In previous issues of Wood&Steel, Taylor Director of Natural Resource Sustainability Scott Paul has shared updates on the koa forest restoration projects we’ve embarked on in Hawaii with our longtime supply partner, Pacific Rim Tonewoods. In conjunction with the launch of our koa 700 Series, we wanted to offer a fresh look at the various facets of our forest stewardship work in Hawaii, including seed selection, genetic research and plant cultivation as we grow trees for the future.

Prior to Polynesian settlement on the Hawaiian Islands around 1200 A.D., koa grew across a wide range of habitats and elevations, nearly down to sea level. It’s the largest tree native to Hawaii, and it grows rapidly (about five feet per year for the first five years in healthy conditions). As a resource, koa wood was widely used by Hawaiians for many purposes, but especially for canoes. By 1778, when British Naval explorer Captain James Cook’s landfall precipitated a sustained wave of Western contact — and greater interest in koa as a material to make products like cabinetry and furniture — native koa forests still extended down to a 2,000-foot elevation.

After the introduction of cattle to Hawaii in 1793 by another British explorer, Captain George Vancouver — who presented King Kamehameha with a gift of six cows and a bull — Hawaii’s island ecosystem underwent a gradual transformation. Forestland was cleared for ranches, while at the same time, a growing population of wild cattle snacked on newly sprouted koa seedlings, stifling natural koa regeneration.

Additionally, in the early-to mid-1800s, agricultural conversion for large-scale sugar and pineapple production consumed some of the low-elevation koa forests. Over time, as Hawaii’s population grew, private land development, coupled with the introduction of non-native plant, animal, insect and micro-organic life, including invasive species, further reduced the natural propagation of koa.

Today, there is still a good deal of koa forest in Hawaii, but most of it sits above 4,000 feet, on private or protected lands. And much of what survives is in decline, with regeneration severely impeded by many threats, including roaming feral cattle, sheep and pigs; invasive plant species like gorse, kahili ginger and strawberry guava; various grass species that were introduced for cattle grazing but have also fueled the spread of wildfires into forest areas; and a soil-borne fungus, commonly known as fusarium wilt, that has killed numerous koa trees at lower elevations.

For these reasons, native forest restoration to reverse this decline has been a concerted effort on the Islands, with considerable research and initiatives currently underway. This includes efforts both to enhance the ecology of existing forests and to restore some previously converted pastureland back to its native forest state.

Koa and Guitars

Taylor’s history of making guitars with koa stretches back more than 40 years. Pacific Rim Tonewoods has been in the koa supply business for about 30 years and has cut the koa Taylor has purchased for much of that time.

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Front and back of an all-koa K22ce from 2005

Koa lumber was widely available until about 20 years ago, when Hawaii stopped clearing land for agriculture, which reduced the amount of koa coming to the mainland. After that, it was available chiefly — and unpredictably — from salvage. About seven years ago, in 2015, koa became extremely difficult to source for guitars, so Bob Taylor and Steve McMinn from Pacific Rim Tonewoods began to investigate further to better understand the sourcing outlook for the future. They learned more about the protections against harvesting koa on public and private land in Hawaii and met with large landowners to discuss their current land stewardship needs and future conservation goals.

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In this video, Steve McMinn and other partners talk about the mission of Siglo Tonewoods and our koa forest restoration efforts in Hawaii.

Those efforts led to the launch of a formal partnership between Taylor Guitars and Pacific Rim Tonewoods. Until recently, the joint venture was called Paniolo Tonewoods — “Paniolo” being a reference to the Mexican cowboys who originally came to Hawaii to teach Hawaiians ranching skills (and brought their guitars and music with them) — but the name was recently changed to Siglo Tonewoods. (“Siglo” means “century” in Spanish, alluding to the long-term vision of the company.)

The mission of Siglo is to supply and grow Hawaiian wood for the future (100 years and beyond) and create an enduring supply of wood for musical instruments. Part of that commitment is to contribute to current forest restoration efforts on a project basis through contracts with Hawaiian landowners. This also includes the development of various tree improvement programs to improve wilt resistance and to cultivate seed orchards.

