PSsT ....

In the history of acoustic guitar building, 38 years would be almost inconsequential to most. After all, when you see a company like Martin, which has been around for closing in on two centuries, 38 years is a relative blink of the eye.

Well, unless the company happens to be Taylor Guitars.

Taylor Guitars started in 1974 in Lemon Grove, California. While much has been spoken about their storied beginnings, it really is the most recent past which affords us the best glimpse into Taylor as a guitar builder.  38 years ago, no one was using CNC machines to build guitars. No one was using lasers to cut guitar tops, and no one was using a UV finish which cures in a matter of minutes. Bolt-on necks?  C'mon, man, nobody was doin' stuff like that.

That is until a guy named Bob Taylor started asking "Why not?"

Taylor does everything differently. They revolutionized guitar building through technology. They developed their own proprietary pickup system. They've pioneered in-store events that are so successful that other companies have tried, with only varying degrees of success, to imitate them. They've instituted an unheard of "custom shop" program, called "Build To Order", where every aspect of a guitar's design can be chosen by the end user, AND it won't take six months to a year to get it.

I've had the pleasure of visiting a few different guitar factories. I've been to Fender's factory in Corona, California where I saw how Strat and Tele pickups were wound, and how Fender Custom Shop pieces are built. I've been to the Gibson acoustic factory in Bozeman, Montana, where I got to buy guitars right from the factory floor for the store where I was working at the time (and, dang, don't I love walkin' around with a blank check!).  I've been to the Santa Cruz guitar factory; check that, it's much more of an old-world shop than a factory, and I got to see true luthiers ply their craft at every stage of a guitar's evolutionary process.

Then, there was Taylor Guitars University.

Carrie Warlaumont and I got to attend "TGU" (aka (Taylor U.) this past October, and let me tell you, it's an event like no other.  We've each attended before; she with Portland Music Co. and I in a completely different capacity: as an eight year member of the Taylor Guitars Factory Staff.


Taylor can't bring everyone in for this, so we understand the gravity of this multi-million dollar company deciding that we were two of a select few to attend.

The two day event begins with a bus ride from the hotel in San Diego's Old Town (the birthplace of California, by the way) to the Taylor campus in El Cajon, about 20 miles to the east. Once at the factory, attendees go on a rather comprehensive tour of the facility. This is really where Taylor separates themselves from other companies. It would be unheard of to get a tour at another company's factory from the owner of that company, but that actually happens pretty regularly at Taylor Guitars. Bob Taylor often leads the tour at TGU, and is able to offer a unique insight into the company, how it operates, and what it stands for.


This time around, though "BT" was out of the country, so we were taken on the tour by Gerry Kowalski, who's a long-time staffer at Taylor. The tour lasted the better part of two hours, and went into a few areas where the "regular" tour, which takes place at 1:00pm every weekday, never goes.

Gerry Kowalski (in the back by the arrow) explains how Taylor procures wood,
and how they store it before making guitars with it...

Just once I wish they'd put one of these "test tops" on an actual guitar... Just because...

Wood storage inside the "laser room" at Taylor Guitars...

I sold the first guitar ever to have this sound hole inlay while working at a Taylor dealer in San Diego. 
That guitar later became the Hot Rod Limited Edition...

The buffing room at Taylor Guitars...

A 2012 Fall Limited gets a run through the spray booth...

Racks of guitars, like this one, can be found all over Taylor Guitars...

Hmmmmmm... Are those ukulele necks I see in that reflection???

Affixing a body into a CNC machine for precision routing...

Slot-head necks getting their rough milling in a CNC machine...

Gluing the back braces onto the back of a nylon string guitar...

PMC's Carrie Warlaumont, Joe Bina and Andy Powers (both of Taylor Guitars), examine
wood sets for BTO's which will end up on the hooks in our store...

Carrie and Joe Bina check a body template against a stunning set of "off menu" Amazon Rosewood.
Not everyone can get their hands on things that aren't listed on the BTO menu, but we can!



Carrie and Andy Powers, who's the new creative force at Taylor,
match a Spruce top to a set of Cocobolo for a BTO...

Taylor's David Hosler talks about the Taylor Expression System, of which
he was instrumental in the design...

Fingerstylist extraordinaire Michael Lille, of Taylor Guitars, demonstrates an 8-String Baritone guitar...

Yours truly and my old friend Larry Breedlove. Yes, that Larry Breedlove.
(Photo by Eric Sakimoto)

The only bad thing about Taylor University is that it's over so quickly. But the knowledge they impart on the very select group of dealers they invite is invaluable not only to the dealer but, by extension, to the dealer's customers.


At Portland Music Company on Broadway, we not only have one of the most extensive selections of Taylor Guitars in the northwest, but we know just about everything there is to know about them, too...







Text and photos by Steve Parr, except as noted.

Steve Parr is a recent addition to the Portland Music Co. on Broadway staff. Prior to his move to Portland, he served as Canadian Sales Manager for Taylor Guitars for seven years.