Chicago Music Exchange | 4 years ago
This is not your typical Taylor. Hand built entirely by master designer Andy Powers, this unique prototype jumbo predates the Grand Orchestra and features an unorthodox short-scale neck and extremely thin nitro finish, unusual for any Taylor guitar. While we’re sad to see it go, Karl is excited to give this one-of-a-kind piece the time and attention it deserves as he documents it for our archives and yours.
In 1972, at age 18, Bob Taylor began working at American Dream, a guitar-making shop owned by Sam Radding, where Kurt Listug was already an employee. When Radding decided to sell the business in 1974, Taylor, Listug, and a third employee, Steve Schemmer, bought American Dream and renamed it the Westland Music Company.
Needing a more compact logo suitable for the guitars' headstock, the founders decided to change the name to Taylor as it sounded more American than Listug. Kurt Listug said, "Bob was the real guitar-maker." Listug became the partnership's businessman while Taylor handled design and production. In 1976, the company decided to sell their guitars through retailers. In 1981, facing financial difficulties, Taylor Guitars took out a bank loan to purchase equipment.
As of 2012 Taylor Guitars had more than 700 employees in two factories: one in El Cajon, California, and the other in nearby Tecate, Mexico, where the company makes their lower-priced models and guitar cases. In early 2011, the company opened a Taylor distribution warehouse in the Netherlands to serve the European market.[2] In January 2014, the U.S. State Department honored Taylor Guitars with an Award for Corporate Excellence (ACE)[9] citing Taylor's commitment to responsible practices in obtaining ebony for its instruments, which notably included purchasing their own sustainable ebony mill and increasing its usable timber from 10% to 100%.
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