Stewardship Contracting

As Scott Paul explained in a previous Wood&Steel column (“Three-Part Harmony,” 2020/Vol. 97/Issue 2), Siglo (then Paniolo) adopted an innovative stewardship contracting approach first implemented by the U.S. Forest Service and The Nature Conservancy, which addressed the significant costs associated with forest restoration. Instead of paying a landowner for logs or harvesting rights, Siglo would be allowed to cut a select number of koa trees from a compromised forest area and in exchange would invest the dollar-for-dollar value of that wood into forest improvement projects on that land.

Demonstration Cases

One of the earliest projects, which helped Siglo demonstrate its unique capabilities and ethical intentions in Hawaii, was a collaboration with Haleakala Ranch on Maui in 2015. Two stands of koa had been planted in 1985 in conjunction with a program called “A Million Trees of Aloha,” started by Jean Ariyoshi, the wife of Hawaii’s then-governor, George Ariyoshi. Unfortunately, the 30-year-old trees were in decline for various reasons, which had stunted their growth. They had begun showing signs of heart rot, which would only get worse. Typically, such “young” koa (not from natural forests), especially these compromised trees, would be shunned by buyers. But Siglo, and later Taylor, agreed to work with this wood. Taylor had to take additional measures to be able to make guitars with the wood, but in the end it was used on tens of thousands of guitars, proving that young koa could in fact make instrument-grade wood. The proceeds from the sale of the wood in turn allowed Haleakala Ranch to increase the rate of its ongoing forest restoration efforts on neighboring land.

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A stand of koa trees planted at Haleakala Ranch as part of Hawaii’s “One Million Trees of Aloha” campaign. The weathered plaque incorporates a newspaper article about the planting.

Another early project, which launched in 2017, was a five-year stewardship conservation contract on 1,600 acres owned by Kamehameha Schools, the largest landowner in Hawaii, in the Honaunau Forest, located on Hawaii Island. Though a mandate had been established to restore the health of the forest, there had been no tree harvesting there since the 1990s, which meant no income stream to fund the efforts needed. The contract enabled Siglo to harvest a select number of koa trees, and according to Siglo general manager Nick Koch, the proceeds from the sale of the wood — about $1.6 million — have gone into a conservation fund, about $1 million of which has been spent so far, largely for fencing and animal control. As a result of these efforts, there are tens of thousands of new koa trees in that area.

Koa is one of the few woods in the world for which the supply forecast for the next 25 years is brighter than it is today.

These types of project-based stewardship contracts will provide Siglo with a more predictable supply of koa in the short term, while other efforts are simultaneously underway to rehabilitate forests and plant trees for a more sustainable long-term supply into the next century. It all adds up to a favorable outlook for the future: Koa is one of the few woods in the world for which the supply forecast for the next 25 years is brighter than it is today.

Planting Trees and Building a Mill

Siglo took an important step toward its planting goals in 2018, when Bob Taylor purchased 564 acres of pastureland on the Big Island, near Waimea. The land had been a legendary koa forest some 150 years earlier. Officially named Siglo Forest, the land is being leased by Siglo Tonewoods, and a plan was developed to plant mixed native species in the steep-sloped areas, which will be set aside for conservation (30 percent of the property) and to plant koa in the less steeply sloped areas for timber production. When Siglo Forest is mature, it will provide more than twice the volume of wood that Taylor currently uses, and the management plan will ensure a perpetual, diverse native working forest supply.

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A koa seedling being planted at Siglo Forest in June of 2021

As we reported in the fall of 2021, planting efforts began that June with koa seedlings and mixed native tree and shrub species on 20 acres. A lot was learned, which helped to improve the viability of future plantings. The goal is to plant 150,000 koa trees there by 2030, with the first useful harvest likely in 2050.

When Siglo Forest is mature, the management plan will ensure a perpetual, diverse native working forest supply.

There are also plans in the works to build a mill, which will enable Siglo Tonewoods to cut koa efficiently in Hawaii and enable vertical integration. Once operational, the mill will be used to cut both koa and additional instrument woods, while also producing other value-added wood products such as flooring for the Islands. The mill will enable better quality control and generate jobs to support the local economy. In the meantime, Siglo has improved its operational capabilities in Hawaii by investing its own logging equipment, which allows better, more careful utilization of the trees it extracts.

Seed Selection and Improving Koa Genetics

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Steve McMinn surveys koa seeds from a good seed crop. If properly handled and stored, koa seeds have good longevity — 15 years or more.

