Few things are more therapeutic than being engulfed in making music to the point that one loses track of time ... and few things are more frustrating than waiting months for a guitar to be built. I cannot even imagine waiting years for a guitar ... I do not think I could wait so long.
The following is the production saga of my PS-15, which I am glad is over. Above is the set from which my guitar was built. I printed out the picture and had been looking at it every day (and sighing) since I received it at the end of October until the delivery of the guitar a month later. I went to the factory several times to see if I could spot it ... and did get a few pictures.
This is a photo of the raw wood for my original PS-15. I had a few others to choose from, J16 and J25. Yes, J16 is the wood from which my guitar was built, but I did not choose it originally. I did get a few in production photos of this guitar when I visited the factory, both before final finish and before final assembly. But it wasn't meant to be. Somewhere along the line at the end of September, Bob Taylor rejected it because he did not like the way it turned out. I am glad that Bob Taylor has high standards for the Presentations, that he would even turn down a perfectly good guitar. I really appreciate his watchful eye over this premium line.
This is a photo of the raw wood for my second PS-15. Early in its production, Bob Taylor took it out of production when he found a set he believed I would prefer more (What customer service, especially since I had okayed this set already.). I never saw this guitar in production.
I got to see the third guitar a few times before delivery. Bob Taylor sent me a few in production photos of the top, back, and close up of the back. I also got to see it right after it had gotten its UV finish and took pictures of its back, top, and sides. I also got to see it a week later, during final assembly. However, I neglected to put a CF card in my camera and don't have pictures from that visit. I was planning on taking the tour at the end of the week to see about getting those pictures, but the guitar arrived at my dealer the day before I was going to go.
As soon as I got home from work and heard the message on my answering machine, I went to the guitar store, even though I knew the traffic would be really bad and probably take me at least an hour to get there. I could not imagine leaving my guitar in a cold storeroom overnight. Initially I was actually underwhelmed by the guitar ... I had great expectations on how this guitar would sound (it looked great), but it did not sound like I thought it would.
However, a few days later I changed my mind. You see, the weather had been cold and my guitar room was too cold, so I had been playing in the living room, where there are so many sound dampening elements. When I finally played in my guitar room (wood paneled), I finally got to hear my guitar and fell in love with it. It certainly does sound like "church bells being shot from a cannon" as Bob Taylor put it.
Although the production saga of the life of this guitar has ended, the story continues as I get to know this instrument and work of art more intimately.
And yes, Bob Taylor, this guitar is "just fine."
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