“There’s a stewardship ingredient to it, and a accountability that comes with it. However there’s additionally freedom…” Andy Powers is contemplating what it means to be the present and future steward of a guitar firm that’s celebrating its fiftieth anniversary in 2024. After an gratifying couple of minutes chatting about climate patterns in Southern California because the breeze blows gently by means of the resort room from the balcony, the CEO & President of Taylor Guitars is contemplating what it means to take the reins of an organization that has for 5 a long time been stewarded by its inspirational founders, Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug.

Powers is a person youthful than the corporate he now leads, and the San Diego native admits that there’s one thing a little bit surreal about main the celebrations when he’s by no means identified a world with out Taylor in it. For a lot of the burden of such historical past could be a burden, however for Powers the way in which the corporate has all the time been run liberates him of such considerations.

“Bob and Kurt, I imply, they had been barely out of their teenage years once they began the corporate,” Powers displays. “And the objective was to make a residing on the earth of guitar. And so our historical past is to do one thing that’s completely different. It’s okay to be completely different. It’s okay to attempt one thing new. If it’s effectively thought out, and it’s not irresponsible to go for, certain we will make a brand new physique form. Positive, we will make a neck that attaches differently. Positive, we will make a neck that’s slim and simple to play. Positive, we will make a sound that’s completely different. Positive, we might attempt to construct these in a special sort of context. You might have permission to discover.

“However we’ve achieved some issues within the final 50 years. We’ve constructed a whole lot of guitars, we’ve modified some issues. We’ve modified the historical past of music, in a whole lot of methods. However even now, there’s some new issues coming, there are new guitars coming. So even a few of our commemorative fiftieth anniversary fashions go effectively, that’s nice, however there’s different stuff right here.”

Pleased Anniversary

The fiftieth Anniversary vary is typical of what Powers has delivered to the model within the decade-plus he’s been within the Grasp Guitar Designer chair – there’s an enormous number of fashions, lots of which try new issues and introducing new improvements. They usually’re additionally being provided throughout the Taylor vary, from the common-or-garden GS-Mini by means of to core guitars just like the 314ce, all the way in which as much as the Builder’s Version.

It’s an attention-grabbing strategy, however one which displays the breadth and selection that Powers has delivered to the Taylor catalogue over the previous couple of years – it’s additionally a mirrored image of his rising affect over the model in any respect ranges. As we sit and chat, in his fingers is the 217e-SB Plus LTD fiftieth Anniversary guitar – a Mexico-made instrument that sounds genuinely spellbinding within the confines of the Anaheim Marriott. Regardless of designing the factor, it appears that evidently Powers is equally impressed with what the Tecate manufacturing unit has produced.

“I really like making fancy guitars,” he observes. “That’s cool. It’s actually enjoyable, and I really like the custom of it, I really like the artwork of it. However as a musician, I equally love this 217e – that is an terrible lot of guitar for what this instrument prices. That is possibly probably the most guitar for the least quantity of supplies that we’ve ever achieved.

“I’m having a lot enjoyable taking part in this. This can be a Grand Pacific guitar, the primary time that we’ve achieved a Grand Pacific-shaped guitar out of our Tecate manufacturing unit. This guitar is an absolute monster! And in some methods you’ll be able to say, ‘Properly it appears fairly conventional – it appears like an acoustic guitar, however the insides are utterly completely different from another guitar.

“It’s obtained this new C-Class structure, which is an asymmetrical model of a V-Class, and the identical type of thought that led into it. It has a roasted spruce prime, there’s all this new stuff happening. What a cool factor to have the ability to provide to musicians. This can be a actually inspiring guitar for me to play!”

String Idea

One other massive change at Taylor on this fiftieth anniversary yr has flown underneath the radar a little bit – NAMM 2024 noticed the announcement that any longer Taylor guitars will ship from the manufacturing unit utilizing D’Addario’s XS strings. Taylor and Elixir have been inseparable for many years, so we couldn’t assist however surprise what prompted this dramatic change?

“It’s not a call I took calmly truly, as a result of I really like what Elixir makes,” Powers explains diplomatically. “They’re an awesome string firm, they usually’re constructing a really constant string. It’s been a beautiful factor for our guitars for lots of years. However I even have buddies at D’Addario, and it’s an awesome household – they’re a really like-minded enterprise. They’ve the identical ethos behind what they wish to do. They wish to construct a greater string on a regular basis.

“In order that they began seeing if they may up their sport, and construct an excellent higher guitar string, and I used to be sort of a part of that course of. For years, they might ship me samples, and I’d attempt them and go, ‘Nope!’ However they began creating this XS string, and I used to be like, ‘Hey, you guys are onto one thing – this can be a factor.’

