Taylor Acoustic Guitars

Taylor Guitars - A Unique and Very High Quality American Guitar Manufacturer.

Taylor Guitars, the only real threat to Martin Dominance.

The only real threat to the dominance of the legendary C.F. Martin & Co. guitar company in the United States, and in fact, the entire world, is the Taylor Guitar Company of California. If you were to go to either Merle Fest, in North Carolina, or The Walnut Valley Festival, in Winfield, Kansas - and view the amazing acoustic guitar competitions there, then the only other guitar manufacturer there, as displayed by the contestants, that poses a threat to the eminence and prestige of the Martin Guitar Company is the Taylor Guitar Company.

Oh, the Henderson Guitars are some of the most prized instruments in acoustic guitar circles these days, and they deserve to be there for certain, they are not, however, a mass produced or economic choice of guitar. They cost every penny that they are worth, and you would be placed on a waiting list of at least two years were you to order one. Taylor guitars, however, are more affordable, and easily found. They are top notch in every single way, and are often traditional, and untraditional at the same time.  I fully realize that that statement deserves some clarification, and so here you go:  Taylor guitars are often very traditional in appearance, and beautiful, very playable, more affordable than Martin, hot rodded from the factory, and an outstanding value - but they are also often pre-equipped with pickups and pre-amps, and they have a unique bracing pattern, which is a complete break from the very common, and time honored Martin X bracing. 

The Taylor 810

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The Taylor 810 vs the Martin D 28

The Taylor guitar company honors the tradition of great American guitar companies like C.F. Martin & Co., and the Gibson Guitar company, as it should, and it offers comparable models of every major acoustic guitar manufactured, however, most all Taylor guitars come from the factory with a pickup and pre-amp, and is ready to be amplified. These guitars are great stage guitars for that reason - they were born for the stage.
If you're like me, and consider the Martin D 28 to be the standard bearer for all steel stringed acoustic guitars everywhere, then naturally, you'd be very interested in knowing what sort of competition that the Taylor Guitar company provides in regards to a full sized flat top guitar made with solid rosewood back and sides, and a solid spruce soundboard. Taylor excels at this, and promptly provides the Taylor 810 guitar, an outstanding guitar in every single way imaginable.

The Taylor 810 acoustic guitar already comes with several features in the area that I'll call "hot rodding" that the standard Martin D 28 does not have, such as bone nuts and saddles, bone allows a guitar's strings to vibrate longer, stronger, and louder - and this is highly preferred over any other synthetic plastic, or what not that might be used for nuts, and saddles, or even bridge pins. In fact, all Taylor guitars of solid wood construction already feature these bone improvements to their sound and tonality, and so, I won't bother to type it out again, as you'll already know that the guitars mentioned include these fine upgrade type features as a standard factory feature with Taylor. For the reasons I've listed, I will only compare the Taylor guitars to comparable Martin guitars.

Taylor 810 Dreadnought Rosewood Acoustic Guitar $2,349.00Guitar Center
Above you see the lowest price that I've seen on the net from a major distributor concerning the wonderful Taylor 810.
Martin Hd28vr Vintage Re-issue 1998 Hd -28v
$2,599.99 used - eBay

Above, you see a price I found for the very comparable version of the Martin D 28, and as you can see, the price is from eBay, which means that it is definitely a used model, and it costs more than the new Taylor 810.

The Taylor 910

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The Taylor 910 vs the Martin D 45

I guess the only exception to anything that I've written above will be found here, where I compare the beautiful Taylor 910 with the Martin D 45. I'll compare this guitar to the standard model Martin D 45, as it's already decked out enough, and actually has more abalone inlay than does the next level up Martin D 45. I've as of yet been unable to find a precise number of precision cut abalone, or "mother of pearl" pieces that are present in the Taylor 910, but for whatever it's worth, the type of inlay pattern has been affectionately named "Cindy." Do not think that because you can not see a pick guard on the picture of the Taylor 910 that there is not one, there is a pick guard, and it is clear, or transparent.

At just over $3,000.00 the Taylor 910 with Indian rosewood, solid spruce top,and all of that beautiful inlay work - it's got to be one of the most beautiful, playable, and brilliant sounding instruments available anywhere in the world for that price.  The base model Martin D 45 starts at $7,500.00, so you could buy TWO Taylor 910s for that price, and have plenty of spare change left over.  Sure, maybe the Martin retains a higher resale value because of the prestige of it's name, but for beauty, playability, and tonality - you be the judge.  Also, I'm willing to bet that as the years slide by, the Taylor guitars start to accumulate the same level of admiration, and value that Martin has always had.

The Taylor Pallet Guitar.

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The Pallet Guitar.

One of the legendary stories of the Taylor Guitar company is the story of the Taylor Pallet Guitar. In 1995, just to prove that he could, and that the Taylor bracing pattern and craftsmanship was what made his guitars great; and not so much the wood, Bob Taylor made the pallet guitar out of old wooden warehouse pallets.
Now, guitars made of pallets aren't about to take over guitar sales domestically, or abroad; but what that guitar does is prove that though you may want those traditional, expensive tonewoods - you don't have to have them to have a very playable, and decent sounding instrument.  Construction tops tonewoods is the lesson here.

Conclusion.

I've done nothing but scratch the surface here. Taylor makes many fine instruments, and the point of this piece was merely to show that though Martin Guitars and the Gibson Guitar Company have solid and legendary names and reputations built with years and years of experience, the Taylor Guitar company is a force to be dealt with. I'd rate Taylor guitars as every bit as good as Martin, and better than most Gibson acoustic guitars, but as always, you should know that no two guitars are ever equal, and that the best guitar is the one that the musician thinks is best.