty nice and sounded OK, as far as I could tell in a noisy guitar shop. It was a nice looking guitar, but yeah, don't think it's actual Koa because it was only about $1k or thereabouts - can't remember exactly.

[Armistice]

Something like this, but it was a dreadnaught...

https://www.mooloolabamusic.com.au/tayl ... ymphony-ac

[CrowsofFritz]

Well, I’ve recently gotten a turntable and some records. It’s just for fun. Lotta morons on the vinyl subreddit, though. They have zero clue how the whole analog/digital thing works (I was called a “waste of cum” because I said digital is more accurate), and some are snobby bastards who think you’re dumb if you don’t invest $85,000 in your setup.

[Armistice]

Well, I’ve recently gotten a turntable and some records. It’s just for fun. Lotta morons on the vinyl subreddit, though. They have zero clue how the whole analog/digital thing works (I was called a “waste of cum” because I said digital is more accurate), and some are snobby bastards who think you’re dumb if you don’t invest $85,000 in your setup.

I love those vinyl vs digital discussions. So much angst... And they mostly completely ignore the recording medium to concentrate on the playback medium...

[muttley]

Something like this, but it was a dreadnaught...

https://www.mooloolabamusic.com.au/tayl ... ymphony-ac

Back Config Layered Koa

Veneered in other words or at very best laminated.

No mention of the top but I can believe a top of solid Koa and laminated back and sides.

A Koa top in the rough would set me back about £200 for anything half decent..

[Armistice]

Something like this, but it was a dreadnaught...

https://www.mooloolabamusic.com.au/tayl ... ymphony-ac

Back Config Layered Koa

Veneered in other words or at very best laminated.

No mention of the top but I can believe a top of solid Koa and laminated back and sides.

A Koa top in the rough would set me back about £200 for anything half decent..

Yeah, I saw that wording... they're good for the price range, I expect.

[muttley]

Veneered in other words or at very best laminated.

No mention of the top but I can believe a top of solid Koa and laminated back and sides.

A Koa top in the rough would set me back about £200 for anything half decent..

Yeah, I saw that wording... they're good for the price range, I expect.

My views on Koa as a decent tonewood for acoustic guitars.

Koa is sweet sounding and pretty toppy. It has very little in the low end in terms of harmonic complexity. It is wonderful for ukulele and other smaller bodied instruments but lacks projection and low end for acoustic guitars. It would be closer to Cedar than Spruce and may suit some but if it is sweet low projection and that clear finger picking intimacy you are after cedar is a far better option. On a Ukulele Koa is outstanding.

[WhiskeyJack]

@muttley @liv_rong @Armistice

This is the one:

So the TL,DR I did not end up getting it.

I went back yesterday and took my 114e in with me and played the side by side. And the 114 still sounded heaps better. I spent the week cleaning making micro adjustments to the neck polished the frets with some micro mesh pads got from stew Mac... more on that later. And I changed the strings with a lower guage string.

It plays a little better still hard to fret up the neck but it still to my ears sounds amazing. Better then the one I thought I was in love with. It even sounded better than two of the American Dream series they had on the wall. So, no. I left with my bargain basement 114 and called off the dogs.

I still quite liked the 214... not 224 as I was told over messenger by the manager, but I just couldn't justify 1000 dollar difference for a guitar that sounded not as great as the one I owned and not real Koa.

False alarm guys. I'll see myself out.

[rayc]

@muttley @liv_rong @Armistice

but it still to my ears sounds amazing.

Then you're correct to stay with what you have so long as you can improve the playability.

[liv_rong]

Nice @WhiskeyJack a very adult decision

[Tadpui]

So the TL,DR I did not end up getting it.

Sounds like you did your due diligence and found that you've already got the better guitar. That's very grown up of you, I'm a little jealous

Actually I did the same thing with the 72 Tele that I'd taken a liking to. After cooling down a bit on it, I realized that paying absolute top dollar for a guitar made in the darkest and arguably worst era in Fender's history just wasn't a good idea. I think that over the coming months I'm going to search out a much cheaper Tele that'll give me what I want. I might even just do a parts-caster from bits and pieces off of Stu Mac or Warmouth or something. For like 1/5 or 1/10 the price I can come up with something. I mean, it's a Telecaster and not a spaceship...paying bucket loads of money for one just doesn't make a lot of sense.

[liv_rong]

I ordered a compressor, the same one I had a few years back, a Wampler Mini Ego. I like it for the picking stuff I do. I am rebuilding my board in the coming weeks and also rebuilding my secondary board.

I have grand ambitions to record two amps at once for a couple ideas I have instead of overdubbing. I did it once before and was happy with the results.

Plus fun to do stuff that doesn’t mean anything haha

[liv_rong]

Ordered another power supply too.