It's such a player focused company.
Yeah. I mean, as you
probably know, you know, Andy Powers, who is our chief guitar designers
now the CEO of the company, is a brilliant guitar player.
And, you know, that decision was a lot based on the fact
that he is a guitar player.
And it's just such an important part of us.
And yes, it's fitting.
Thinking about the players,
what's going to work for the players, what's going to fit for them?
Yeah, it's absolutely at the forefront, no question.
Finding the right guitar is a rite of passage for many,
trying out multiple guitars until you find the one that fits perfectly
in your hands, the one with the ideal combination
of woods for your tone or the one that looks the part.
It's all a necessary process in the journey,
as we've already covered in our previous videos in this series.
Taylor Guitars are a brand focused on delivering a huge range of high quality
instruments and an experience that makes that journey a lot easier.
But what happens when you take that perfect guitar home?
Your choices have led to this moment.
Now you have a guitar you can play to your heart's content.
How do you ensure that your new guitar always feels the way it did
the first time you picked it up and made a connection with it?
For Taylor, their efforts in making sure your content
with the guitars they have built does not end at your purchase.
Your journey as a part of the Taylor family has only just begun.
In this video, we're going to explore just some of what Taylor offers
in making sure that your guitar lasts a lifetime.
Well, my name's Rob Magargal
I've been at Taylor Guitars going on 32 years now,
so I'm one of the old dogs, as they would call it.
My main job is what they call the service network,
and that involves warranty situations.
It involves training globally,
just the nuts and bolts of what happens out in the world.
A good place to start with Taylor's efforts to make sure their guitars last
a lifetime is the processes they have in place in regards to aftercare.
Firstly, Taylor offers a long term warranty on all their guitars
in European territories with a registration of your product.
Your warranty will last for 12 years.
If you're in the USA, it's considered a lifetime warranty.
These timeframes, in comparison to other manufacturers are huge
Taylor are so confident in the quality of their guitars
that they ensure if anything was to go wrong.
Help will be readily available.
Of course, simply offering a long term warranty is half the job.
Making sure they have a service network readily available
to make any necessary adjustments or repairs
is a must to ensure you can receive the best service possible.
Taylor trained hundreds of guitar retailers and repair shops
like guitarguitar across the world and servicing their guitars.
All of these locations are authorized.
Taylor Service Centers,
where someone has received fully comprehensive training and certification
to carry out warranty approved repairs on Taylor Guitars.
Different locations have service levels ranging from Silver to Premier,
which outline the capabilities of each service center.
Alongside this amazing infrastructure of service centers, Taylor
also put huge emphasis on designing their acoustic guitars
to be easier to adjust than traditional acoustic designs.
I no expense to the quality of the guitars.
A great example of this is how Taylor designed their next to be adjustable.
Like a bolt on that you'd find on an electric guitar, as opposed
to a much more conventional set acoustic neck.
When we look at the guitar that we have with fully bolted neck
with our shim system, we have a bridge at a specific height.
What that does is gives us that consistency.
We don't have the oops factor as much as we would say other brands.
Anything with a glued neck is a compromise to a certain point.
So where we have the advantage in it truly is the advantage
of why you say it's different and they are different.
It really is from being able to adjust that neck to that target point.
We have a shim that's under here
and we have a shim that's here and it's a sister set of shims
that allows us to adjust and they adjust within 2000ths of an inch.
So each one will have a number on it from zero to plus 30
or zero down to negative or -16.
So with that, we just set the neck on.
We bolt it, we look at it and we go, Oh, this thing is a little bit low.
What's in it?
We take it off. Oh, it has a plus eight.
This looks like it needs to come up three shims.
Okay,
let's go up.
So we go ten, 12, 14, plus 14.
And it's sister set. We look at it.
This is perfect now. It's that easy.
If you were to walk into a guitar repair shop with an acoustic guitar
with glued a neck and ask for a neck reset, the job could cost hundreds
and take a huge amount of time risk to the guitar.
With Taylor's neck design, it would take a fraction
of the amount of time to fix whilst being carried out within the guitar's warranty.
So long as it was considered to be a warranty issue.
Taylor's guitar designs are so streamlined that not only are there
instruments made with attention to the player's experience,
there is also focus on making sure they're easily adjustable.
After all, guitars are made out of organic materials.
In time, your acoustic guitar will change
with the elements with those unavoidable factors at play.
Why not make sure you're prepared for them?
On the topic of guitars changing with the elements,
let's talk about relative humidity and how that can affect your guitar.
At the risk of this turning into a science lesson.
Let's just go with the first sentence of the Wikipedia entry on humidity.
Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air.
Every space you ever find yourself in has a humidity level,
including wherever you store your guitar.
