Ask Bob

Yes, Patrick, we do use some species of acacia. In the same way that there are so many different species of spruce or rosewood, there are different species of acacia — well over one hundred, in fact. We use acacia koa from Hawaii and acacia melanoxylon (a.k.a. Tasmanian blackwood) regularly for guitars. Here in the U.S., we see landscape trees called acacia. But they’re of many varieties. In Florida, where you live, you’re likely seeing sweet acacia if they have bright yellow flowers. Mostly they’re of Australian descent and were planted here years ago. Many Taylor guitars made with blackwood have featured blackwood from Australia, but we’ve mostly ceased using wood from there and have been using the same species planted here in California, which comes out of urban landscapes as those trees die or become a danger. Yes, even though we don’t market it like we do Urban Ash, many of our blackwood guitars are now from an urban landscape; in fact, most of them are now. Here, people call them black acacia, and they’re called Tasmanian blackwood or Australian blackwood when they come from Down Under. Your new 362ce has acacia back and sides.

Yes, Eric, there’s truth to it. But it will always have some movement no matter how old it gets, which is why ancient wooden or cloth items in museums are always in climate-controlled rooms. If a King Tut wooden carving isn’t old enough to not shrink or expand, then neither is a 20-year-old guitar. But to add more color to the story, what often happens to a guitar is it gets exposed to super dry or super wet environments in its first years of life, causing it to shrink or swell excessively. This often “ratchets” the wood into a permanent new size. That’s why sometimes a guitar that’s cracked cannot be simply re-humidified to close the crack. In reality, 95 percent of the time it can, but in extreme cases it can’t because it’s been extremely dried to a new and permanent size. This can then make it appear that the wood is more stable, which it actually is.

But too bad it happened after the guitar was made rather than before. This is one reason why, in our drying process, we have started to put much of our wood through three to four kiln-drying cycles. It takes months, but we keep moving that piece down to the smallest size it can become. Sort of like making pre-shrunk jeans. But we have to bring the wood up and down and up and down in moisture content to achieve the goal. The results can be worth the effort, so we do it. If a guitar ages slowly over time without any huge humidity trauma, slow and steady, up and down, it does become more stable without damage. It’s still good to keep it in safe environments and let it grow up, mature and become physically fit over time. It will happen on its own, but like that King Tut carving, it becomes even more valuable with age, so always treat it well. Don’t baby it, just treat it well.

Yes, Marco, let me list some ways. There’s a shortage of resin in the market. This affects everything from our finish materials or building new foam-insulated kilns to plastics like binding and vinyl for case coverings. Perishable tools like drill bits, saw blades, router bits. Supplies like sandpaper or tape. Tuning machines. Pickup components like pre-amps. And then there’s shipping. Things that took one month to 45 days to ship via ocean are taking six months. Often you can see ships out there off-shore in Long Beach waiting months on end to enter the port. Then, longshoremen can’t get to it. Customs can’t clear it. And no trucks with drivers to get it to us. Then, this delay has the containers sitting, which should all be in play, being used around the world. So there are container shortages. Sometimes it takes us months to actually get containers to the factory to ship our guitars overseas. Then, there’s a shortage of people. And then remember that anyone who supplies Taylor Guitars is experiencing what we experience, in every way I just mentioned. Fortunately, we have always been a customer that not only wants the best suppliers, but we want to be their best customer. This is and has been my mantra for decades, and our co-workers here take that to heart. Now, those relationships are paying off because our suppliers love supplying us even on a personal level. We have relationships that go back 40 years, and it’s rewarding to know that the Taylor team extends far and beyond our walls. So I’ll take a moment here to thank all our suppliers for their dedication to us. And by the way, we made and shipped the most guitars we’ve ever done in our history this year. Talk about people pulling together!

I think it’s quite simple, Eric: More open grain sounds better. In my opinion, it’s because it’s lighter in weight and vibrates better. That doesn’t mean that every single wide-grained piece will always sound better than every single narrow-grained piece, but generally that’s the rule that I’ve learned from experience. Not that I’ve played every one of the two million-plus guitars we’ve made, but I’ve seen and heard enough to know the bell curve. And as always, like medicine, where just because one is good, it doesn’t mean two is better, there are limits to every rule. Top wood needs to be within the spectrum of what makes a good guitar, and then you play within that spectrum.

