10 Reasons Why You Need A Taylor Guitar

Since Taylor Guitars was founded by Bob Taylor in 1974 back in Southern California over 40 years ago, the premier guitar brand has enjoyed a stratospheric rise in popularity that has seen many artists relying on them to get their signature sound, thousands upon thousands of people choosing them for recording and live performance and more guitarists on the move turning to them when they needed a travel guitar that was easy to carry but would retain the power and vibe of a full-bodied guitar.

Put simply, Taylor guitars are players guitars, able to offer up the tone you need, the comfortability you've always been looking for and the sound you should demand from an acoustic guitar.

If you haven't already played a Taylor guitar, they should definitely be on your 'Must Try Before You Die' list, as these exquisite guitars stand out from the crowd thanks to their high-quality construction and attention to detail. Everything from the wood, to the hardware to the tonewoods is carefully selected to ensure you get a hardworking, great sounding and completely comfortable guitar every time.

So today, in case you’re unfamiliar with Taylor guitars, we’ve put together 10 quick reasons why you need a Taylor guitar in your life!

Taylor guitars have been designed for people who actually want to get the best out of their instrument, built with superior, high-quality tonewoods (we’ll get to that part in a minute) and made for players of all levels in need of a high-quality workhorse that'll last a lifetime. The harder you play these things the more they love you for it! Each guitar you pick up, whether it’s a budget-friendly Taylor Baby BT2 Acoustic Guitar or the higher end Taylor 324e Mahogany Top Grand Auditorium Electro-Acoustic has been designed with playability and tonal quality at the forefront of the process. When you pick a Taylor guitar up, everything from the resonant tonewoods to the high-quality hardware and comfortable neck makes you want to play better!

The saying goes that the worst a guitar is ever going to sound is the day it leaves the shop with you. And we think with high quality guitars this is true! No we haven’t lost our minds here at PMT – we mean that a guitar is like a fine wine that ages beautifully the longer you have it - without the expiration date! Thanks to the combination of high quality tonewoods and superb quality, yet light finishing process that Taylor use, each guitar whether it utilises Sapele, Koa, Sitka Spruce, Mahogany and Koa to name a few, evolves slightly each year. This evolution is down to the wood drying it out ever so slightly, removing the water molecules that hinder the sound waves and resonance whilst responding to your playing style and the vibrations of the chords.

Taylor ensure that each Tonewood is treated and dried accurately before creating the guitar but it’s impossible to age a guitar the same way playing it for 10+ years will, so they leave the finish quite light, to not only show off the quality of the wood but to allow the guitar to age and breathe. With time, wood hardens and responds to the way you play. This is why an older guitar often has more of a Mojo or Vibe to it. So, next time you play that Taylor guitar you’ve fallen in love with, well, it’s going to sound even better with each passing day! The more you play it, the better it’s going to sound, so dig in!

Each Taylor guitar has been crafted with great attention to detail, and that means picking out the most resonant “flavours” of wood. Not only do Taylor guitars choose international tone woods that sound fantastic such as African Ebony for fretboards and bridges, Indian Rosewood for back and sides as well as Maple, Tasmanian Blackwood, Sapele, Cocobolo, Koa and many more options, but they also choose them for their visual appeal and assign wood to certain guitars depending on grain patterns. Just like every tree and every piece of wood from it is different, each guitar will have a unique wood grain, which is why a lot of Taylor guitars have an exposed wood grain design. We recommend checking out the beautiful grains within the Taylor K24ce LTD 2017 Koa Electro Acoustic guitars or Taylor GS Mini-e Walnut Electro Acoustic Guitars - a really unique look!

Although there are a few budget friendly options within the Taylor guitar range, we would definitely put Taylor in the “higher tier” bracket of guitars. Each Taylor guitar that comes out of their factory has been crafted with precision and utilises industry leading processes such as computer-controlled milling, laser-cutting, robotic finish spraying and buffing, and a myriad of other cutting-edge manufacturing techniques to ensure your guitar is of the highest standards. However, the human touch, such as manual inspection and set ups ensure your guitar is playable straight out of the box. Taylor are dedicated to creating guitars that will become your lifelong musical partners, so each aspect, whether it’s headstock design, choice of tonewoods, finishing processes or final inspection is done with care, ensuring that your initial investment is justified and you enjoy decades upon decades of great sounding tone and playability.