“And so it got here all the way down to what’s finest for the musician, and people strings, they simply really feel a little bit bit extra musical to me. It served the guitar very effectively. It’s a pleasant place to begin for a musician to audition a guitar with. I really like when a musician takes the guitar after which places on the strings they love probably the most. That’s what I like to recommend – play the dimensions you want, play the model, alloy, no matter it’s. However I believed these are merely nice strings to make use of, so let’s do this.”

Extra Than One Cautious Proprietor

One other important change within the Taylor Guitars panorama in the previous couple of years has been the choice by Taylor, Listug and Powers to transition the corporate to a ESOP (Worker Inventory Possession Plan) mannequin – merely put, Taylor is now owned by its workers.

In an period the place massive guitar corporations are typically owned by funding funds, megacorps or some mix of each, it’s a daring and admirable transfer – and one you can see has had a significant impression while you stroll across the manufacturing unit ground in El Cajon. It might probably have been extra personally worthwhile for the founders to promote the model to one of many above funding funds or megacorps once they determined to retire, so the query at the beginning is… why?

“There are a whole lot of causes for it,” Powers explains. “Considered one of them is to get to share with everyone who’s contributed to it. That’s an actual sensible factor to go, ‘Man we’re within the enterprise of staying in enterprise, so how about we share that with all of our workers?’ That’s nice.

The second facet is, we couldn’t discover another mechanism that will make sure the continuity of what we felt was essential. More often than not, now we have a passionate proprietor, they get into that enterprise, as a result of they wish to do it, they wish to make their factor they wish to create their no matter it’s they’re creating, promote their service do their service there, they wish to ply their commerce, they usually’re enthusiastic about it.

“However at a sure level, each enterprise must be bought. It’ll both shut, or transitions possession as a result of no one lives ceaselessly. So that you’re gonna should do one thing with it. And so, more often than not, what occurs is you may have a special firm or monetary establishment or one thing who desires to return in and function it profitably and get a return on their funding. Properly, that implies that a part of the aim of that firm has shifted, the explanation that you simply’re doing what you’re doing, gained’t be the identical. Properly, that inevitably is seen within the product, and it’s inevitably seen in what you’re providing to your buyer.

“A guitar maker will get into constructing guitars asking themselves, what can I give to those musicians? And most guitar corporations find yourself later in life, taking a look at musicians and asking themselves what can I take from these musicians? I couldn’t consider a extra backwards flip of objective. And so we wish to proceed with our objective intact. Let’s maintain stepping into the identical route. I wish to all the time be asking, What can I construct? What can I provide to those musicians? And so this was a method to have the ability to do this and have that very same objective intact for an additional technology.”

Essential Unimportant Issues

Listening to powers speak about Taylor and the way forward for the model, it’s clear that he feels privileged to do what he does – and by no means underestimates how significant it’s when he comes into work day-after-day and tries to give you methods to make extra inspirational and musical devices.

“I genuinely do really feel privileged,” he enthuses. “My spouse says that I lead a ‘wealthy thought life’… which implies I in all probability spend an excessive amount of time fascinated with issues! However music, in the event you have a look at the course of human historical past, will not be important. You’ll survive with out it – it’s not meals, it’s not shelter, it’s not safety, it’s not any of the actual basic items.

“Besides that one way or the other it’s so unbelievably important to our expertise of residing – the earliest artefacts of humankind are musical devices. So the primary time you had sufficient to eat, possibly a cave to dwell in and defend you from the climate and no matter may be attempting to eat you… your first thought is ‘I want an instrument to play’. Properly, there’s a very attention-grabbing lesson in that.

“We want this inventive spark, this little little bit of inspiration, that permits us to specific ourselves and supply some type of motivation for residing one other day, to supply a little bit little bit of one thing to benefit from the day, or to make sense of the day. Make sense of what you see happening round you. And I get to contribute to that. I get to take these supplies and construct an instrument and go right here. Go encourage your self.

“My dad’s a carpenter, and so one of many issues he taught me was that one of many biggest presents you can have in life is to be taught to like working – as a result of life is a whole lot of working. So be taught, discover pleasure in no matter it’s you’re doing, whether or not you’re digging ditches, paving a road, constructing a home, swinging a hammer, no matter it may be – be taught to search out one thing in it that provides you satisfaction.

“That’s an awesome lesson to be taught, however as a guitar maker, it’s not laborious to do. I’ve dug loads of ditches, I’ve shovelled a whole lot of gravel – it may be a little bit little bit of a stretch to be taught to like shovelling gravel! And then you definitely have a look at constructing a guitar, and it’s like, ‘I’m constructing a guitar!’ It’s mainly a toy. However it’s a really significant toy for an individual to make use of to inform their story, sing their songs, play their music – how fortunate am I? I believe that’s a very, actually particular factor to be a part of.”

Discover out extra about Taylor’s fiftieth Anniversary vary at taylorguitars.com