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All About Taylor Guitars
For the modern acoustic guitar player, few names rise to top quite like Taylor Guitars. A company steeped in American music history, Taylor Guitars is a brand that knows quality in every capacity. Taylor Guitars carry an unmatched consistency in design and assembly that makes each individual model an impressive feat of musical craftsmanship. Each Taylor Guitars series involves outstanding acoustic sounds to inspire creativity and a passion for playing.
Taylor acoustic guitars aim for a high mark of quality and hit it every time. Whether taking on acoustic guitarcraft in their traditional models, baritones, short scales, or anything in between, Taylor Guitars always have an impressive model to share that is creatively inspiring and distinctly Taylor. The Taylor name is synonymous with quality acoustic guitars. Today's Taylor Guitars are built off decades of innovation and curiosity, and with new developments happening every day, it's always a great time for a Taylor.
The History of Taylor Guitars
The Taylor Guitars story starts with - what else but - quality acoustic guitar music. Through the tumultuous '60s, the pastoral, Californian hippie movement, and the Summer of Love, acoustic guitar music had come into its own through a rising wave of singer-songwriters. Wherever it came from - the freewheeling Bob Dylan, the cool, blue Joni Mitchell, or the mighty Led Zeppelin - the acoustic guitar had captured the world's fascination leading into the 1970s. The times, they were a-changin'.
In 1973, the Radding brothers of San Diego's American Dream Musical Instrument Company hired Kurt Lustig and recent high-school graduate Bob Taylor, who had just made his first acoustic guitar. One year later, Taylor and Lustig decide to buy the American Dream Company from the Radding brothers, after they announced they planned to sell it. After two years and two name changes, Taylor Guitars was full steam ahead with three employees and ninety-two guitars produced.
The late '70s brought big moments for Taylor Guitars. Bob Taylor's personal innovations in acoustic guitar design introduced the world to Taylor's slimmer, bolt-on heel necks that made for easier repairs and more consistent assembly. 1979's Rust Never Sleeps, a concert film capturing Neil Young & Crazy Horse's 1978 tour, prominently featured Young playing a Taylor twelve-string 855 series model, putting Taylor's musicality and design in the spotlight for rock fans everywhere.
America's musical landscape just wasn't the same after "Video Killed the Radio Star". The 1980s presented its own set of challenges for the acoustic world as the era of synthesizers and hair metal, yet Taylor Guitars carried on all the same. Close connections with their family of dealers kept Taylor Guitars in business throughout a distinctly electronic era. Just as the decade came to a close, MTV Unplugged inspired a generation to pick up an acoustic once again.
What Taylor Guitars is Known For
Taylor Guitars holds innovation as a key priority. Across their storied history, Taylor Guitars always sought out new ways to build acoustic guitars while retaining that required element of quality and musicality. Taylor Guitars, from its earliest years to its latest, carries with it a detailed chronology of acoustic guitar innovations. Never ones to rest of their laurels, the Taylor Guitars formula is always changing to better the experiences of their builders and their players.
As instruments, Taylor acoustic guitars display a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and designs - all fashioned in the pursuit of a great sound. These shapes and sizes manifest through their numbered Series guitars, short-scaled models, baritones, and Builder's Edition models that all offer a quality musical experience, no matter the level of experience. Whichever Taylor acoustic guitar is your point of entry, it will play with a consistent vision to its instrument family, along with the Taylor line at large. No challenge is too big, and no innovation is too small.
Taylor Guitars Today
Today's Taylor Guitars are assembled in El Cajon, California, and Tecate, Baja California, Mexico. Between these two factories, Taylor produces an incredibly wide line of products from their Academy, Baby, GS Mini, and Series acoustic guitars, among many, many others. Since the 2000s, Taylor has also introduced numerous innovations in sound and assembly, including their world-famous Expression System electronics and developments in robotic manufacturing.
2022 named Taylor Guitars Chief Guitar Designer Andy Powers as President and CEO. With Bob Taylor and Kurt Lustig still active members of the company as senior advisors and co-chairmen of the Taylor Guitars board, Taylor Guitars remains a close-knit group of individuals all working toward a common goal. An American company founded from a love of the acoustic guitar still exists today on the same tenets.
Taylor Guitars West African Crelicam Ebony
Part of Bob Taylor's vision for Taylor Guitars was rooted in sustainability efforts. As an industry that inherently relies on the use of natural materials, Taylor Guitars always held concern for the sustainability of their beloved tonewoods and the planet at large. 2011 brought Taylor Guitars a partnership and Madinter Trade, S.L, an international distributor of guitars and tonewoods. With this partnership, the pair purchased the Crelicam ebony mill, located outside Yaoundé, Cameroon.
The Crelicam ebony mill can be traced to a large percentage of the ebony sourced for Taylor Guitars produced today. A champion of sustainability, Bob Taylor works to spread the responsible sourcing of ebony, among other woods crucial to the livelihood of the musical instrument industry. The Crelicam ebony mill today operates in alignment with U.S. Labor laws, ensuring a sustainable future for both the world's ebony supply and the mill's Cameroonian workers. In 2014, Taylor Guitars was honored by the U.S. State Department with the prestigious Award for Corporate Excellence for their work with the people of Cameroon and the Crelicam ebony mill.
The Best Taylor Guitars Acoustic Guitars
Taylor Guitars GS Mini Acoustic Guitars
The little wonders. These Taylor Guitar short-scaled acoustics drop in with comfortable, portable sizes ready for playing at any level and in any scenario.
Taylor Guitars Academy Series Acoustic Guitars
The learner's permit. Taylor Guitars knows that their guitars are for everyone, so their Academy Series offers a quality musical experience for players of all levels - novice to expert.
Taylor Guitars Koa Acoustic Guitars
The tropical pick. Taylor Guitars frequently use this distinctly Hawaiian tonewood for a lavish playing and sound experience. Koa is quite a popular tonewood and Taylor knows how to use it just right.
Taylor Guitars Builder's Edition Acoustic Guitars
The crème de la crème. Taylor Guitars Builder's Edition acoustic guitars represent some of the finest designs and construction the name has to offer. For players seeking an elite Taylor experience, they present an enticing option.
Stay on top of Taylor Guitars News & Reviews:
- First Looks: Taylor American Dream Sunburst Guitars
- Taylor Releases Koa 700 Series Guitars
- Taylor V-Class Bracing
- Guide to the Taylor Guitar Line