New Gallery Series Model from Taylor

"Gray Whales" Guitar (Click for a close-up)

The "Gray Whales" guitar (GSGW) is the third entry in the Gallery Series of limited edition Taylor guitars. The Gallery Series guitars are designed to be stunning works of visual art, as well as fine instruments. The first in this series was the Living Jewels model (GSLJ), or "Koi guitar", a blue maple Dreadnought with an inlay of Japanese carp swimming down the fretboard and encircling the soundhole. The second Gallery Series instrument was the "Sea Turtle" (GSST), on which turtles depicted in paua rim and an intricately carved jellyfish of abalone shell float on the fretboard and back of a maple Grand Concert guitar.

The "Gray Whales" further develops Taylor's theme of beautiful and amazing undersea creatures in this series, with a rich fingerboard inlay of two majestic whales, gliding through subtle rays of underwater light. The inlay design was inspired by the awe Bob Taylor experienced on a recent whale-petting trip to the Sea of Cortez. The GSGW is a Grand Concert body style of strikingly figured Mexican Ziricote, with an Engelmann spruce top. Ziricote resembles Brazilian rosewood, both tonally and visually.

In addition to the magnificent whales on the fingerboard, finely detailed soundhole rosettes of inlaid laser-cut rosewood, mahogany, polyester resins, and Ivoroid depict knotted nautical rope, and a tall ship inlaid in the guitar top, so that it appears to be sailing into the soundhole. As with each of the Gallery Series guitars, only 100 of the GSGW will be made.