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Taylor Guitars: 50 Years of Innovation
The name Taylor Guitars has stood for guitars of outstanding quality in terms of sound, workmanship and feel since the company was founded in 1974. In 2024 Taylor Guitars celebrates its 50th anniversary and we are proud to be able to offer you a wide selection of high-quality Taylor guitars.
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The Complete Story of Taylor
The Rise of the Acoustic Guitar
In the early 1970s the acoustic guitar enjoyed great popularity. From the "Great Folk Scare" of the early 1960s through the ensuing folk-rock fusion to the hippie-influenced singer-songwriter scene in Los Angeles and the Celtic/blues-folk of Led Zeppelin, the acoustic guitar had become an indispensable instrument for both songwriting and performance. Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Neil Young and many other artists helped to increase demand for acoustic guitars.
Larger, established guitar makers such as Martin, Gibson and Guild struggled to keep up with demand. Alongside them, smaller instrument builders emerged who offered more individual solutions through direct collaboration with customers. This revival of luthiers produced independent guitar makers across North America such as Jean Larrivée, Richard Hoover and Bruce Ross.
The Company Expands
However, the purchase did not include the rights to the name American Dream, so the company was initially renamed Westland Music Company. Because of the size of the logo needed for the instruments' headstocks, a shorter name was required. They therefore decided to call the company Taylor, since Bob Taylor was the actual guitar maker. Kurt Listug took over the financial and business matters while Bob Taylor was responsible for design and production.
In 1976 the company decided to expand and made its guitars available to other retailers. Kurt then began regularly travelling to sell directly to other dealers. Taylor’s proximity to Los Angeles, combined with the influential dealers there, put Taylor guitars into the hands of several notable artists. Fred Walecki, owner of Westwood Music, sold Taylors to David Crosby, J.D. Souther and many other artists, among others.
Against Changing Musical Trends
Taylor's early efforts to make instrument making a successful business were further challenged by the shifting music trends of the late 1970s and early 1980s. Acoustic guitars lost some of their appeal as pop music moved from the singer-songwriter era to disco, punk and new wave, and synthesizers and electric guitars took on a major role in pop and rock music.
Larger acoustic-guitar manufacturers such as Martin, Gibson and Guild took the biggest hits, but smaller companies were not immune either.
Fortunately, Bob's guitars and Kurt's connections with dealers helped the company gain a foothold, as Bob recalls. “Dealers are guitar lovers at heart, and they loved the shape and feel of our guitar necks, the brilliant and balanced tone and our craftsmanship. They bought guitars because they wanted them, and fortunately they kept acoustic guitar playing alive in those years, no matter how unfashionable it had become.”
The Ultimate Breakthrough with the Grand Auditorium
In 1983 Bob and Kurt bought Steve Schemmer's shares, founded Taylor-Listug, Inc. and acquired new equipment they had developed for the most laborious aspects of tool making and raw material processing. The 1990s would prove to be a decade of growth and change for Taylor. First of all, acoustic guitars experienced a resurgence after the lean years of the 1980s.
Bob Taylor began using a CNC router in 1990, ushering in a phase of innovation in which Taylor adopted new technologies and developed its own tools and manufacturing processes to refine guitar making. This allowed Taylor to produce guitars with greater precision while also increasing its production capacity. In 1994 Bob introduced the Grand Auditorium body, which quickly became very popular — and would eventually become Taylor's flagship body shape. This model is now the epitome of the Taylor body shape and redefines the acoustic guitar for the modern player.
The Andy Powers Era
Bob Taylor wanted to ensure that guitar design would remain a central focus at Taylor in the decades to come. For that reason he hired Andy Powers in 2011 as his successor in the design area. Andy's arrival initiated a series of tone-enhancing guitar innovations at Taylor. Over the course of the decade Andy revised the entire Taylor guitar line to create a greater range of musical personalities. He introduced new body shapes, groundbreaking new intonation architectures such as his patented V-Class bracing, and the Builder's Edition, an ultra-premium guitar class that combines tonal improvements with ergonomic playing features to deliver the ultimate playing experience in tone and feel.
When Andy took over design responsibility, Bob was able to invest more time and energy in environmental initiatives to secure the future of the natural resources we rely on. These included the ebony project in Cameroon, which developed into a comprehensive ebony planting and reforestation programme, the restoration of native forests in Hawaii including koa research and reforestation, and a socially responsible partnership with one of California's largest tree-care firms to build guitars from retired urban trees.
In May 2022 Andy Powers was appointed President and CEO, while Bob and Kurt formally became senior advisors and co-chairmen of the Taylor Guitars board. Andy also retains the title Chief Guitar Designer, so we can continue to expect new, exciting Taylor models and innovations.
Taylor Innovations at a Glance
- Taylor Neck
- Grand Auditorium body
- GS Mini and Baby Taylor models
- Expression System®
- V-Class Bracing
- C-Class Bracing
Famous Taylor Artists
Billie Eilish
Solo
Taylor Swift
Solo
Tony Iommi
Black Sabbath