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Stuck between two Taylor 714 LTD Sinker Redwoods – seeking advice
Hi everyone – thanks in advance for your comments and advice here.
I have been searching for a sinker redwood guitar for a while. I live in CA and I’m lucky enough to have 2 Martins (an older DM and a newer OM). I’ve always been ‘Taylor-curious’ and I’ve wanted to add a Sinker option because of the ‘coolness’ factor and ties to CA (where I live) and because I liked the way that people describe the sound as between cedar and spruce. I imagined it as a softer addition to the DM and OM lineup which are both spruce tops.
I had been looking for a while and there are a lot of the Taylor 414s available – but I recently found a [URL=”https://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/acoustic/714ce-ltd-2019″]Taylor 714 LTD with Sinker Redwood[/URL] at my local Guitar Center so I quickly headed over to give it a play. When I got there it turned out they had TWO of them in stock.
Other than one being lighter and one being darker in shade, they were basically identical with no issues (other than the darker one had a minor ding on the headstock). I played both of them back and forth and I ended up liking the darker colored one (with the ding) because I thought it had a richer, deeper tone to it. The lighter one looked prettier and seemed like it was newer with less fretboard wear, but the darker one just sounded better to me.
But once I made the decision about the one I thought I wanted I immediately froze – like I would always felt like I picked the wrong one, and I ended up not being able to make the purchase and went home feeling sad and confused.
I feel like if they only had one of them I would totally have purchased it on the spot, not having something else to compare – but because there were two of them, I was kind of paralyzed and couldn’t pull the trigger.
What advice do you have on how to choose between 2 guitars that are basically identical (I did tap testing, lots of visual inspection, and played for sound and feel – what else can I look at?)
I’d love some advice from the crowd on what to do when I go back next week to play them again and how I can make a decision that I’m not going to second guess.
Thank you everyone!
-DiscostewLA
Martin DM 1997
Marton OM-28 MD 2019
*Taylor 714ce LTD Sinker Redwood 2019??
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8 Replies
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Hi @DiscostewLA – when I am buying a guitar I end up buying the one that speaks to me. This would be the guitar that feels and plays like it was built to belong in my hands. I go into the shop with and idea of the general category of the guitar I would like to buy. Then I plan to spend a few hours in the shop picking up and playing the different guitars that seem to fit that category. I don’t think I have ever left the shop with the guitar I had in the back of my mind going in. I’ve also left empty handed because I couldn’t make a connection with any of the guitars I played.
So… it seems you are already doing all of the above! My advice is to continue and buy the guitar that speaks to you. Good luck and let us know how it turns out! 😎🎶🎸
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Thanks! 🤘
Someone in another forum suggested that I bring a friend or have someone at the shop play them for me while I’m not looking so I can hear them without seeing or playing them. I’m going to head back to the shop and see what happens if I do a blind listening (and maybe blid playing) test. But in my first go round I felt like they played basically the same.
Thanks again for your response and have a great weekend. Time to practice!
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Will they discount the one with a ding in the headstock?
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He said he could have their shop try to buff it out but i didn’t ask for a discount. When i go back if i do end up liking the sound of that one more i will def ask for a little bump on the price. Thanks!
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Guitar Center has a really good return policy of either 30 or 45 days on guitars
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You were overwhelmed by the ‘tyranny of choice’ which means to choose one you have to forsake all others. Go back and get it, I hope it’s still there.
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UPDATE
Hi all, thanks to everyone for the help and advice. I took a friend back to the store and we talked about different things to listen for (volume, bass, intonation, resonance) and then we did a blind listen while the sales guy played through some standard stuff going back and forth between both guitars for a while. I made a decision after the first round and as he kept going back and forth it was clear that one sounded richer deeper and fuller. After a fee rounds we both said which one we though was better at the same time and we both picked the same one and both agreed it sounded significantly better. And thankfully it was the one I had picked before (with the ding).
Brought it home. 🙂
Thanks again everyone!!
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Great news – happy new guitar day! Looks like having a second opinion was the right decision making strategy.
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