Road Show report - NJ

[Jersey tuning]

Went to a well attended roadshow last night.  Finally got a good explanation as to why the new HD sets can be an improvement rather than a counter-intuitive idea for GC and GA bodies- the higher gauge trebles create less jangly top strings and yield greater overall balance.    I didn't find the extra string tension to be a problem at all.

As for the guitars, there were few really exciting instruments.  Some nice Koa models - my wife nearly bought herself a K22 just cause it looked nice(she doesn't play but collects all kinds of small miscellaneous instruments). And GC bodies were particularly well represented. But no exotic woods or tops in any size, other than the K's.

For those of you jonesing for Brazilian, apparently Taylor currently has a supply available via the BTO program...

Is Taylor really producing 150,000+ guitars every year now in its two factories? Took Martin what 125 years to build that many.........

GC mini's weren't even a blip on the screen. According to the rep, " everyone who wants one has one". I was sort of hoping to check out an HV mini

[fmbstrummer]

Jersey, good to see your report.  I really enjoy the road shows.  Was there any discussion about 40th anniversary ltds?  Assuming there will be some great combinations! 

FMB

[Jersey tuning]

No, the focus was ENTIRELY on the 800 series and ES2.  Not a spring LTD in sight either!

[wooglins]

Went to a well attended roadshow last night.  Finally got a good explanation as to why the new HD sets can be an improvement rather than a counter-intuitive idea for GC and GA bodies- the higher gauge trebles create less jangly top strings and yield greater overall balance.    I didn't find the extra string tension to be a problem at all.

As for the guitars, there were few really exciting instruments.  Some nice Koa models - my wife nearly bought herself a K22 just cause it looked nice(she doesn't play but collects all kinds of small miscellaneous instruments). And GC bodies were particularly well represented. But no exotic woods or tops in any size, other than the K's.

For those of you jonesing for Brazilian, apparently Taylor currently has a supply available via the BTO program...

Is Taylor really producing 150,000+ guitars every year now in its two factories? Took Martin what 125 years to build that many.........

GC mini's weren't even a blip on the screen. According to the rep, " everyone who wants one has one". I was sort of hoping to check out an HV mini

Taylor took the #1 spot in their segment in Sales four years ago.  They really are producing that many guitars and more.  During the "great recession", Taylor was debt free and was able to do what is common among great companies which was to spend the time while sales were down spooling up in R&D, tooling, production improvements, etc. which placed them in a very good position.  Most companies during a downturn in the economy try to reduce expenses, and lower prices on products, which is the opposite of what great companies do which is focus on increasing sales of the most profitable products if possible, and catch up on all the things they were to busy to do while the economy is in full swing.  If you remember during the height of the "great recession" Taylor was spooling out really attractive Ltd. editions, etc but they were not discount guitars.  They simply added more perceived value on premium offering which increased sales on their most profitable guitars.  Make no mistake the difference in cost to produce a 31x and a 91x is insignificant.  The 91x makes a huge profit and the 31x makes very little profit.  For every 91x that is sold for example Taylor needs to sell 20 31x series guitars (this is an estimate, it may be more).  In addition as the "great recession", ended we saw Taylor begin to offer new options that required very significant investments in time and money.  Examples of some of these investments are seen in the GO and new 81x series.  They also took care of little things like tooling to build GS sized cases in the North American continent (they were made in China, unlike every other case they deliver with their premium guitars).  This is a very well run company that is debt free, and will do very well for the foreseeable future in my opinion.  Bob Taylor is a Level 5 leader, and has built a company that will carry that ethos through succession.

[jw3571]

I had no idea they built that many guitars per year.

[cigarfan]

Excellent report Jersey! Thanks