2008 Taylor PSGS McCabe's 50th Anniversary Jumbo Guitar

It's not often that I get "presentation grade" Taylors in for sale in the shop, but this is one of them, for sure. It's a PSGS (presentation series grand symphony = fancy-pants J-185-shaped-jumbo) model with exceptional "bling" throughout -- a fancy pearl tree of life inlay in the fretboard and pearl trim throughout the rest of the body on every edge.

This model was made for McCabe's Guitar Shop (in Santa Monica/LA, CA) as a 50th Anniversary instrument and it's brand-new. It still had a "cling wrap" pickguard to the side of the soundhole and it looks like it might have been handled a dozen times at most. The case has a few marks on the exterior but when I opened the case it was like picking-up a brand new instrument.

When new, this sold right up to about 5 figures. It's a stunner, visually -- all that ornamentation and then the guitar itself is made from premium woods, as well. The top is solid, tightly-grained spruce with a lot of "fleck" to it while the back and sides are solid, rich-looking cocobolo. The fretboard, bridge, and headstock overlay are all ebony and it has premium fittings throughout.

Soundwise it's also nice, with a throaty, stone-tossed-in-water, almost D-28 sort-of vibe to the low notes and plenty of velvet in the lower-mids. Highs are clean and precise and it's got really good definition. I had a customer in the other day who played it for about 45 minutes and kept circling back to it after trying other guitars. It's got a nice, addicting plunk to those low notes but without that Martin scoop in the middle.

As per the usual, the Taylor neck joint means that any future adjustments that are needed will be easy and worry-free. It takes 10-15 minutes at most for me to reset a Taylor joint. The saddle is good and tall on this, too, so there's also plenty of adjustment there. The neck is fast and quick and stable in service. I don't think I remember needing to touch the rod at all during setup and I'm pretty sure this has never been adjusted since new.

Repairs included: fret level dress, setup, etc.

Top wood: solid spruce

Back & sides wood: solid cocobolo (rosewood)

Bracing type: x

Bridge: ebony

Fretboard: ebony

Neck wood: mahogany

Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 54w-12 lights

Neck shape: slim C

Board radius: 16"

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium

Scale length: 25 1/2"

Nut width: 1 3/4"

Body width: 16 1/4"

Body depth: 4 3/8"

Weight: 5 lbs 0 oz

Condition notes: it's essentially brand new and I can't find any real marks or playwear on it. I'm sure if you look absurdly-carefully you may find a tiny mark from handling here and there but I haven't found one yet.

It comes with: its original hard case and sales materials.