So why is monitoring humidity so important in the context of caring for a guitar?
What would happen if you don't?
It can obviously range from short term.
Just your your your neck alignment and
your intonation is just going to go,
you know, you're going to have to get set ups more often than you normally would.
All the way to if you neglect it for too long, you would start cracking
and the guitar can really
need some very expensive repairs to recover from that.
The thing to understand with humidity, relative humidity, really it's
it's not as scary as some people make it seem.
Most people just don't quite understand that it's all around them all the time.
So when you think of your guitar, you don't
you don't put that equation together.
But yet there are times and I would say where you live, where it gets
quite humid and you know that you'll get out of a shower and go, Well,
I don't feel like I took a shower. I'm not dry.
Why am I not dry?
That type of situation is is a telltale sign
for us as a person that something's going on.
The guitar being inanimate
and it's organic, it has no way of controlling itself.
So us as the owners of the instrument, we have to take that upon ourselves
so we know what humidity can do to a guitar.
The problem is once
you buy a guitar and it becomes your responsibility to maintain.
How can you ensure you can easily look after your guitar without it
consuming your life?
What can Taylor offer in this situation that makes things
easier and less stressful as an owner of their guitars?
So this is it right here, and this is the box that it comes in.
And so you might notice what this looks like.
It's the back of every Taylor guitar,
and it's essentially you're placing the battery box with this
and that's all you have to do is replace the battery box with this.
And it has Bluetooth technology
that feeds to an app on your phone and on your phone
you can actually see your current humidity levels, temperature and
all sorts of information that's important to know to maintaining your guitar.
Like you just said, it's it's
one of the most important things we tout here at Taylor is humidity control.
And honestly, there's just there's just no better way to do it than this.
And to be honest, too, it's just kind of fun to be like,
you know, at work or even on a plane and you just want to check on your guitar.
That's, you know, down to down there. How's it doing?
You know?
And yeah, it's it's, it's just it's, it's a really cool thing,
but it is definitely something that I'm really glad you asked a question.
And we're talking about it now because,
you know, you see Taylor, since it's like, what's Taylor
since we need to really talk about it to really understand what the value is.
So we've add on products such as Taylor since available,
Taylor has innovated the maintenance process
in the same way they have their guitar designs
with the ability to monitor your guitar's humidity levels.
They have added another entry to the long list of reasons
why your Taylor guitar will last a lifetime.
On a side note,
if you'd like to see more content about the best ways you can control
the humidity of your guitar, let us know in the comments below.
On the subject of add ons and accessories, let's explore another side
of making your guitar last a lifetime.
Sure, maintaining and looking after your guitar is incredibly valuable,
but what about enjoying it and getting the most out of it every day
in the same way you felt about it the day you took it home?
Yeah, even outside of the the guitar portion of it,
we've been really, really big.
On introducing more Taylor Where Taylor isn't just a guitar, it's a lifestyle.
You know, in a lot of ways people buy our guitars because they sound great.
They play great,
but also because of our sustainability and all of our efforts there.
But now you can capitalize on that whole thing by matching up straps
with this with the series of guitar that you purchased or different picks
that we've created that alter the tone of your instrument.
Right.
I mean, how many guitar companies are concentrating on things like that?
We're we're focused on the playing experience,
as you may suspect, from the name Taylor, where it really did come from
just starting off with shirts and hats and just wearables.
And it has shifted to obviously
us having picks at anything that goes along with guitars.
So we're still a pretty small accessories company.
There are still many categories that we do not
participate in, but I think that's also intentional.
You know, Taylor is extremely focused on if we're going to do something,
we're going to do it right and it could take some time.
But we also want to have unique products at this point.
You may be thinking, hang on, guitar, guitar loads of guitar companies
make accessories. What makes Taylor any different?
What's important to note is that Taylor's products are always created
with the intention
of furthering your playing experience as well as their own brand message.
One of Taylor's slogans is Find Your Fit.
This is designed around their range of tone, words and shapes.
However, they've also applied that mantra to the picks they make.
I don't think you could have actually said that any better
because that is the actual genesis of this product.
When I first got here to Taylor, first let me just show you,
we have to pick tints.
We have our standard Dark Tone series, Pick ten,
and we have our collectible KOA top pick ten.
Both of them carry the same picks, but the cotton is just an elegant KOA top
and it has a nice leather interior and you open it up and you can
we all I mean, for me, picks are like socks.
They just disappear.
Where do I add 144 picks?
Where did they all go?
They're all gone.
So it's a good place to keep all your picks.
But you know, when I first started
in playing through the picks that we have,
we you know, they were designed intentionally to deliver different tones,
different materials, different thicknesses provide different tones
that you get out of your guitar.
I had no idea that the pick and really influenced the tone that much.
