Woodstock was a seminal event in my youth and I became infatuated with the likes of CSNY and friends. In particular, Stephen Stills and Neil Young became my personal guitar heroes. In 1973 (shortly before Bob Taylor started the Taylor Guitar Company), I scraped together enough cash to buy a new, Made-in-Taiwan Yamaha FG 200. I proceeded to self-teach all of those great songs of the era.
At the time, the finest guitars on the market were coming from a family owned business in Nazareth but, for a poor college student, those guitars were only meant for professionals. If you couldn’t make a living playing, you couldn’t afford and didn’t deserve one of those guitars. They were as close to me as the Man in the Moon. Yes, I put them on a pedestal where they remained for decades.
Fast forward 45 years, which the Yamaha spent mostly in its case, three kids were raised and put through school, a mortgage was paid off and I was able to retire a bit early. Finally, with time to spare again, I dug the Yamaha out of the attic, put fresh strings on it and amazingly, it still played a tune. It dawned on me that I could now afford to buy a good guitar and there was only one brand I was interested in—the one I left on that pedestal 45 years ago. I did my homework, and since the first of this year, have acquired a luscious NOS 2016 Custom HD-28V in Guatemalan Rosewood and ordered a custom sinker mahogany from the same company. The process of placing this custom order made me realize what an antiquated business I was dealing with. This allowed me to expand my horizons and I began consuming everything I could find on Taylor. I am blown away by the groundwork laid by Bob Taylor that is resulting in the incredible innovations that are just beginning to be introduced to the market. I am particularly smitten by the new BE K14ce. To me, the ergonomic innovations on this guitar are every bit as important and impressive as the V-Class bracing. My lust is expanding to all things Koa with all the great things BT is doing on the ground in Hawaii (hope the volcano hasn’t harmed his trees!). So, anyway, I do not yet own a Taylor but there is no doubt one will be added to my collection once my prior purchases have been absorbed. I’m looking forward to learning even more about Taylor and what The Players have discovered about its products. It’s a privilege for me to be here.
