Originally Posted by
multidon
In the opening editorial of that Wood and Steel, Kurt Lustig (Taylor’s CEO) states “We are not a legacy guitar company...we are an innovation driven guitar company.”. To me, this is an obvious dig at Martin, along with all the other companies (both high and low end) that basically copy Martin designs. The x brace system that Martin introduced is tried and true, and there’s something to be said for that. Martin had also improved it through the years with scalloping, forward shifting, adding the A frame at the top, etc. I guess you could call that “innovation”. This new design, on the other hand, is a pig in a poke. Maybe it’s the greatest thing since sliced bread, or not. Time will tell. If the bracing pattern is so great, why is the rout along the edge necessary? X braced guitars don’t need it. I am also VERY dubious of the claims they make for better intonation with the V braces.
Taylor, although they claim to be “innovation driven”, doesn’t always produce winning ideas. I remember when their headstocks were attached to their necks via a finger joint. Player demand made them switch to the more conventional scarf joint. Another flop was their solid body guitar line, which was going to revolutionize that segment of the market. Proprietary one bolt neck joint, proprietary bridge, proprietary pickup design, yadda yadda yadda. No longer made, epic fail.
I used to be a Taylor owner. I did move that guitar along, but enjoyed it while I had it. It was a nice playing instrument. But it also illustrates what bothers me most about Taylor. They keep changing things (“improving things”, to them) and then, if you have one of the older models, they make you feel like what you have is no good. When I bought my Taylor, they went on and on about how nice the African mahogany (Khaya) body was. Then a couple of years later, they not only stopped using it, they started bad mouthing it! Hey. Wait a minute! Didn’t you used to say it was good wood, now you say it’s bad? My wife has one of the all mahogany ones. Beautiful guitar. Right after she bought it, they redesigned the whole series, with a new whiz bang bracing pattern! When stuff like that happens, you feel like a rube for buying anything they make, because something better will come out shortly.
But I actually suspect that’s part of their buisiness model. I know Taylor owners. I’ve been to the Road Shows. Real Taylor fans are true believers. Many of them are just chomping at the bit to win the latest and greatest from Taylor. At one Road Show I attended. I saw a guy buy one of the new Soiid Body instruments, one of the upper line ones, quite pricey. He didn’t play it, he just barely looked at it, but about 30 seconds later it was his. He was a true believer, you see. It was the latest and greatest from Taylor, so he had to have it. That’s just the way it is with a lot of these folks.
For those who may be interested, the V bracing is being introduced in only a few select high end models at first. Will it actually work out for them, and be the revolution they hope for? We shall see.
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