These are my 3 Favs (in no particular order)
Left to right: 2010 814ce-Ltd 12 fret short scale, Sitka over EIR ,WAHI nut and saddle, Expression electronics
2012 GS Custom (BTO), short scale,Adirondack top w/Adi CV bracing over Mahogany, bone nut and saddle. no
electronics
2011 414ce-LTD,Sitka w/CV bracing over EIR, bone nut- WAHI saddle, Expression electronics
The 12 fret is truly a joy to play, The 414 is used capoed @2nd fret, The GS is new and still being tweaked.
All three necks are the same, which made set-up, etc easier. I haven’t done a lot to the GS yet, but first on the list is a WAHI saddle. Taylor did a good job on the nut (gonna lower the b and e). The guitar is killer sound wise.
Steve
My 3 Favorites
Great looking group ya got there S MS Picker!
Nice group of guitars. The 12 fret/Slot 814 looks pretty unique. I don’t think I’ve seen one of those before. The adi top probably likes being out and getting a little sun tan. I’ve got one about a year old, and it’s finally changing color a little bit.
What are your thoughts on WAHI, Bone and Tusq? I have A/Bd ivory and bone, but I’ve not thrown tusq into the mix. I have some tusq, but never changed to bone or ivory on them.
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What are your thoughts on WAHI, Bone and Tusq? I have A/Bd ivory and bone, but I’ve not thrown tusq into the mix. I have some tusq, but never changed to bone or ivory on them.
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I really like the WAHI,for replacement nuts especially.I do all my own work, and WAHI’s $$ encourage building it right. The sound from WAHI is “bolder” to my ears on open strings.( I really don’t understand why zero frets aren’t used more). Bone is fine too.(subtle difference to ivory) Tusq sounds good also,but to me on some guitars it has a twangy sound. I have a maple Taylor GS that sounds it’s best w/Tusq nut and saddle.(seems to go to sleep w/bone or ivory ??)Using Tusq that has to be fitted , as opposed to dropping right in works better.Tusq seems to work better w/USTs most of the time also.
The bone and ivory depends a lot on the material quality.With semi-polished ivory you can tell how the grain runs. I’ve had good results using pieces w/grain lenghtwise. Seens to work and sound better. With bone, I hold the blank up to a strong light and look for dark spots. I use the ones w’no or few dark spots. The dark spots seem softer. You can’t see light through a good WAHI saddle blank.(Bob Colosi radiused blanks are great).
All that being said,fit is probably as important as anything.When I ran my shop, any guitar older than 5 or 6 years got the bottom of the saddle slot trued up nice and flat. ($50.00 extra) A flat slot is essential IMHO for optimum vibration transfer.
On the other hand,I have a Taylor dread that I lessened the contact under the G string. The G wolfed at every fret, but that evened her up. I like a saddle that is snug in the slot. Some bone blanks won’t true up if they’re not thick enough to begin with. My bone is water buffalo from the Far East. I bought oversized blanks a dozen at a time and use the good ones,and experiment w/the rest.Out of a dozen there’s usually 3 or 4 that are pure crap, and 3 or 4 that are really good.I’ve not bought any in about 5 yrs, so I don’t know what it’s like now.
Yea that Adi top is brand new. I’m been giving her the "Prime Vibe " treatment. She has about 50 or so hrs on her and probably 10 hrs playing. I can hear a difference already. I usually don’t name my guitars,but I ordered her with a plain rosette and super small position markers. Her name is Plain Jane, and she’s developing into a killer acoustic. One of the most responsive guitars I’ve ever had the pleasure to play. The Gotoh machines are great.Heres a link to more pics of Jane
s1067.beta.photobucket.com/user/ … r/library/
Click on Show Albums and Stories. There’s a ton of guitar pictures,in all states of repair. Some of these I still have and would sell for a pittance of what I’ve in them. 
Steve
Thanks Steve,
I might have to try the WAHI. I had “fossilized ivory” on one and tried bone (only the nut), and preferred the bone slightly. That particular ivory was mellower and warmer than the bone. The bone had a more aggressive tone. The guitars I have with TUSQ also have USTs, so I haven’t been real motivated to try anything else. I have one with bone that I am getting ready to fit a TUSQ saddle (just to have one with lower action), and I will be curious to see what happens going in that direction.
That’s a neat approach to the loud G string. Did you just slightly deepen the slot under the G string?
There’s lots of pretty pictures at your link. I think you had a Brazillian 710 for sale a while back. I should have made room, but I couldn’t pick one to get rid of 
I still kick myself a bit over that one.
By the way, I like shaking my guitars some too. I have a tone rite. I was skeptical when I bought it, but I have come to the conclusion that it does make a difference. It won’t make a mediocre sounding guitar a great one, but it helps noticeably. I have one that has been on for weeks when when I am not playing it. The strings are shot, and I’ll be changing them out soon… kind of excited to hear what she does.
Yea, sold The Braz. I got that slot head and really loved the neck profile. Taylor kinda changed the profile or something,and they feel better to me now.The necks on those 3 feel the same, kinda like my old Taylors that Katrina claimed.
Bob Colosi has some good reading about ivory.
On that G string, I slightly sanded material from the bottom of the saddle. I use a machinist square to check flatness.When i could barely see light(I use a blacklight) I stopped. I got lucky and hit it the first time.(Saved a set of strings )I didn’t true the slot,so it could have been slightly higher there.She;s nice and balanced now. It’s ovankol back and sides with sitka,short scale(24-7/8 vs 25-1/2),cutaway,AA expression system. The acoustic sound is great,kinda between mahogany and rosewood. Cuts a mic really well without boominess or sacrificing the bottom-mids. The electronics sound good, once you dial them in.(A hassle sometimes)
If you notice all that junk on the stand w/the slot-head,that’s cables,a strap and a LR Baggs Gig Pro pre-amp. If I can’t run balanced out for some reason, I use the Baggs. I don’t care what Taylor says, the unbalanced signal works better w/pre amping.
My favorite system is Fishman’s Acoustic blender. Has a UST and condenser mic. Wire them to stereo out, plug into 2 channels and kick butt.
Steve
Thanks Shawn.
I’ve been a Taylor fanatic since the early "90s. I’ also had a Martin D3-18 that was my go to for bluegrass for a long time. Katrina got it and 2 Taylors. With these 3 pictured, I’ve quit looking for guitars. The 2 A/E cutaways are great for clubs,(don’t play out like I used to) etc., while the GS is a great sounding guitar now,I can’t wait til she plays in some more.
Steve
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That particular ivory was mellower and warmer than the bone.
I’ve read that the fossil stuff has to be “conditioned” and is softer. If it was truly fossilized, it’d be a rock. 
Steve
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…( I really don’t understand why zero frets aren’t used more)…
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That zeroGlide is pretty slick looking. I might try one.
Cool link.