When I went out to visit my brother Jake in California he arranged for us to take a tour of the Taylor Factory. I was in full nerd mode. I loved it! But it had an unfortunate side effect of making me want things. So many pretty things.
I loved seeing just stacks and stacks of guitars in various states of creation. It was so cool to see it all broken down, from wood, to finished product.
Above are some hard bodied bodies :-) and below a piece of Koa being marked for cutting.
Taylor has automated a lot of the processes which allows them to have a very consistant product. Some may argue this takes away from the "handmade" factor many musicians crave. Perhaps. But I love the sound and love their innovation and creative solutions.
It was fun to see the Jason Mraz guitars in production. There were so many custom guitars being made it made my teeth ache.
I never would have imagined having running horses on a guitar, but why not combine two of my favorite things :-) This was my Dads favorite thing he saw.
Once again, the stacks. So cool.
One of my favorite backs.
Each department has their own guitar hanging on the wall waiting to be playing during breaks. How fun would that be?
The guitar on the left is now the object of my desire. I played the factory guitars after the tour and spent the most time with one of these little beauties. I fell in love with the sound. I never would have thought it would have fit my voice and style so well, but it was mellow and sort of retro sounding without the harsh edge. I cried to drive back to the mountains of home without one.
I made do and played my own Taylor on the 16 hour roadtrip home. (which also made me put another guitar on my must have list. A baby taylor.)
This list just keeps getting longer :-)
(Cal would have been proud)
