V-bracing and Taylor's Marketing Machine... so NOT impressed.

[muscmp]

that's why i said that i would wait until next year for the w, y and z braces. but, as with everything on the agf, it is all subjective.

play music!

[TokyoNeko]

Originally Posted by Picker2

Sorry, I can't resist: I'm a professional guitarist, a marketing professional, a guitar builder and a physicist. Please consider me an expert. ;-)

So... have you played it? Until and unless you've actually touched it, played it, heard it, A/Bed it, etc., none of the opinions matter.

[martingitdave]

Originally Posted by srick

And in the end, they’re all guitars... six strings, a neck and a box. All you need is a good player to make it sound good.

Rick

Speak for yourself. I want my Andy Powers guitar to include contoured and beveled edges so soft that they cradle me in their figurative "arms" and rock me to sleep while I play amazingly well, and totally intonated, all the way up the fret-board, in my dreams. Mmmmm... Zzzzzzzz.......

[Picker2]

Originally Posted by srick

And in the end, they’re all guitars... six strings, a neck and a box. All you need is a good player to make it sound good.
Rick

I can only add one word here: AMEN!!!

[SprintBob]

I agree with the OP and believe Taylor could have delivered the message with a bit less woo-woo. Andy is fine in his delivery and his reasoning behind pursuing V-bracing but the images of the notepad for example were a bit over the top. In the artist section, it would have been better to A/B V and standard braced guitars perhaps with players of this caliber to deliver a more convincing message. The pessimistic side of me just says these guys are being paid to say these things the way it is done. Most guitar players are also problem solvers and the more objective presentation with comparative examples may have been the more effective approach that sells more guitars.

This is in the back of my mind especially since I have purchased some relatively higher end Taylor models in the last three years. If you asked a Taylor rep if a higher end Taylor model had any kind of sustain, volume, intonation, or balance issues prior to this new bracing pattern being unveiled, I'd bet the answer you'd have gotten is that there are no issues.

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by Vindellama

T
The most hilarious part for me was in the "playing" video when one of the guys talk about sustain, strums a chord, and it sustains for less than 10 seconds.
.

You noticed that too.
And they went ahead and used the clip anyway

[rob2966]

Immediate thoughts that jump to mind...

- my 322ce 12-fret is amazing and is a product of Andy Powers influence, I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, regardless of "flowery" marketing.

- I wonder if Torres got the same reaction when he came up with fan bracing in classical guitars (and will this V-class bracing become equally ubiquitous years from now)

- Trying to decide which NAMM 2018 item is generating the most complaints: the Taylor V-class brace video or the price of the new Suhr single-cut electric .

Later
Rob

[Picker2]

Originally Posted by TokyoNeko

So... have you played it? Until and unless you've actually touched it, played it, heard it, A/Bed it, etc., none of the opinions matter.

I think you missed my point. No, I never played a V-braced Taylor, but I am confident they are great - they're Taylors after all. I don't know Andy, I never heard him play, but I'm confident he is a fine player and a great luthier. All of those are perfect ingredients for a fantastic Marketing story. So why lower yourself with all this obvious BS? It's unnecessary, and downgrades Taylor as a company. That's my point.

[TokyoNeko]

Originally Posted by Picker2

I think you missed my point. No, I never played a V-braced Taylor, but I am confident they are great - they're Taylors after all. I don't know Andy, I never heard him play, but I'm confident he is a fine player and a great luthier. All of those are perfect ingredients for a fantastic Marketing story. So why lower yourself with all this obvious BS? It's unnecessary, and downgrades Taylor as a company. That's my point.

The whole point of marketing is to maximize the value proposition to make the product look as attractive as possible, for the sole purpose to sell as much as possible. You accentuate what you feel are the strong points and hide negatives. ANY competent marketer should do that.

At the end of the day, the quality of the new guitars will speak for itself in the long run. But if you don't drum up interest at launch, you've sabotaged the product from the get-go. I'm guessing Taylor didn't spend all the money and resources on the new design to accompany it with a meek, unexciting product launch.

[Picker2]

Originally Posted by TokyoNeko

You accentuate what you feel are the strong points and hide negatives. ANY competent marketer should do that.

I agree with you. But accentuating strong points is very different from inventing fake stories, babbling pseudo science and making claims not supported by solid proof points.

[TokyoNeko]

Originally Posted by Picker2

I agree with you. But accentuating strong points is very different from inventing fake stories, babbling pseudo science and making claims not supported by solid proof points.

True, you do run a risk of damaging your credibility if you make a claim that the product doesn't deliver. Competent markets understand such risks when crafting a value proposition. It remains to be seen what happens with Taylor's claims.

[Picker2]

Originally Posted by TokyoNeko

True, you do run a risk of damaging your credibility if you make a claim that the product doesn't deliver.

Or worse... in my line of business the FDA will sue the heck out of me!

[Picker2]

Originally Posted by RP

It's been said that there's no such thing as bad press.

I know. It was Henry Ford who said that first, back in 1920. But times have changed since then...

[merlin666]

And it's important to note that this is not just V-bracing, no it's actually and really V-CLASS bracing!

[wooglins]

Originally Posted by Picker2

I know. I have been a marketing professional for over 15 years for instruments worth a thousand times the price of an average Taylor guitar. My post is not about doing Marketing or not, it's about the way Taylor does their Marketing. Marketing should not be inventing BS stories to make customers spend money on cooked air only. Particularly for a quality product like a Taylor guitar, marketing should be about educating customers, and creating awareness of the true and genuine value of the Taylor proposition.

Out of sheer curiosity what type of new musical instrument costs 2.8 million dollars? Just interested. I think of a massive pipe organ perhaps. They must be really special since they require FDA approval. In all seriousness though if you are marketing in the medical space that is a space that is so filled with silly advertisements that are often very false.