One critical component of developing a successful koa planting program — one that yields healthy and desirable koa trees — is conducting appropriate ecological research for optimal results. Both Bob Taylor and Steve McMinn understand the importance of such studies from their work with other tonewoods. For Bob, the scalable ebony planting initiative in Cameroon, better known as the Ebony Project, was predicated on groundbreaking research Bob funded to better understand optimal ebony propagation strategies. In Steve’s case, some Wood&Steel readers may recall our story (Winter 2015, Vol. 81) about the research Steve pursued into growing Big Leaf maple with desirable genetics for musical instruments, i.e., with attractive figure. That project has continued to progress, with forestry trials currently underway on a plot of former farmland near their company’s mill in Washington state’s Skagit Valley, called Utopia Forest, where they are researching whether figure in trees is genetically transmissible. There are interesting parallels between maple and koa, both of which grow to a useful size rapidly — namely the desire to grow trees with figure for musical instruments and other premium products. Steve and his team recently made a video that explains the project.

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Kevin Burke, a horticulturist from Pacific Rim Tonewoods who has overseen the maple trials, has also been coordinating a similar project with koa in Hawaii. The goal is to propagate genetically superior trees to restore the genetic range and quality of koa, which has been diminished over the previous centuries.

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L-R: Ethan Romanchak and Jonathan Keyser, who started Native Nursery on Maui with a commitment to grow plants native to Maui for the purposes of statewide reforestation and landscaping. Here they’re pictured with koa seedlings grown for a restoration project. The reddish leaf is reflective of Maui koa.

The project launched in 2016, shortly after Siglo Tonewoods was established, as a research partnership with Haleakala Ranch and is being conducted at Native Nursery on Maui. It began with the cooperative cultivation of lines of trees from Haleakala Ranch that had been selected for the extraordinary quality of the wood. Currently, 65 clonal lines from the trees are under propagation, and 10 lines have been micro-propagated.

In a similar vein, Siglo has sponsored research with the Hawaiian Agricultural Research Center (HARC) and the U.S. Forest Service Tropical Tree improvement Program. This led to the launch of a seed selection program in 2021, which aims to help reforest Hawaii with the genetics of superior koa trees. Seeds were captured from 42 “plus” trees, which are now growing on as seedlings and being tested for wilt resistance, which will optimize their chances of staying healthy. The research has also identified many more “plus” trees whose seed they will eventually be able to collect.

Compared to maple, Burke says, koa is easier to grow from seed. Figure in young koa is also much more prevalent, and evident earlier.

Siglo also worked in partnership with HARC to plant a 1,600-tree seed orchard/progeny trial at Siglo Forest, using wilt-resistant seed. This should yield operational seed in 2026. HARC is also currently in the midst of a wilt-resistance testing program with cultivars developed at Haleakala Ranch along with seed collected from Siglo’s 2021 seed selection/tree improvement program.

So far in 2022, 12,500 windbreak trees have been planted at Siglo Forest, the seed orchard has been expanded, and another 30 acres of koa and mixed forest were planted. Meanwhile, Siglo Tonewoods has also leased a greenhouse in Waimea to support its ongoing propagation efforts. Ultimately, Steve McMinn says, the research and other strategic thinking the team has poured into developing and refining their planting initiative is intended to provide a scalable blueprint for others who are interested in koa reforestation and afforestation (planting trees on land that was not recently covered in forest, such as pastureland) across Hawaii. Look for more stories on the progress of these projects in future editions of Wood&Steel.

That innovative philosophy has been richly reflected in our ongoing relationships with artists, whose musical yearnings and real-world needs have helped inform our approach to design and, in many cases, pushed us to make more useful, more expressive musical tools. The key component is creating genuine relationships, and for that, you need a strong artist relations (AR) program. Obviously, as Taylor has grown and the needs of musicians have evolved, so has our AR team, helping to welcome a wider array of diverse, talented artists into the Taylor family.

Planting the Taylor Seed

For a long time, we handled artist relations the old-school, grassroots way. After all, we were the scrappy new kid on the block, trying to build some cachet in music circles. Fortunately, we had Bob Taylor’s slim-profile, easy-playing necks as a calling card — you could put a Taylor in the hands of a player and it would often sell itself. Our proximity to Los Angeles also didn’t hurt — we were fortunate to find a couple of music store owners there who championed our guitars and who were well connected with musicians from the Laurel Canyon scene along with other pros passing through to record or perform.

