Letters

I recently decided to shake up my guitar collection and purchased a Gibson J-45. The guitar looks and sounds absolutely beautiful, but some early onset arthritis in my hands has not been too happy with my decision to continue playing big old dreadnoughts. It is very taxing to play or practice for as long as I’d like. I decided I needed to find a smaller guitar that would go a bit easier on me. I saw that you were about to release the Grand Theater and decided to pick one up.

This guitar has given back the joy of playing without pain. Instead of counting the minutes until my joints are too inflamed to play anymore, I can go on for hours. I can explore songwriting ideas again. I can play songs I haven’t been able to play in years. All without sacrificing tone for ease of play. Sheer childlike bliss. You don’t know what you have until it’s gone, and the appreciation for when it returns is immeasurable.

The Taylor Grand Theater has replaced my grimace with a smile. I am so moved by what Taylor has been able to offer me. I want to thank you from the very bottom of my heart for keeping an acoustic guitar in my hands and music in my heart for years to come.

I received my new GTe Mahogany from Chicago Music Exchange (they are very prompt and courteous). The tone is extremely well balanced — clear, bright and articulate across the spectrum from low to high frequencies, with much more volume than I anticipated from an instrument this size.

After 79 years, playability is now crucial to me, and this GTe has exceeded my expectations in all regards. It just makes playing easier regardless of fretboard position or complexity of the chord sequences.

I play an eclectic mix of fingerpicking, flatpicking and rhythm, a style acquired listening to Chet Atkins, Merle Travis and Scotty Moore during my formative years; any one or any mixture of these styles sounds great on the GTe Mahogany.

I started in the 1950s playing Kay, Harmony and Stella guitars, migrating to Guild, Gretsch and Gibson as finances permitted. Currently, based upon the quality, sound, playability, appearance, value at the price point, and Taylor’s efforts at sustainability and good corporate citizenship, I play primarily Taylor guitars, and any future purchases will be Taylors.

Thanks for another great musical instrument. I hope you will consider adding the GTe to the 300 or 500 Series in the near future.

Just thought I’d let you know how much I love Taylor and share my Taylor story.

Back in 2014, my parents could no longer manage their steel narrow boat (U.K. canals) and sold it, with some of the proceeds coming to me and my brother.

Flush with the cash, I went on the search for a high-end acoustic with a Takamine or Martin mostly in mind. My first port of call was Sounds Great near Manchester (sadly now gone), where I tried a few guitars and was immediately struck by the rich tone and volume of a Taylor 814ce (2014) they had. I tried a few more makes and then left it for a week until I could do the same at PMT Salford. They had a much bigger range of all makes, but none grabbed me like the 814ce did.

So, back to Sounds Great I went, and fortunately the guitar was still there to be secured and was still as rich and loud as I remembered it. It’s a stunning guitar that I love and will keep for my lifetime, not only because it is so good but also because it will remind me of my father, who is now unfortunately very ill.

So began my love affair with my Taylor, loving every minute my 814ce is in my hands and looking forward to devouring Wood&Steel when it drops through the post. So, when I saw another 800 Series Taylor come up secondhand, I just had to give it a try.

Driving to meet the guy selling it, an 810 LTD from 1997, I was initially pretty lukewarm on the idea, wondering why I was bothering, but seconds after playing it, my mind was made up. Again, a stunningly beautiful looking and sounding guitar that I am told was made for and sold at a show in the U.S., then brought over to the U.K. with the original owner.

So, now I have another beautiful old guitar in addition to my youngster, and I’m never going to sell either. I’ll be 60 next year and hope to enjoy them both for a few more years to come.

I love Taylor as a company, and you make amazing guitars. People may say high-end guitars are not worth the money, but the joy and pleasure my Taylors give me and the richness and ease of the playing are worth every penny.

Keep up the good work.

The very first Taylor I ever played was a friend’s 1985 815 [jumbo] with a mustache bridge. The first Taylor I ever fell in love with was 1996 514. The first Taylor that I ever bought was a 2002 314 LTD with brown maple back and sides. And, now that I am 64 years young, I have a 522e. It’s the first guitar that meets my personal needs in that it’s a small body with the short scale along with the mahogany top, which is great for flatpicking and fingerstyle.