So we decided, like, let's really analyze each pick
and let's see what the sonic responses of each pick.
And so we created this Z fold here that's in each pick ten
that shows you the pick center in it and the actual
frequency response that you get from each pick.
And when you sit here and you line them up and you have this
and you play them, you will hear the difference.
I mean, it's undeniable.
So when Taylor makes picks, they don't just cut some bits of plastic
into triangles.
They carry out extensive research and figure out the different tones you can
get out of your guitar with different thicknesses and materials of picks.
All of a sudden, your instrument that fits one tonal profile now fits five or six
by just changing your picks with the guide that they have supplied
on the subject of the picked ends.
Did you notice the codes up to ten Taylor or so hugely involved and known
for their sustainability efforts to the point where offcuts of wood
that wouldn't
be able to be used for guitar get recycled for things like their pictures
or in the case of the ebony from the mail they own and oversee slides.
And first, let me just say that it's an ebony slide that's from ah,
from Cameroon in West Africa, which if you don't know about our Ebony project,
definitely check out the website or subscribe
and wait for our next Taylor video on the sustainability
where we are
responsibly sourcing and growing ebony to for our guitars and for this slide.
And it's just a really wonderful project that Bob has initiated.
But this Ebony slide is a good example in that it's unique.
It's not a glass slide, it's not a metal slide, it has its own color, its own tone.
It really is a unique slide.
What's amazing about all of these products is how much they fit in with
Taylor's efforts to ensure that you never stop loving their guitars
and they never stop giving you reasons too.
We're focused on the playing experience
and that is big,
so make sure, you know, as a customer, I would look,
I would even ask for these things as a customer.
Sometimes customers are afraid to ask for things.
I get it, But it's okay to ask, Hey, do you have those cool pics
that that Taylor introduced?
Yeah, sure.
Check these out and maybe you'll find a happy marriage
of pick versus guitar versus how it feels on you.
And again, enhancing that tone equation, you know, that works for you.
It's hard to make a guitar last a lifetime.
It's even harder to make a connection with a guitar last a lifetime.
As a brand, Taylor is concentrated on ensuring
that you love their guitars every step of the way.
They aren't just interested in selling you a product.
They're interested in selling you admission to their family.
It's a really big family, you know.
It's a really big family. I agree with that 100%.
But that's why we do things
like putting out Wooden Steel magazine three times a year that's in digital form.
So you can look it up and you click on something,
Oh, it takes you to a cool video about that particular article
and all these things that we follow up with.
It keeps you part of the family.
So yeah, I agree with that.
By offering us the players, all the tools we would ever need
to keep playing on guitars.
Taylor's efforts never stop if something doesn't sound or feel right.
Taylor That if you need help looking after your guitar.
Taylor There if you need something to make playing exciting for you again.
Taylor There, it's pretty simple.
Taylor loves guitars, just like you and I.
Because of that, they understand what playing means to people.
That connection is what lasts a lifetime.
Thank you so much for watching.
What is our fourth installment of our series on Taylor Guitars?
If you haven't watched our other videos, please make sure to check out our playlist
in the description below.
And if you want to see
more videos like this, make sure to let us know in the comments like
and subscribe and hopefully we'll see you on another video soon.
By today,
most of the time we're going to put that guitar into a case.
We're going to put the case into a box.
We're going to put the box into a giant warehouse building.
So FedEx or UPS or one of our guys can take it to a shop.
Maybe it goes on to a container ship or it goes to some far part of the world.
Then it goes to a shop and that shop is going to put it on their guitar,
hanging wall and a whole bunch of people are going to play it.
And by the time it finds
a home and finds receptive hands, that's it.
The strings might be six months old,
it might be even older, it might be two months old, I don't know.
So we like the
coded elixir string because, well, they hold up really well.
You know, when you go to try that guitar out,
a really great guitar with a dead set of strings, it's going to get passed by.
Nobody wants to play that.
It's kind of kind of gross that way.
You know, it feels achy.
And so we like the elixir strings for that reason.
But once a player actually has the guitar,
what I love is when they discover what works best for them,
their music, their repertoire, the situation they're playing
in their hands, their feel, their influence.
So I like when players experiment with things
and find the exact setup
and string set that they like for that guitar.
The way they're using it, it says to me it's as unique as the picks people use.
I mean, we are making all these different sizes and shapes
and materials of guitar pick because we don't all hear the same thing.
We don't all want the same thing.
We don't all want the same feel.
And so I like when people change gauges of strings, they change alloys,
they try a different brand, they try a different flavor all together.
Maybe it's a coded string, maybe it's not They to.
I want you to find the thing that works for your music on that guitar.
So it's to me, it's a personal thing that each player has
one recipe that works for their instrument.