Early on, Bob developed personal relationships with some artists who had discovered Taylors, which in some cases led to creative collaborations on signature models that allowed them to better articulate their unique playing styles — like 12-string fingerstyle virtuoso Leo Kottke and progressive bluegrass picker Dan Crary. In that sense, artists have often been a part of the creation process at Taylor: In the 1980s, fingerstyle champion Chris Proctor helped us develop the first Grand Concert, while a decade later, interest from country star Kathy Mattea spurred Bob to finish the flagship Grand Auditorium body shape he’d been tinkering on. Though Bob never aspired to be an AR guy (he writes about it in his book, “Guitar Lessons”), the personal relationships he later forged with artists like Taylor Swift (and her dad, who called Bob years ago to sing the musical praises of his then-12-year-old daughter) and Zac Brown, have underscored the importance of being honest and genuine.

A spread from a 1996 Taylor catalog featuring Leo Kottke and Dan Crary Signature Models

As Taylor grew, so did our artist relations outreach, as other key Taylor staff, like former sales director TJ Baden, music industry veteran Bob Borbonus, and longtime AR coordinator Robin Staudte, built our AR operation into a more formalized infrastructure, helping to forge relationships with some of music’s marquee names, like Kenny Loggins, John Denver, Dave Matthews, Clint Black, Sarah McLachlan, U2’s The Edge and many others.

Today, of course, the music industry looks radically different than it did when Taylor started building guitars in 1974. Most artists will tell you the business looks different than it did just two years ago. Words like “influencer” and “engagement” would have raised eyebrows among most industry pros, but social media is a key factor in music today. The industry now includes a growing focus on DIY releases and self-promotion, along with a global audience that continues to grow more diverse. Seeing these changes, we realized a few things. First, it was no longer possible to rely on major names without courting emerging artists and working musicians. Gone are the days when a single big name is enough to keep a musical instrument brand relevant. Second, we saw there was more we could do elevate artists while they helped us achieve our own goals. Finally, we recognized that as a brand that was becoming more diverse and international by the day, we needed an AR team that was truly international in both scale and style.

Building the Family

In 2010, Taylor brought on Tim Godwin as the Director of Global Artist & Entertainment Relations. Tim’s long career as a touring musician, session player and all-around industry pro put him in prime position to manage an artist program — he’s lived a musician’s life and understands their needs, for one thing, and later worked as head of artist relations for Line 6, so he was well connected with many artists from that gig. Those kinds of connections matter, because artist relations isn’t just about the artists themselves. It’s also about guitar techs, music directors, staging companies, venues, managers, recording and live sound engineers — everyone who works in the business of making music.

Godwin was brought on to do what he does best: get our guitars into the hands of artists and let them experience a Taylor for themselves. But cultivating an artist roster takes time and resources, and we didn’t have the depth of resources or established heritage of other legacy brands. What we did have as a company was a commitment to design innovation — it’s what continues to set us apart from legacy brands and keeps us at the leading edge of musical instrument-making. We also had consistency and performance reliability in our guitars, backed by the kind of service and support that were music to a touring musician’s ears.

Still, Godwin acknowledges that after his arrival, to enlist the company support he felt was needed, he had to demonstrate how artist partnerships could advance Taylor’s goals in ways that company decision-makers could get behind.

He recalls one experience that proved to be a turning point for artist development at Taylor. It happened in 2012, when singer-songwriter Philip Phillips was making a name for himself on the TV program American Idol.

“There was one performance where, after the song, [show judge] Randy Jackson said to Philip, ‘Hey, I like that guitar. What is it?’” Godwin says. “And it was a Taylor GS7, an early Grand Symphony model. After the episode aired, we went on our website to check the traffic to the GS7 page. Normally we were seeing single-digit views on that page over an entire month, but after American Idol, it was up to 5,000 or so views in just one week.”

Godwin recalls this being the moment when he could concretely show that artists could move the needle.

Putting Down Roots

Another major force pushing us to evolve our approach to artist relations was the scene in Nashville, a veritable mecca for renowned acoustic guitarists, country and Americana music, recording engineers and virtually anyone involved in making music. In the ‘90s, we made inroads thanks to the popularity of the then-new Grand Auditorium body shape, which local studio engineers and session players loved for its reliable balance and clarity in recording applications.

