BTW, now that I have been playing that RT2 for countless gigs in the last 5 1/2 years it is showing some HONEST play wear! These guitars deserve to be PLAYED, IMHO!!!
R.Taylor was a COMPLETELY SEPARATE COMPANY from Taylor guitars.
Bob Taylor selected Head Luthier Tim Luranc, and the half dozen luthiers of RT to show what they could do in a small shop.
Think Bourgeois, Santa Cruz, Goodall, or maybe the Martin Custom Shop, etc! I toured the shop on the edge of the enormous Taylor campus in El Cajon, when custom ordering, and it was about the size of a four car garage.
R.T guitars took about three times longer to make than ANY Taylor, due to extensive individual voicing, tap tuning, and A LOT of handwork. Unfortunately they turned out to be in competition with Taylor's Build To Order and custom guitar programs. They ceased production at the end of 2011. I have it on good authority from the folks I know who worked at R.T. that if they ever start up production again the guitars will be a lot more expensive!
R.Taylor only made about 200 guitars a year for six years. In contrast the two Taylor factories turn out about 400 guitars per day!
R.T.s have significant structural differences from any other Taylors. Among them, solid Kerfing resulting in extremely rigid sides, which allowed the top to be made lighter and braced lighter. That needs to be done by hand, resulting in more volume, and better tone!
Also, the "snake head" headstock yields smoother tuning due to a straighter string angle over the nut. The different bridge design has quite a bit less mass. And the Gotoh 510 tuners cannot be beat!
My 50 cents worth... cheers. Paul
