A pedal steel trade for a Taylor Elect/acoustic

[Les Anderson]

A very good friend of mine has been offered a Taylor 916ce Grand Symphony Acoustic/electric guitar in trade (straight across) for his 1965 Emmons push/pull. Neither he nor I have heard of Taylor guitars other than what we saw and heard tonight and, what we found on the Taylor website. Truthfully it has a beautiful tone and appears to be of rosewood on the sides and back and the fret board; however, we have never heard of this brand.

My friend has two pedal steels and wants to unload one but is not sure if the offered trade price of this Taylor guitar is actually a true value or is merely an over blown company price. Has anyone ever heard of these guitars and is it a good trade for an Emmons push pull?

[Mitch Drumm]

Taylor got a lot of publicity a few months ago when United Airlines did the unthinkable:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-QDkR-Z-69Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_X-Qoh__mw

[Les Anderson]

There is a correction to this thread. The fret board and bridge is Ebony. My mess up.
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Mitch, I had no idea that this fellow's guitar was a Taylor. It's a very small world sometimes.

[Ben Elder]

A 1965 push-pull is a rare and prized beast. Taylors--even high-end ones like I suspect this one is are comparatively a dime-a-dozen and easily obtainable. Taylor makes 70,000 guitars a year. How many '65 Emmonses are there? I admit a huge vintage/acoustic Martin bias but, as to this proposed trade, in a word:


N E V E R !

[Rick Schmidt]

A hearty DITTO to what Ben just said!

[Dave Mudgett]

Taylors are nice and very well known guitars, and a 916ce is a particularly fancy version. New, they're around $4000 (see the usual suspect places), but I see used ones out there for about $2500-3000. I think a good '65 Emmons push-pull D-10 is worth a lot more. In other words, what Ben said - I personally would not remotely consider such a trade. Remember - there's a pretty serious premium for a '65 Emmons D-10, as compared to even other push-pulls.

To me, a comparable value acoustic guitar would be something more like a Brazilian rosewood Martin - let's say a nice (not a beater) early-mid 60s D-28 or D-35, or better yet a 50s D-28.

Strictly my opinion, naturally.

[Ronnie Boettcher]

I do not know the vintage of that Taylor. But if it is one newer than the late 60's, the "ROSEWOOD" is Indian. So dod not think your getting Brazilian rosewood. I personally would not even consider that trade. Like stated above, the Emmons is a collector, and the Taylor, you can find anywhere.

[Steve Norman]

if your friend wants to play one make a trip to seattle. Dusty strings in Fremont is a Taylor dealer:

http://www.dustystrings.com/acousticmus ... fault.aspx

[Rick Batey]

I do not know the vintage of that Taylor. But if it is one newer than the late 60's, the "ROSEWOOD" is Indian.

Ronnie, I believe that's true of Martin's standard-series rosewood guitars, which changed to Indian around 1969 or serial 250000. Taylor didn't exist until 1974. However, both Taylor and Martin have made various special runs of Brazilian rosewood guitars since that time. In terms of the Emmons being a collector and the Taylor being available anywhere, I agree with you 100%.

[Ben Elder]

To reinforce my earlier post, I was taking a lower assumption--that the Emmons was an S-10. Once again, N E V E R ! for that and quadruple it if the Emmons in question is a D-10.

[Ronnie Boettcher]

Thanks for the input on that wood. I heard that the Brazilian government stopped all exports on their rosewood, in the late 60's.