Taylor Gutar Company
 

There is no real point to this thread other than to recognize a well run company. People may have varied opinions regarding their product but I can tell you as a guy that has been on both sides of customer/vendor relations in my life that Taylor is a well run company.

My perfect example is some years back, before I owned any Taylor products and in fact likely held a bias that I didn't want one and was more inclined to Martin, Gibson or smaller luthiers. I attended the trade show in LA. Martin had a booth and it was nice. Gibson had a booth and I have no idea as I wasn't allowed in.

I wandered by the Taylor booth and was almost loved to death for NO REASON, The people working there were genuinely nice and welcoming. I was told to take any guitar off the wall I liked and try it (which not their fault but too loud to hear anyway so I didn't). When I looked up someone was there asking if I wanted a chocolate chip cookie (OK full disclosure - I like cookies). And when it looked as if I might leave the guy stopped me and said I couldn't cause Doyle Dykes was going to play in 2 minutes.

That impression stuck. I now own two R Taylors and am impressed with the build quality. AND the after purchase service. I bought used and have asked them twice information regarding my guitars. They are always prompt and treat me as a valued customer.

No point to this. I just felt they merited some public kudos cause I guarantee if they had treated me poorly I'd be here complaining. So, Thanks Taylor for reminding me of what it feels like to be a valued customer.

Taylor does a whole heck of a lot of things right....

I don't understand why you were not allowed in the Gibson booth.
Maybe it was your "Taylor's Rock" t-shirt that kept you out.:)
Anyway, glad you had a great experience with Taylor. They are a great company.

I don't own any, but they are a very good company making high-quality guitars. :up:

im on part two (as linked) about how they build their guitars...very interesting

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HHIl1ggQls

My friend is a well-established manufacturing consultant.

He was hired by Taylor to lean-out their repairs operation.

He had very good things to say about their commitment to operational excellence (internally).

My understanding is the only open to the public time is Sunday afternoon. So the Fender Rocks Gibson Sucks tee shirt wasn't it. :D

BTW I don't hate Gibson for it. The NAMM show is supposed to be for buyers and sellers in the industry not end users like us. In fact we kind of shouldn't be there if we aren't in the industry on a professional level. So they don't have to cater to the end user public at that event and I accept their decision to prevent their booth becoming jammed with looky loos like myself. But if I owned Gibson I would find a way to meet my obligations to my direct client base without alienating their client base. They are one of few manufacturers that do this.

Which points out the massive difference in marketing attitude between they and Taylor. Taylor made no bones about it. If you played guitar they wanted you to spend time in their booth. I don't want this to become a Gibson bash cause that isn't my intent. More, I want to celebrate a company that goes overboard to recognize the little guy. I tell you right now. had Taylor not been so darned NICE at that show I'd never have touched a Taylor product in a store

Interesting post... having been on the other side of that coin (as an independent manufactures representative) A Trade show that allows the public in, is a two edged sword. On the plus side it can certainly help promote the product to end user for the manufacture , but it can also be a logistical detriment for a rep, if you are still trying to work with store buyers.

Perhaps the explanation could be a simple as the Taylor reps may have made concluded with all the store buyer appointments before the public day commenced, And perhaps the Gibson reps had not . Which could in fact be a difference in Manufactures policy (totally speculating here ) but perhaps Taylor insists that the reps be done with store buyers before the public is let in.

Yup! Customer service plays a huge role in all products I purchase. Taylor is one of the best.

There may well be another side to the whole "Kept out by Gibson" bit..

Big retail chains are looking for one thing.. Stuff they can sell. Stuff they can get a good margin out of... And the stuff that is easy to sell and brings a good margin isn't always the sexy, shiny stuff..

End users on the other hand want to see cool stuff, expensive stuff, and touch all the eye candy...

So for example...
What do the Big Retailers sell a whole lot of? Cheap stuff... Cheap is really really easy to sell... And so Gibson may well have had a few new lines of cheap import gear... Perhaps a million colors and styles of Epiphone Les Paul's, $100-$400 acoustic guitars.. Perhaps other electronic gear to bundle with that stuff.... But that stuff is BORING and horrible to users and press...

I guarantee that places like Guitar Center sell very few J-45's and Les Paul Standard's compared to Epi 100's and ELP's and $300 Yamaha's....

It's big mail order places - I bet Sweetwater sells way more J-45's and Les Paul Customs than GC....

And so I bet Gibson had to redo the booth for The Hoi Polloi to walk through... Get rid of all the cheap Chinese knockoffs and put the fancy pants eye candy up on the wall..

Doyle is back with Taylor?

Thanks so much for this post. It is becoming rarer to see great custmer service and love for the process. Though I don't own any Taylors, this is good to know.

I teach a course called "consumer behavior" and I'll make sure to read more about Taylor's dedication to consumers and integrate them into my discussions. Thus far, the only example I use from Taylor is when Bob Taylor gave the guitarist a new Taylor (for PR purposes) when United Airlines busted up his Taylor. On YouTube: "United Breaks Guitars" if you haven't seen the song and video that he wrote. Hilarious!

Bob Taylor has done a great job running Taylor Guitars. Bringing in Andy Powers a few years ago to revoice the guitars was a smart business decision. Must have been tough to give up that aspect of guitar making.

I agree. I've owned a Taylor for some time. Here's another story. I had purchase a 714c from Guitar Rodeo back around 2011. As it was a slightly customized one, I had no idea what it would look or play like when it arrived. Well, it turned out it has some undesirable (to me) bear claw which didn't look very symmetrical at all, and one of the frets was very "wolf". Anyway, I informed Taylor Guitars and they had me ship the guitar to the Netherlands (I'm in UK) and they returned it with a whole new body.

They're a good company, driven to excel by Bob Taylor's passion, and I would not hesitate recommending them.

IG

I respect Taylor as a company on many levels. Their:
customer service (including repairs)
innovation
quality
environmental/resource commitment
dynamic use of different woods
aethetic beauty
playability
:)