Throughout 2024, Taylor Guitars is celebrating its 50th anniversary. For the El Cajon, California-based company, it’s not merely the marking of a milestone birthday, but an extended tribute to the spirit of player-friendly innovation that has always pushed the company forward. Read on for a brief history of this innovative acoustic guitar builder.
American Dreamers
In 1974, Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug, two ambitious, guitar-obsessed dreamers from San Diego who’d met at a guitar-making shop called the American Dream, embarked on a journey that would reshape the landscape of acoustic guitars. The path wasn’t always easy, and Bob and Kurt knew they had a lot to learn. “Things were hard for a really long time,” Kurt says. “We had to learn everything. How to build guitars. How to sell guitars. How to build a business.”
Relentless Innovation
Despite the steep learning curve, even in the early days innovation was part of the DNA of the company. In 1976, Bob Taylor introduced an early version of Taylor’s soon-to-be-embraced slim-profile, bolt-on guitar neck. This design marked a departure from the big, round, chunky neck profiles found on most acoustics of the day. It also made it easier to perform neck resets.
Musicians were impressed by the slender neck profile and low action, which made Taylor’s guitars remarkably easy to play. Neil Young played a Taylor rosewood/spruce 12-string Jumbo 855 in 1978, a purple 12-string Jumbo was crafted for Prince in 1985, and, shortly after, signature models were made for acclaimed acoustic players Dan Crary and Leo Kottke.
Taylor became the first acoustic guitar company to adopt computer-numerical-controlled mills. In 1990, they introduced CNC machines to their factory, which offer exacting precision in cutting, pocketing and shaping complex guitar components.
The Birth of the Grand Auditorium
In 1994, Taylor’s Grand Auditorium made its debut, sporting refined dimensions that sat between a dreadnought and Taylor’s small-bodied Grand Concert. This new body shape offered a versatile acoustic voice with remarkable balance across the tonal spectrum, and clear, well-defined notes suited for strumming, picking, and playing fingerstyle. This medium-sized body style redefined the acoustic guitar to better fit the needs of the modern player. Its sweeping utility made it a go-to choice for session musicians and gigging players alike, ultimately becoming Taylor's best-selling body shape.
As part of their 50th anniversary celebration, Taylor is releasing a collection of limited-edition guitars celebrating the best from the Taylor line over the past five decades. And it’s only natural that the all-purpose Grand Auditorium takes center stage in this commemorative collection. A number of models have already been released and are available now at authorized Taylor dealers, including the 50th Anniversary Builder’s Edition 814ce LTD, 314ce LTD and AD14ce-SB LTD.
Builder's Edition 814ce LTD
The 50th Anniversary Builder’s Edition 814ce LTD is an ultra-refined version of the player-favorite Builder’s Edition 814ce (released in 2023) that retains comfort-enhancing elements from the original: a beveled armrest, beveled cutaway, chamfered edges and a Curve Wing bridge. A solid sinker redwood top and solid Indian rosewood body offer a harmonious blend of rich lows, sparkling highs, bold projection and remarkable dynamic range. It features an abalone rosette, mother-of-pearl inlays, maple binding, maple purfling around the fretboard and peghead, and ultra-precise Gotoh 510 tuners, and streets for $4,999.
Zac Brown & Marcus King | Taylor 50th Anniversary Next Generation
314ce LTD
One of the best-selling U.S.-made acoustic guitars, Taylor’s 314ce gets a premium upgrade with the 50th Anniversary 314ce LTD. Taylor’s special roasting process has been applied to the solid Sitka spruce top, offering aged-in depth and sweetness from day one, along with enhanced soundboard stability and responsiveness. Paired with solid sapele back and sides, you can expect a rich and versatile sonic profile with the signature warmth, clarity, and balance that’s characteristic of Taylor guitars. Eye-catching aesthetic touches include an artfully sprayed tobacco shaded edgeburst and a bold firestripe faux-tortoise pickguard. The street price is $2,799.
Jason Mraz & Daniel Tovar | Taylor Guitars 50th Anniversary Next Generation
AD14ce-SB LTD
Some of Taylor’s earliest guitars featured a Sitka spruce top and a walnut body, many of which were built in the hippie-vibed music shop where Bob and Kurt met and from which the American Dream Series takes its name. The 50th Anniversary AD14ce-SB LTD, only the second Grand Auditorium in the series, combines workhorse versatility with earthy, neo-vintage aesthetics. With walnut contributing to a pronounced midrange and a balanced blend of warm lows and clear highs, this guitar is ideal for everything from intricate fingerpicking to vibrant strumming, and is street-priced at $1,999.
All three Grand Auditoriums are voiced with V-Class bracing, a groundbreaking sonic “engine” developed by Andy Powers, Taylor’s chief guitar designer (and president and CEO). Joining the team in 2011, Andy is committed to ensuring that Taylor’ guitar-making innovation continues to be a central focus in the decades ahead.
Each guitar in the collection shares celebratory appointments, including a commemorative 50th Anniversary label inside, ebony bridge pins with gold acrylic dots, and gold tuning machines and buttons.