But Nashville can also be tough; it’s the traditional heart of American roots music, and the players who make the scene reflect that tradition in their guitar choices. Godwin remembers pulling out all the stops, setting up meetings with management at classic venues like the Bluebird Café and with executives from Big Machine, a major independent label. Even with a solid presence in Nashville already, Taylor had its work cut out.

“Nashville is practically Gibson’s backyard,” Godwin says. “Taylor really had to prove that we had a right to be there.”

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Persistence pays off, and Taylor is now more firmly enmeshed in the Nashville community than ever. Setting up our Taylor showroom and getting guitars to local artists made a big difference — our studio at SoundCheck Nashville, where we film our Taylor Soundcheck series of acoustic performances, brought in a wide range of new players. The work continues at home, where long-tenured Taylor staffers like Terry Myers provide custom setups for artists and make sure every guitar being shipped to an artist plays exactly like they want it to. We’re not just visitors in Nashville anymore, either. Artist relations representative Devin Malone lives and works in Music City and keeps busy supporting artists there, running events and doing much of the behind-the-scenes work to keep Taylor’s presence thriving.

Growing New Branches

Nashville also helped us recognize the ever-increasing diversity of the music world. A major part of Nashville’s Americana heritage is the rich history of music made by African American artists, and the AR team wanted to integrate those perspectives in a way that would help Taylor become a more inclusive brand.

To that end, we created a special digital story in Wood&Steel from the summer of 2021 titled Deep Roots: The National Museum of African American Music. Developed by Taylor Artist and Community Relations Manager Lindsay Love-Bivens, the piece offered a multimedia showcase of the impact of African American artists on today’s music. Lindsay traveled to Nashville to visit the newly opened museum, which chronicles the deep history of Black musicians who shaped American music. The trip had an immediate impact, encouraging us to think bigger as a company when it comes to creating a community of artists that reflects our values as a company.

“Representation matters,” Lindsay says. “If you want to have a global artist reach, you have to be intentional about building a diverse program.”

Lindsay’s perspective is informed by a lifetime in the world of music. A longtime musician with extensive touring and performance experience as an independent artist, she began working with Tim Godwin and the artist relations team in 2018. Her experience and numerous connections made her an ideal representative to artists and musical communities with whom Taylor hadn’t historically connected.

“I wanted to develop, strengthen and elevate our relationships with BIPOC artists [Black, Indigenous, and People of Color], as well as broaden our involvement in genres we haven’t previously been associated with,” Lindsay says. “I’ve been playing acoustic guitars since I was a kid, performing neo-soul, R&B and hip-hop. As a Black woman musician, I knew we belonged in those communities and genres; all we had to do was reach out.”

Lindsay’s contributions helped our global squad engage with diverse music communities on behalf of Taylor around the world.

Lindsay Love-Bivens

Think Bigger, Listen More

Since then, the AR team has grown considerably. Andy Lund, a 16-year Taylor veteran, heads up our efforts across much of Asia, including China, Hong Kong, Japan, India, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Masaki Toraiwa is a liaison with the local scene in Japan, working with Andy to bring artists like Otake, Iko Asagiwa, Ryosuke Yufu and Thailand’s Natee Chaiwut onto the Taylor roster in recent years.

In Latin America, Juan Lopera has put Taylor front-and-center in the music business, leading to relationships with major names like Chile’s Mon Laferte, Argentina’s Silvina Moreno, Mexico’s Jorge Blanco, Techy Fatule from the Dominican Republic, and Colombian rising star Camilo. In Europe, U.K.-based Dan Boreham has built relationships with artists like singer-songwriters Jade Bird and George Ezra, pop trio New Rules, and multi-instrumentalist Jake Isaac.

We connect with new artists around the world the same way we do in North America: by listening to their needs and responding in kind.

“Exposure isn’t enough anymore,” Lindsay says. “Artists today are thinking harder about what they want a brand partnership to look like. It has to be more than handshakes and social media posts.”

Starting an artist relationship is the easy part. Keeping it going is another matter. Like any relationship, connections between brands and artists require maintenance and mutual support.

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“Artists are thinking, ‘What am I getting out of this other than a loaner guitar?’” says Jay Parkin, who oversees content production for Taylor. “What about long-term support? What can we do to make a difference for artists?”

