Taylor "New" 500 Series Tonewood - Urban Iron Bark...

[jrporter]

Taylor seems to have replaced mahogany with "Urban Iron Bark" in some (or all) of their 500 series guitars:

Formerly the home of our mahogany models, the 500 Series now boasts back and sides of Urban Ironbark, an all-new tonewood sourced from our always-growing urban wood initiative.

While recycling of urban resources is a responsible and possibly profitable thing to practice, I really question scrapping a wood that's long been associated with quality guitars and Taylor's 500 series. I have no idea what kind of tone wood Urban Iron Bark will make, but wonder why could Andy Powers have not just created a new line of recycled wood products. Maybe even revisit the notion of guitars made from oak pallets....

[Earl]

I concur with all points.  If mahogany is becoming genuinely hard to source, there are plenty of other acceptable woods available, like oak, walnut, osage, etc.  And many of them are domestically sourced.  It seems like Taylor had developed a business plan and products that have worked very well for decades, and are now determined to mess with the formula in every way.  I've met and like Andy, but recent trends leave me scratching my head after 25+ years as a customer.  Makes me wonder if there will be a viable Taylor company ten years from now.....

BTW, did you intend to post this in the Introduction page rather than the General Discussion page?