You can explore Taylor’s full 50th Anniversary Collection of guitars here. All models are available exclusively at authorized dealers.
Plus, check out Taylor’s 50th Anniversary Timeline to learn more about the history of innovation and some of the amazing artists who have played their guitars over the past five decades.
Ben Harper & Nathan Graham | Taylor 50th Anniversary Next Generation
In general, Leo Fender’s credo was that “the design of each element should be thought out in order to be easy to make and easy to repair.” His approach was to build high-quality instruments while maintaining low manufacturing costs with mass production. When thinking about the design of the Stratocaster, there are at least two elements where one can have some doubts about the easy-to-repair approach, at least from today’s perspective: pickguards you can’t take off without removing the strings and truss rods you can’t access without removing the pickguard.
Within the historical context of Leo Fender’s time, I think he would say that he did everything right. Right from the start, the Fender company cared a lot about setting up their guitars before they were shipped out. The setup was meant to be set-it-and-forget-it, so truss rod access was not very important—accessing it from the neck heel was the design following function.
I’m not sure if this was really easier to build this way compared to accessing it from the headstock, but it was the method that offered better headstock stability and longevity. Nine out of 10 Stratocaster headstock repairs I see in the shop are guitars with truss-rod access from the headstock. Because of its design, this is a weak spot in the wood, so drilling a hole to access the truss rod will weaken it more. In old Fender papers I found an interesting bulletin that the neck was never meant to be repaired or refretted. Instead, a customer was simply meant to change the complete bolt-on neck.
Back in the ’50s, things like replacement pickups, mods, push-pull pots, multi-stage pickup switches, and the like were not yet invented, so there was no need to design the Stratocaster pickguard for easy access. It would only have to be removed for a serious repair, which shouldn’t have happened very often.
Times have changed noticeably, and today it is usual to perform a setup regularly to compensate for changing weather conditions, different string gauges, and so on. And trying new pickups, tone caps, mods, etc. is a kind of popular sport among most guitarists—set-it-and-forget-it was forgotten long ago!
“Back in the ’50s, things like replacement pickups, mods, push-pull pots, multi-stage pickup switches, and the like were not yet invented, so there was no need to design the Stratocaster pickguard for easy access.”
The design of the Stratocaster hasn’t changed much since the mid ’50s. Of course, standard procedure is now to have truss-rod access from the headstock, so at least the setup thing is finally solved. But Stratocasters with access to the pickguard from behind is something that would make a lot of things much simpler. Let’s see what can be done to make things easier and, of course, faster when you do have to remove your guitar’s neck or loosen the strings to get to the pickguard.
The gold standard way of servicing a Stratocaster is to remove the old strings so you have full access to the pickguard. This is especially perfect when you want to do some work under the hood of the pickguard like changing a pot, pickup, or any other electronics work. You can test everything before you put on the new strings and there is no additional work to consider. For setups this is a great starting point—you can roughly pre-adjust the neck to your preferences, but for the final setup, there is no way around putting on the new set of strings. Here are two of my favorite hacks in the shop to save some time and nerves.
The IKEA Hack
You all know these plastic kitchen sealing clips for resealing opened bags and packages. I like the IKEA model because they’re super sturdy, well-made, and will last a very long time. Take one of these clips—we will need the large version—open it, and cut six small grooves in it using a round needle file or any other similar tool for this. Try to come close to the string spacing behind the nut with your grooves. I usually take a black sharpie to mark the spacing on the plastic clip before using the file.
Photo courtesy of SINGLECOIL
After you’re finished, loosen the strings but don’t take them out of the tuner posts. Slide the opened clip under the strings behind the nut, put each string in one of the grooves, and close the clip. Now, you can pull the strings out of their posts and put them aside to have full access to the pickguard and the neck-heel truss rod. Because the modified clip will hold the strings in place, they will not tangle up into a bird’s nest of strings. For vintage-Kluson-style tuners or locking tuners, it can be very easy to pull the strings out of the posts and back in. For other types, you’ll need a little bit more patience to get the strings back in place, but it’s worth the effort.
The Old-Style Capo Hack
My first capo that I got when I was around 10 years old or so is still alive and employed in my shop. It’s a Dunlop 11C toggle-action capo that is still in production, and I bet a lot of you started with this capo, too. I use the curved version that my parents bought by accident for my classical guitar because they didn’t know about flat and curved fretboards. This one works great on all electric guitars.
Photo courtesy of SINGLECOIL
Loosen all the strings slightly so they will not slip out of their posts. Put the capo on the first fret and close it. The strings can no longer slip out of the nut, the string trees, and the posts of the tuners.
Photo courtesy of SINGLECOIL
Now, when you remove the neck, the capo will hold the strings in place. Putting the neck back on will be very easy: Fasten the screws, take off the capo, and tune the strings to pitch.
You see, there are at least two alternative ways to avoid changing the strings, especially if they are as good as new with only a few playing hours upon them. Often, little gizmos make a big difference.
Next month we will dive down into Epiphone history and see what they electronically cooked up in the mid ’60s, so stay tuned.
Until then ... keep modding!