Taylor Guitars

I have several guitars, but my absolute favorite is my Taylor 510. There are a handful of guitar brands that are widely known such as Martin, Gibson, and a few others. Most of these companies have been around for a long time. Martin was founded in 1833 and is still run by the Martin family. Gibson got its start in 1902.

But Taylor is relatively new on the scene. Founded in 1974 by 19-year-old Bob Taylor, the Taylor guitar company now rivals its venerable competetors. Taylor guitars, instantly recognizable by their distinctively-shaped pick guards, are played by notable musicians in all genres. The factory, in the San Diego suburb of El Cajon, offers tours that show every step of the guitar construction process. The people at Taylor seem especially happy to show their production facility and encourage photography.

Our tour guide (ironically named Martin) was terrific. He had a great sense of humor, explained the nuances of guitar-making very well, and obviously knew music and the music business. He had a bunch of guitar afficianados following him around the factory.

The process starts off with the woods used in the guitars. We saw stacks of Sitka spruce, used for guitar tops, Brazilian rosewood, for the sides and backs, and mahogany for the necks.

Here a guitar side is being bent by a machine invented by a Taylor employee. The wood is seen wrapped in protective paper. The wood is bent dry and is held for a time in a clamp to maintain its shape.

Martin is describing here the ribbing used to reinforce the undersides of guitar tops. He explained that when guitar makers started using steel strings instead of ones made of cat gut, they found that the increased tension would splinter the tops. Thus the cross ribbing seen here.



These fellows are making guitar necks. Much of the guitar building process is done by hand by experts in various areas. However, machines, such as the side-bender, also play a significant role. The cutting of the wood is performed by a precision, computer-operated process. And every Taylor guitar receives its polyester finish from a robotic sprayer. No guitars were being sprayed when we went through, but Martin assured us that it's an amazing sight to see.

Guitar bodies are glued together and allowed to dry overnight. There are numerous steps to making a guitar, and I won't go into them all here. You can click the heading to this post to go to the Taylor website if you wish.



This young woman was introduced to us as one of Taylors top post-production inspectors. Each guitar is personally examined and played extensively before it is shipped.




Here are a few more shots that may appeal to other guitar players:

San Diego

I followed Mary Joe and the boys from the desert to her home in San Diego where she graciously let me camp in her driveway for a couple of days. San Diego is a beautiful place and I wanted to see some things I'd missed on past visits. First off was to go see the Pacific Ocean because the ocean is always a sight for sore eyes and I wanted to know that my RV journey had taken me right to the edge of the continent.



Random shots around San Diego ...













Balboa Park

Right in the middle of downtown San Diego is a huge and wonderful place called Balboa Park. It is billed as the largest urban cultural park in the United States. Within its 1,400 acres are fifteen major museums, performing arts centers, a sports complex, lush formal gardens and the famous San Diego Zoo. Amazingly, the land for the park was set aside way back in 1835 by the Mexican government, which ruled that part of the world in those days. It would take at least a week to fully tour the many things Balboa Park has to offer. I spent part of one day walking around shooting pictures. The only building I entered was the Botanical Building. Here is some of what I saw:

Four Wheeling !!

I'd seen people whizzing over the desert up and down dunes on TV. I never thought I'd be doing that. But I did!



I met up with old friend Mary Joe Heath, her son Gregory, and his friend Jeremy in the desert of far southern California. Mary Joe's family once lived in the house where Tracey and I got married. It was great to catch up with Heath family news. They had brought a 4-wheel all-terrain vehicle or "quad" for me to ride! Wow.

I followed them right out into the desert in GoJoe where we set up camp far off the road. It's amazing to step from the RV into this huge expanse of desert and dunes. The Supersition Mountains OHV Area is set aside for off-road vehicle use. Mary Joe says the place buzzes with hundreds of riders on the weekends, but during the week when we were there it was fairly quiet. We and the few other riders had the place to ourselves, and there were miles and miles of open terrain to zip over and through. Tracey got the biggest kick when I told her I was "four-wheeling."



This zipping through the desert is just TOO MUCH FUN!! I had no idea of the exhilaration to be felt when you are flying over an open range on one of these things. I got the hang of it fairly quickly, but I didn't want to be too overconfident and wind up flipping my not-so-young body onto the desert floor. Still, after a while it was hard not to keep pressing the thumb accelerator for more and more speed. The vehicle bucks up and down as it bumps over "whoops," undulations in the sand and dirt. That's a major part of the fun.

Below Mary Joe scoots over the sand. That's me in the next shot. Then we see Gregory and Jeremy tearing it up. Greg and Jeremy rode their dirt bikes most of the time, screaming up steep inclines and catching air. This was all amazing fun!