#1
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Most INNOVATIVE guitar maker in the last 100 years?
I saw a thread awhile back that asked who people thought was the most influential guitar builder in the last 50 years. People listed Martin to Taylor to Larivee to Olson to you name it. Influential by its nature is as subjective as the type of guitar you prefer. But when it comes to INNOVATION there are only two names who come to mind. The last 50 years is Taylor. The 50 prior to that is Martin. Yes there are a lot of amazing luthiers who have contributed in some way to the journey but those two men revolutionized their time. Fortunately, Bob Taylor is still with us and continues his quest to build the perfect guitar. Does he make the best....that matters what you like but no one can argue against what he has been able to do in just 40 years. That is probably why you always see threads popping up Martin vs Taylor. Two great luthiers.....both GAME CHANGERS!
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Custom Martin D 35 Taylor GS Mini w/ES2 Koa GPC12PA4 Martin 12 string [/B]"What does it profit a man to gain (all the greatest guitars in) the world and lose his soul" Paraphrased |
#2
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Innovative, I'd say Taylor, Mcpherson and rainsong.
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2021 Taylor 114e 2020 Martin 000-18 2020 Martin LXME |
#3
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Taylor for changing the manufacturing of guitars.
Ovation for making non-wood acoustic bodies respectable (and paving the way for carbon fiber).
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Fazool "The wand chooses the wizard, Mr. Potter" Taylor GC7, GA3-12, SB2-C, SB2-Cp...... Ibanez AVC-11MHx , AC-240 |
#4
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For acoustic guitars, it HAS to be Bob Taylor... without question...
For ALL guitars, though, I think I'd have to give the nod to Leo Fender, Les Paul and Rickenbacher... for all playing HUGE roles in the development and standardization of the electric guitar... in many ways, the advent of the electric guitar truly changed the face of music forever...
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"Home is where I hang my hat, but home is so much more than that. Home is where the ones and the things I hold dear are near... And I always find my way back home." "Home" (working title) J.S, Sherman |
#5
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Hey All,
Most innovative? Uh no not Bob Taylor - definitely Richard Hoover. -Ed-
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...Spent all I had to buy this Martin An I been richer since I did Even though I can't afford to change the strings... from Blaine Larsen's Song "If Merle Would Sing My Song" |
#6
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Leo Fender facilitated the greatest change in the guitar world in centuries and sparked one of the most dramatic changes of the western music world, too. A change that has continued unabated for over a half century and shows no signs of weakening any time soon.
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#7
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Acoustics - Without Martin's Orchestra Models in 1930, the landscape would be entirely different.
Electric - Fender and the brilliantly simple but stunningly versatile Telecaster. |
#8
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I'm trying to think of a single thing that Bob Taylor did that others had not done before him.
Taylor was not the first to use CNC. Taylor was not the first to use UV cured finishes. Taylor may have been one of the first to start shipping with coated strings, I think they beat Larrivee by about 2 months on that. Bob Taylor is a great marketer and a very shrewd businessman. However Bob Taylor, Jean Larrivee, Bill Collings and others in this business are all fairly good friends as well as competitors. They have freely shared ideas and innovations.
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Larrivee OM-03RE; O-01 Martin D-35; Guild F-212; Tacoma Roadking Breedlove American Series C20/SR Rainsong SFTA-FLE; WS3000; CH-PA Taylor GA3-12, Guild F-212 https://markhorning.bandcamp.com/music |
#9
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Ovation were certainly innovative during the last 50 years and a lot of people used their guitars.
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#10
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Loyd Loar.
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#11
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Charlie Kaman - amazing innOvator!
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#12
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Better instead to ask who has done the most to improve the guitar.
What has Taylor done..replaced men with machines,to result in a little less cost..(not much less cost mind you),as my father would say in the few English words he knew really well..big deal... Oh and the bolt on neck for acoustic guitars. None of these things have resulted in an improvement in the instrument. Incredibly Leo Fender slapping a couple of nicely shaped woods together with a hand wound pickup did achieve the greatest innovation in the guitar ..and that is because one of his guitars through one of his amps miraculously has resulted in something great if not the greatest. |
#13
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on the
On the less expensive side, I would say Yamaha, as they've been building fine acoustics for years, but within the last ten years or so their quality control seems to have improved and so have their instruments. I have 3 and they rival any of the finest names on the market I had years ago I was unhappy with , for one reason or another .
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#14
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Taylor.....!
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#15
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Paul Bigsby, his solid body guitar was the first true solid body and it was measured by Leo Fender as the prototype for the Fender Broadcaster. His tail piece was the original vibrato tail piece...
Funny story... I was at Thom Bresh's house and he had Merle Travis' Super 400 with the original Bigsby on it. Thom told me when his dad gave it to him he said "If you ever make a clock or something out of this guitar save the tailpiece... it might be worth something..." Imagine making a clock out of Travis' Super 400.... The other guitar there that day was Merle's '38 Martin with the Bigsby neck on it. I have a picture of them leaning against a stump in his back yard... in hindsight that was kind of like parking your Bentley in your pool
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Harvey Leach |