That perspective helped birth a new wing of the AR team, one focused on using content as currency to attract and keep artists on the Taylor roster. There’s something special about being able to capture an artist’s vibe in a faithful way, and the vast majority of players don’t have the resources to do that kind of promotion on their own. Jay Parkin heads up the content side of AR, along with a global team tasked with generating high-quality video and digital content involving Taylor players.

Those efforts include series like Taylor Soundcheck and Taylor Acoustic Sessions, ongoing productions that brings artists into the Taylor studio to record unplugged, all-acoustic versions of their songs. Between both series, we’ve filmed GRAMMY-winner Allison Russell, pop-punk upstarts in Meet Me @ the Altar, renowned singer-songwriter and producer Linda Perry, Chilean superstar Mon Laferte, and many, many others.

Showing up for our artists can take many forms. Often, we build one-off custom guitars (not signature models) that can help artists bond with Taylor in a uniquely personal way. Taylor fans might remember Prince’s iconic purple acoustic guitar, and we’ve also created custom builds such as Katy Perry’s all-white guitar, Richie Sambora’s famous double-neck acoustic, and Zac Brown’s guitar emblazoned with his name. More recently, we’ve built guitars for pop superstars like Billie Eilish & FINNEAS.

Sometimes, supporting artists requires more direct action. Every musician who’s ever been on tour knows the frustration of not having a guitar when you need one, whether yours has been stolen, lost or rendered unplayable. Staying in-tune with our roster makes it possible for us to ship out guitars on the fly to make sure artists can keep tours going or get recordings done. We work closely with staging companies as well, ensuring our artists have everything they need when they hit the stage.

“It’s a concierge approach to artist relations,” says Tim Godwin. “You have to be a real partner for these artists, not just a sponsor.”

The Big Picture

Our team also credits Taylor’s evolution as a company in two areas for making it easy to bring artists on board: guitar design and environmental responsibility.

As detailed in Scott Paul’s Sustainability columns in this and previous issues of Wood&Steel, Taylor has made meaningful investments in creating a more environmentally responsible supply chain for our guitars here in California as well as around the world. We do this because we believe it’s right, and our artists, like many of our customers, believe the same.

Artists across the genre spectrum increasingly describe Taylor’s environmental work as a draw. Some are just as passionate about the subject as we are, most notably U.K. singer-songwriter Beatie Wolfe, who regularly appears at Taylor sustainability events. Others, especially up-and-coming Gen Z artists, are happy to join the fold knowing that Taylor is leading the way toward a more environmentally responsible music business.

The spirit of inventiveness at the heart of Taylor’s philosophy is also core to our AR approach. Many artists have preconceived notions about what a Taylor guitar can do. That’s why, especially since the arrival of master builder Andy Powers in 2011, we’ve thoughtfully diversified our acoustic guitar line to make it as multifaceted as our artist roster — so there’s something for every kind of player. This makes it easy to reassure artists who suspect a Taylor guitar isn’t for them.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve talked to players who think there’s not a Taylor for them,” Godwin says. “I always say that if you don’t like what we have now, you’ll like something we make next year. Glen Phillips [of Toad the Wet Sprocket], for example — not a Taylor fan, never liked our guitars. But he ended up playing a Builder’s Edition Grand Pacific with a friend, and pretty soon he’s calling me asking for one of his own.”

Our history is full of innovations aiming to fill more musical needs and reach new musicians. The Grand Pacific dreadnought, designed to yield a blended tone that hearkens back to vintage guitars and acoustic recordings, turned heads when it arrived in Nashville. Other developments, like the pair of new koa guitars entering the 700 Series this summer (detailed elsewhere in this issue), boast a raw, organic aesthetic that gives traditionalists even more to enjoy in the Taylor line. We’ve designed more short-scale guitars, like the GT and GS Mini, to reach players who prefer a compact experience. Even on the inside, our designers build to the needs of the player — our V-Class bracing was a hit with recording professionals, which helped put even more Taylor guitars in studios around the world. 

Our guitar development team is singularly focused on delivering a better playing experience; they always have been. At its core, that’s what artist relations is all about, too — showing players how useful our guitars can be, and then stepping up and supporting them in a way that makes a difference.

