The Taylor Guitar Book: 40 Years of Great American Flattops

The Taylor Guitar Book: 40 Years of Great American Flattops by Teja Gerken

A Chronical of an American Acoustic Dynasty

By Chris Loeffler

In The Taylor Guitar Book: 40 Years of Great American Flattops, author Teja Gerken aims to tell the complete story of one of the highest profile US guitar manufacturers of the last half century. Beginning with its start as one of the first modern small-shop steel-string guitar brands in North America and chronicling his rise to one of the most influential and well known modern acoustic guitar makers, the book explores Bob Taylor and the Taylor company’s unique tale of innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Taylor Guitar Book is a square-bound softcover book (about 8.5” x 11”) with a thick cardstock cover and 160 heavy-stock pages printed in glossy full-color. The book is heavy on images and introduces the story of Taylor (and along with many side stories and notes) through a format of two pages of text followed by two pages of photographs of instruments, artists, or Taylor paraphernalia to break up and supplement the narrative

While I assume the Taylor brand is already at least somewhat known to someone interested in reading a 150+ page book on their history, I’ll let their publicists do the heavy lifting for me in introducing the brand.

“Famous for the easy playability of its guitars, Taylor not only successfully introduced non-traditional design elements (such as bolt-on necks) to the instruments, but also pioneered high-tech manufacturing techniques, including the use of computer-controlled CNC machinery, laser cutting, and modern finishes. In the process, the company influenced virtually every other maker of guitars during the last 40 years. Taylor has set new standards in consistency and quality control, even building its own cases and electronics.”

The above reasons (in addition to the modern, hi-fidelity Taylor signature tone) are why artists as diverse as Neil Young, Prince, Leo Kottke, Jason Mraz, Zac Brown, Taylor Swift, Lindsey Buckingham, and the like can be found rocking Taylor guitars on the road and in the studio, and artists are a big part of the story captured by Gerken.

The story of Taylor is so tied to the innovations it brought to market (both in guitar design and electronics) that I found myself subtly exposed to the evolution of the acoustic guitar design and why things settled where they did (or continue to evolve). This could potentially overwhelm a layman, but the fact that it’s treated as ancillary to the story of the company and doled out in support of the narrative makes it especially easy to digest.

Thorough and intriguing, the story of Taylor is indeed compelling, and it helps that the book reads more as the narrative of a startup with a focus on refinement than it does an overlong publicity brochure. The Taylor Guitar Book is Gerken’s letter of affection to Taylor, but it never falls into the territory of undue flattery or fanboyism.

Limitations

While it is briefly touched upon in the book, Bob Taylor’s environmental activism and championing of sustainability is inspiring and, for those in the know, an important part of the direction Taylor is taking as a company and influencing the acoustic instrument industry as a whole to reevaluate the importance “traditional” and “exotic” tone woods and look to design to coax specific tones out of certain woods. I would love to have seen this aspect expanded upon.

Conclusion

The Taylor Guitar Book effectively captures the first 40 years of the Bob Taylor in a highly-readable narrative that leans heavy on the support of gorgeous visuals to create something that feels light while reading but effortlessly enriches a typical guitar player’s knowledge of guitar design and the reason Taylor guitars sound the way they do.

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Chris Loeffler is a multi-instrumentalist and the Content Strategist of Harmony Central. In addition to his ten years experience as an online guitar merchandiser, marketing strategist, and community director he has worked as an international exporter, website consultant and brand manager. When he’s not working he can be found playing music, geeking out on guitar pedals and amps, and brewing tasty beer.