Train Horns?

Showed my wife the video clip of the guy with the very authentic train horns on his motorcycle. She was horrified! Didn't think it was even a tiny bit funny. Thinks they should be outlawed! Now, it might help to know three things:
1.She is easily startled - I walk into the kitchen when she wasn't expecting it, though she knew I was at home, and she jumps.
2. Her mother spent nearly three months in the hospital after her car was hit by a train going about 40 mph. She thought she was completely off the tracks when stopped behind another car at a red light, but misjudged how far a train car extends out past the rails. It hit the rear six inches or so of her car and spun it about thirty feet into the air - which was good because that dissipated much of the force of the impact. No, my wife wasn't in the car or anywhere around, but now, 30 years later, she still tenses up when she sees or hears a train. (I know realize I shouldn't have even shown her the video - brought back some bad memories.)
3. Here's something about her you already knew. She's weird. She'd have to be to marry me! I still think the train horn on a Slingshot could be fun, but I suppose she's right. No sense giving someone a heart attack trying to be funny.

Yup, it's the cotton bole inlay on my 1995 "Cotten" 612c Taylor guitar, one that I call my own signature model. Unfortunately, Bob Taylor had never heard of me back then, but that doesn't stop me. In 1995, Taylor was considering phasing out the 612 model. Yet it was one of the favorites of Richard Cotten, the late owner of Cotten Music in Nashville. He convinced Kurt and Bob to build about 62 copies of a special "Cotten" Taylor 612c with his own specifications:

• a specially modified standard inlay to make it look like a cotton bole inlay,
  
• a more highly figured flamed maple back and sides than usual,
• and the sharp Florentine cutaway.

It was a fingerstyle dream! When Richard died of leukemia soon thereafter, Taylor donated part of the proceeds to fund leukemia research.

I had wanted one of these, "my own" Signature Series, ever since I first heard of them. They didn't show up for sale very often, and their owners tended to prize them highly. I had asked a couple of fellow members of the then-Taylor Guitar Forum about them, and they were as enthusiastic about their Cottens as I knew I would be.

In July of 2003, Kim Sherman of Cotten Music in Nashville and Darcy Cotten, Richard's widow, helped me obtain one of these special guitars in pristine condition. It had been used a few times in recording sessions, but I couldn't tell it from one that was brand new. It was strictly acoustic, and though I've considered adding a non-invasive pickup, I haven't done it yet. (I like the K&K Pure Mini on my McKnight.) So far, it's only been played through a mic, and it has a wonderful tone - clean and clear, round and full, with enough bass to be heard but not over balanced.

Cotten finally got his Cotten, and for the past eight years it has often been found in my lap while I mess around with online computer stuff. Don't you wish you had your own signature model Taylor?