Good question, Devon. I’m much more concerned about us not advancing than I am about someone else advancing toward us. If we can always grow hungry for more operational excellence, it will always make a place for us to thrive. I never feel like it’s us against them; rather, it’s us against us. You’re correct that we allow people to see our factory. And we might have a few little secrets here and there. But the main secret is how we think. Yes, we make our guitars daily, but barely! It takes all we’ve got deep down inside to accomplish our work each day. I’ve always felt that if someone visits and goes home with 100 photos of our shop with fresh ideas, and then proceeds to beat us in the game, then they didn’t need to see our factory in the first place because they had it in them to start, and therefore it made no difference whether I showed them or not. If we don’t advance, there we wither, regardless of what anyone else does or doesn’t do.

Well, Mark, I make furniture for my own pleasure and use. I learned the skills along the way and they’re quite different skills than guitar making. Plus, I had to learn how to design furniture that I like. I had a lot of help learning design by someone who worked for Taylor and became a good friend. His name is Richard Berry, and he’s retired now, but he came to us as a talented custom furniture builder and woodworker. He had someone mentor him in design, and he passed a lot on to me. I also love working on my 1997 Land Cruiser that I use for expedition travel here in the southwest United States as well as Baja California. Every year I make or modify something on my Land Cruiser for more living and driving options while I’m off-grid in Baja.

Thanks, Andrea, I appreciate you betting on me. I have considered that, but in the end, I try to do things that I think only I can do, or that can affect people in the best way. The great thing about Taylor Guitars for me as a career is there’s a bounty of things I can do, from building guitars to building the factory to mentoring people here in both business and craftsmanship, and even planting trees or using materials more monastically (as a way of saying it) and trying to inspire others to think about it. I’m about to be 67 years old, and I wish I could wind back a little to have more runway to do things. I’d probably enjoy teaching young folks.

[Ed. Note: Taylor master builder Andy Powers was happy to address this.]

Ryan, that’s a fairly old debate with advocates for both sides. Personally, when auditioning both versions, including both versions on the same guitar, which I’ve done on numerous occasions, I’ve found points to like for both approaches. With a slotted pin, the firmness of the pin wedged into the bore tends to anchor the string quite firmly, which allows for very strong, direct physical and sonic coupling. A slotted bridge with an unslotted pin allows for good anchoring of the ball end against the bridge plate, but it doesn’t necessarily anchor and dampen the passive string length behind the saddle as reliably, since the string’s anchoring is entirely dependent on the string’s tension and ability to slide past any pinch points in order to anchor. In either case, the break angle over the saddle is fairly easy to control based on the geometry of the string ramp.

In our guitars, we actually use three distinct versions:

1. A slotted pin and partially slotted bridge to control the break angle and presentation of the string to the saddle
2. A fully slotted bridge, soundboard and bridge plate for use on 12-string guitars to better control the string spread, coupling and spacing, and break angle
3. A patented, fully slotted bridge pin, which anchors the ball end on the opposite side of the pin to relieve bending stress and achieve good top coupling, currently used on our GS Mini Bass guitars

[Ed. Note: We asked Taylor VP of Sales Monte Montefusco for his thoughts.]

Alan, thank you for reaching out to us. I suspect you’re not alone with the challenge you’re facing. We’ve literally been working 24/7 crafting guitars to meet player demand. The instruments we have been sending aren’t hanging around very long. If only there were a few more hours in each day!

We’re doing our best to get the Taylor selection back to where it needs to be. Every dealer in your area has received more guitars than last year, yet it’s just not enough. All dealers order guitars in advance. I’d recommend contacting your “local” dealer, finding out what they have on the way, and asking them to reach out when a guitar you’re interested in arrives. Rest assured, we’re making more guitars than ever, and they’ll be headed your way soon.