Well, They Are Gone...
Back inlay on 2001 Taylor 314kce
03/15/2026
Speaking of things that just sneak up on you and go "bump" in the night, there are things in the guitar world that do that as well. Today our subject instrument is a 2001 Taylor 314kce “Legends of the Fall” acoustic guitar (koa/Stika) that started out as my stage guitar. This instrument handled many, many weekly gigs until my studio session load began to overtake my live work. At that point it became my studio utility acoustic guitar, always there in the studio machine room for whatever jobs that needed it, a maid of all sessions. Friends have used it to record parts on their albums and I’ve used it on my productions. At this point we've done more sessions together than I can count, and the guitar served in those two duties for a combined twenty-five years. Both of us have been too busy to notice, but the faithful instrument's age is finally showing, and it completely sneaked up on me.
At my son's wedding rehearsal, August 22, 2003
The frets are gone. I mean, gone. Oh, you can catch a fingernail on them, but all up and down the neck the frets are really, really low and the crowning is completely flat. That’s not just in the “cowboy chords” area down by the nut but all the way up and down the neck. It has been used for everything. And for fret height we are talking “Steve Howe low”. If you know, you know. Steve has had his Gibson ES-175 since 1964 and has never refretted it for fear it would change the instrument in an irretrievable way. It actually hurts my fingertips and forearm muscles to play the guitar because the frets are so low that they force me to press too hard just to fret cleanly. That by itself isn’t enough to sideline the instrument – but it has begun to get In the way of playing professionally even in short bursts. When I go home and play my other guitars, the fretting ease they offer is amazing… and the contrast is shocking. Why did I wait so long? Because it was sneaky. Perhaps because I am not observant. Frankly, whatever the cause, I waited too long, until the guitar is no fun to play. My fault.
Soooo... It is refret time. Have you noticed that refret jobs are really hard to get around to? You never seem to have the spare cash lying around for a fret job, need or not. There always seems to be something else, something new, clamoring for your money. Isn’t that strange? But someday soon I will put it In the hands of my luthier/tech, Kenny Marshall, and he’ll hand me back a guitar that is ready for another long run.
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