Every year at the NAMM Show in Anaheim, California, Taylor’s sales team hosts an event showcasing an array of beautiful guitars through our custom program. It’s an opportunity for us to meet with representatives from some of the world’s coolest guitar shops, who can see, play and order some of these phenomenally crafted custom builds — some available in very limited quantities — to present to customers in their stores. The Taylor custom program is home to some of our most inventive designs and intricate visual appointments, and you’ll often find novel tonewood combinations adorned with details you won’t find anywhere in the standard Taylor line. Take a look at some of our favorite guitars from this year’s batch of NAMM customs below. If one strikes your fancy, reach out to us and we’ll help you find one.

Custom Grand Orchestra (#15)

Back/Sides: Figured Big Leaf maple
Top: Sitka spruce
Appointments: Grained ivoroid binding with zipper-style top purfling, a zipper-style ivoroid/black rosette, grained ivoroid/mother-of-pearl Mission inlays, Gotoh 510 tuners, bone bridge pins.

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Custom Grand Orchestra (#14)

Back/Sides: AA-grade figured Hawaiian koa
Top: AA-grade figured Hawaiian koa
Appointments: Hand-laid Roman Leaf koa/boxwood rosette, koa/boxwood Ocean Vine inlays, Gotoh 510 tuners, bone bridge pins with awabi (abalone) dots.

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Custom Grand Auditorium (#13)

Back/Sides: Blackheart Sassafras
Top: Adirondack spruce
Appointments: Sapele binding, boxwood/sapele Art Deco rosette, boxwood/sapele Euro Deco inlays, Gotoh 510 tuners, bone bridge pins with iridescent Australian opal dots.

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Custom 12-fret Grand Concert (#9)

Back/Sides: Figured Big Leaf maple
Top: Sitka spruce
Appointments: Faux tortoiseshell binding, ivoroid/faux tortoiseshell rosette, Vintage Sunburst back/sides/neck with black top, gloss-finish body/neck, Gotoh 510 tuners, bone bridge pins.

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Nick Veinoglou is back to shed light on a few key topics for acoustic guitar players that will help you improve your skills and add new sounds and techniques to your musical toolkit. Nick’s experience as a session guitarist and touring musician, as well as his time as a musical director and producer, make him one of Taylor’s most insightful partners. He records original music under his own name as well as his artist monikers Donut Boy and Lo Light. With three albums under his belt, Veinoglou has played alongside artists such as Justin Timberlake, Camila Cabello, Shawn Mendez, and Dua Lipa, and has also made numerous appearances with Joshua Bassett, Fletcher, Dove Cameron, Jordan Fisher and other musicians across genres.

To start off, Nick explains a seemingly simple concept that can have a serious impact on your playing: posture. Watch below as Nick demonstrates the best way to hold your guitar to reduce unnecessary physical strain and get the most out of your playing sessions.

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Next, Nick digs into seventh chords and their composition, explaining the concept of chord inversions to help you discover a broader range of voicing flavors and diversify your chord vocabulary.

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Finally, Nick gets into the weeds with a challenging topic for any guitar player: voice leading, the art of blending different melodic lines (such as a guitar melody played with vocals) to create a single harmonic sound.

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AD27e Flametop

AD22e

GT Three: GT 611e LTD, GTe Mahogany, GTe Blacktop

GT 611e LTD

GTe Blacktop

GTe Mahogany

Taylor Best of 2022 Models

Guitar World recently posted a series of online Buyer’s Guides for 2022, which were broken into different acoustic guitar categories (e.g., acoustic-electric, high-end, high-end classical/nylon, three-quarter-size), with best-in-class model recommendations for each. Taylor was well represented across the board. Here’s a quick rundown of the Taylor models that made the grade…

Best High-End Acoustics: Our flagship rosewood/spruce Grand Auditorium 814ce nabbed the no. 1 spot on the list as a “desert-island guitar.” Playing comfort and musical versatility were among the guitar’s appealing attributes: “Aided no doubt by Taylor’s V-Class bracing, it’s got a voice that’s easily deep and powerful enough to handle strong flatpicking and aggressive strumming duties,” writes Simon Fellows. “At the same time, its sweet, balanced, well-defined midrange makes it eminently suitable for more delicate fingerstyle.”

Best High-End Classical and Nylon-String: The 814ce’s nylon-string counterpart, the 814ce-N, scored high marks as the “perfect crossover guitar” for steel-string players looking to explore the sonic palette of the nylon sound. Like its steel-string sibling, the 814ce-N was praised for its premium-quality materials and impeccable workmanship, along with the “characterful yet superbly balanced” tonal character of the rosewood/spruce tonewood combination.