Whatever your playing style, there’s a Taylor guitar out there for you. Like big, booming chorus lines? We suggest you try out the Taylor 810e Dreadnought Electro-Acoustic Guitar. Feeling like you need a Grand Auditorium shape with access to the upper frets? Why not try out the Taylor 314ce Cutaway Grand Auditorium Electro-Acoustic Guitar? Or if you’re in need of a travel companion for those impromptu gigs around the campfire and something that’s easily stored in your camper van or overhead storage compartment on the plane, the Taylor Baby BT1 Acoustic Guitar or Taylor GS Mini is a great option. If you love guitar – there’s a Taylor guitar to match your style of playing!

If you’re a traveling musician or someone who just likes to take their guitar with them everywhere, a full size dreadnought guitar can sometimes be a nightmare to travel with. Fortunately, Taylor have a great selection of travel sized guitars that feature a smaller scale design yet still retain a big sound. The likes of the Taylor Baby BT1 series guitars, Taylor BBT Big Baby, Academy series and world renowned Taylor GS Mini series are all fantastic options for those who don’t want to carry a full size guitar with them on their travels. Don’t be fooled by their smaller scale, these guitars have a BIG sound!

Taylor have made it their mission to craft the “most playable neck in the industry” and we think they’ve come up with some of the best we’ve ever played! The initial goal Bob Taylor set out to achieve was to create a straighter and more stable neck that would not bend in the face of humidity and changing temperatures. A Taylor guitar neck is created from a continuous piece of wood that supports the fretboard all the way to the 19th fret, whereas other guitars tend to lose that support around the 14th fret. This means that some guitar necks may bend if exposed to adverse weather conditions, wheras a taylor guitar stands strong, meaning you may only have to adjust the neck once in its lifetime if you look after it correctly!

In addition, each Taylor guitar neck has been designed for greater playability and comfort. The NT (New Technology) neck is a patented Taylor innovation. When most guitar manufacturers were building necks with V profiles, Bob Taylor decided to buck the trend and design his guitar necks with slimmer dimensions to ensure a more comfortable playing experience, with low, even action. The NT neck ensures you have optimal contact of the wood when playing and a perfect neck angle to ensure comfort and a better tonal experience.

Acoustic-electric guitarists understand the struggle involved when trying to find a pickup that conveys the tonality of their guitar. Fortunately, the team at Taylor were well aware of the struggle guitarists face, so decided to change the game with their Expression System (ES) pickup. This is one of the most natural-sounding acoustic guitar pickups available utilising sensors to capture the movement of the top wood. With a low-profile set of controls, the ES system allows a player to plug an acoustic guitar straight into the board to produce natural, warm and woody tones. Your guitar will sound amazing whether you plug straight into a PA or use an amp.

It’s good to know you’re in good company when you pick up a Taylor guitar. These guitars are relied upon by some of the worlds most prominent musical artists such as Gustavo Cerati, Jason Mraz, Taylor Swift, Rob Thomas, RJ Thompson, Switchfoot, Tony Iommi, Rowan Meldal-Johnsen, Air Supply, Hillsong, John 5, Dave Matthews, Rolling Stones, Shawn Mendes, Jewel, Johnny Rzeznik, Iron & Wine, – to name just a few! So when you decide to purchase a Taylor guitar, you’re joining a very cool club.

Taylor support the sustainable use of tonewoods, by not only minimising waste and maximising the amount of wood yielded from each tree, but by partnering with environmental groups and local communities internationally to create pioneering programs that serve as healthy models for responsible forestry. Taylor also embrace alternative woods that can be sourced responsibly and even operates an Ebony mill in Cameroon, and co-ops in Honduras so they can source mahogany responsibly for their guitars.

When you purchase a Taylor guitar, you can feel confident that each piece of wood used has been sourced responsibly and that you're doing your bit to ensure woods like rosewood and other coveted tonewoods don't face extinction – just one of the reasons playing a Taylor feels so good!

So what are you waiting for? Now is the time to get your dream Taylor guitar!

Shop a full range of Taylor guitars over at PMT Online today or call in to your local PMT store to try one of these amazing guitars out for yourself. Or call today on 0151 448 2089 to speak to one of our guitar experts about our easy to handle finance deals on Taylor guitars.