ACOUSTIC SOUNDBOARD
BOB TAYLOR
A Slow Market Spurs Innovation
After a very long expansion period for the
guitar market, 2009 brought our first serious
setback in years. Having just passed my 35th
year as a co-founder of Taylor Guitars, I’ve
seen a lot of change in this industry since my
partner Kurt Listug and I started on Oct. 15,
1974, so I thought I’d toss my perspective
into the mix.
The guitar is embedded into our current
society as the most popular instrument. That
wasn’t true when I started building at age 16.
In fact, back then it was still a pretty rebellious act to show up to certain places with
a guitar. Church music, for example, was
based on organ and piano. Nobody brought
a guitar; if you did, you were seen as some
kind of hippie. In those days acoustic guitars
were only for folkies, but now you hear them
on just about everything, including hip-hop
tracks. Along the way, in the late ’70s disco
music put acoustics on the back burner of
everyone’s mind for a while, but they later
emerged from that tragedy stronger and
more useful than ever. I like to say that now,
there isn’t anybody that doesn’t like a guitar! Even grandparents buy guitars for their
grandkids. When I was a grandkid, they
bought trumpets.
Just the fact that I say “industry” tells you
something of the growth from back then.
Although 2009 brought a slowdown in guitar sales—just like everything else—it didn’t
bring a slowdown in interest or playing. In
fact, guitar playing has probably increased
again this year; it’s just that some people are
putting off purchases.
You might be curious as to how someone
like me—or other industry types in shoes like
mine—might react to that. Of course, there
are jobs on the line, somewhat lower sales,
and challenges due to our economic times.
That said, these factors have also created
an opportunity for guitar manufacturers to
take some time and focus on guitar players’
interests. As a result, this year could eventually end up being one of the biggest periods
of development that I can remember. I can’t
speak for everyone, but I’m sure there were
other manufacturers like us that have had
46 PREMIER GUITAR DECEMBER 2009
a bit of extra time on their hands due to a
lack of intense pressure to fill orders, so why
not steer toward addressing all the specialty
guitars that people have been asking for over
the years? Speaking for myself, that’s what
we did here at Taylor. But I also noticed other
manufacturers—even much smaller ones—
doing the same as well. Much smaller guitar
makers and other producers of stringed
instruments were the focus of the recent
Woodstock Invitational Luthiers Showcase
in upstate New York, where a full slate of
30 luthiers showed up to exhibit their new
products—up from only eight luthiers that
appeared at last year’s gathering.
This year’s story isn’t
quite over yet, but I
have to say that what
started out as a slow
year is ending up
wonderful because of
innovation and a love
of guitars—both on
our end and yours.
I feel fortunate to live in this wonderful age
when the equipment available to all guitar
manufacturers is so capable of helping us to
design and build some of the coolest guitars
ever built. Because of that, I believe we are
seeing ideas and innovations that continue
to soar to the highest heights—all because
we have nearly limitless capabilities. Fueled
by the great database of past experiences
and innovations, guitar manufacturers—or at
least those that have some vision—can easily
work toward new ideas, new models and new
sounds, which in turn enable you the player
to have great experiences when it comes to
your music.
For us at Taylor, this ability to look forward
in a “slow” year has allowed us the time to
explore things and do things that we haven’t
done before. For example, we took a serious
look at guitars that join the body at the 12th
fret, which makes them sound very different:
deeper, warmer and often louder, because
the bridge moves backward to the middle of
the soundboard. But my intention is not to
sound like an advertorial. You read this magazine because you’re an enthusiast, and this
year I believe that some manufacturers have
found that players are very interested in the
marketplace, as well as the guitar itself. And
many folks have been asking what we’re up
to, so I thought I’d tell you … straight up. In
the end, the guitar is what garners interest.
In that sense, I truly believe that when we all
look back at 2009, we will come to view it as
the year of the guitar.
There are till so many untapped ideas, and that
can only mean one thing: that the future does
indeed look bright. This year’s story isn’t quite
over yet, but I have to say that what started
out as a slow year is ending up wonderful
because of innovation and a love of guitars—
both on our end and yours. I’ve seen people
step up and buy because they’re cuckoo about
new guitars. I know that about you.
Bob Taylor
Bob Taylor is the co-founder and president of Taylor
Guitars. He built his first guitar as a teenager and has
since gone on to establish Taylor Guitars as one of the
world’s premier acoustic, acoustic/electric and electric
guitar manufacturers.
www.premierguitar.com