“If you’re a Taylor fan looking for a nylon-string guitar on which to play jazz, bossa nova or country, then this is a no-brainer,” writes Simon Fellows.

Best Acoustic-Electric Guitars: Players on a budget might gravitate toward the two Taylor models that made this list: the AD17e Blacktop, one of our most accessibly price all-solid-wood, U.S.-made guitars, and the Academy 12e.

With the Blacktop model, our V-Class bracing won over the Guitar World review crew: “Offering stunning intonation and resonance across the fretboard, you’ll find yourself visiting the dusty end more than you’d imagine,” says Rob Laing. “This Grand Pacific slope shouldered dreadnought is a pro-level guitar for life, offering tonal balance and wide frequency response that makes it a great example of dreadnought class.”

Laing also dug the “Johnny Cash and Everly Brothers vibe” of the matte-black spruce top.

Meanwhile, the compact Grand Concert Academy 12e earned plaudits as a great guitar to accelerate the progress of a beginner or developing player on the strength of its slim-profile neck, shorter scale length, low action and an armrest: “We believe for playability, comfort and performance it is the best, and a guitar that will go the distance with any guitar player.”

Best Three-Quarter-Size Acoustic Guitars: Not surprisingly, both the GS Mini and Baby Taylor share positions on this list. As a true three-quarter-size guitar, the spruce-top Baby (BT1) led the pack as the best all-around choice.

“Make no mistake, this is a proper Taylor guitar,” writes Guitar World’s Matt McCracken. “A tight low end with clear mids and crispness in the highs is matched with great projection, making for one of the best ¾-sized acoustic guitars money can buy.”

As for the GS Mini, McCracken called the popular series a “modern classic” and picked the GS Mini Rosewood model (layered rosewood back/sides, solid spruce top), highlighting the “effortless playability,” “bright and articulate sound” and “silky high end.” 

Though AmericanaFest, Nashville’s annual celebration of roots music, was forced into virtual territory in 2020, 2021 brought the festival back with a bang with a range of performances highlighting the best and brightest upcoming talent of the genre. Last September, our team traveled to Nashville to catch some new initiates in the Taylor artist family, including Brittney Spencer, Raye Zaragoza and Allison Russell. We’re thrilled to share some footage from those memorable performances for you in digital Wood&Steel.

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The genre-crossing, ever-growing family of Taylor players and artists had a big finish to 2021, racking up awards and critical acclaim alike. Most notably, Taylor artists had a huge presence at this year’s Latin GRAMMY Awards, with ten nominated for awards. Guitarist and singer-songwriter Camilo lead the entire show with four awards, including Best Pop Vocal Album for his release Mis Manos and Best Pop Song for “Vida de Rico.” 

We’re thrilled to showcase several of our Latin GRAMMY nominees in this edition of the Wood&Steel Playlist. You’ll also find work by Allison Russell, whose album Outer Child was rated the No. 3 album of the year by The Atlantic, as well as tracks from Brittany Spencer, Raye Zaragoza, The Native Howl, Cat Burns and more.

Make sure to save the playlist to your Spotify account and follow Taylor Guitars for more from our globe-spanning artist roster.

Though you may not think of the acoustic guitar as an R&B instrument, players like Kerry “2 Smooth” Marshall are changing the game by bringing acoustic sounds to new genres. Along the way, Kerry has built a dedicated following as a music educator, session musician, and producer, showing the world how the acoustic guitar can make genres like R&B, gospel and neo-soul sound fresh and surprising.

In this series of guitar lessons, Kerry expands on his video lessons from the previous issue of the magazine, where he covered basic R&B chord progressions, the double-stop technique, and using diminished 7^th chords to capture that quintessential R&B flavor.

First, Kerry dives into the importance of barre chords in R&B acoustic guitar, showing how a couple of simple chord shapes can open a new range of sounds in your playing.

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Next, Kerry explores uses for hammer-ons, a common guitar technique that players can repurpose in R&B to add variety and flair.

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Finally, Kerry showcases a few bluesy, soulful R&B licks in the key of D that you can add to your toolkit to bring more spice to your playing style.

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Discover more of Kerry “2 Smooth” Marshall on his YouTube channel.