And now for something completely different. We review things all the time, but we’ve never reviewed a guitar factory before! As you know from my interview with Colin, I recently had the pleasure of visiting the Taylor Guitars factory in El Cajon in California.
Colin was great. He interviewed really well, but, what was the tour like? Should you bother? Well, I already described it as a pleasure, so let’s take a closer look at how it went down.
I won’t go into every little detail, because then you have no reason to visit yourself.
Getting to the Taylor Guitars factory tour
So, I was in San Diego on vacation with the SO. I don’t know what I Googled when I learned that Taylor Guitars were based just outside San Diego, in a place called El Cajon.
And, that they offered free tours of their factory there, daily at 1pm.
We were staying with a friend of the SO’s. I decided to be kind and give them some quality time to catch up.
Some might say that I ditched my missus to perve on guitars. Indeed, that is a thing that some might say.
As with much of California, public transport is non-existent. Getting to the factory is easiest by car. Nobody really trusts me in driving in the US yet, but an Uber/Lyft was only a 15 minute ride from San Diego to the factory, and cost a handful of bucks.
Arrival
The tour starts at 1pm. I got there just a few minutes early. At reception, I signed in. They gave me earphones to hear what the guide was saying, protective glasses – it is a live factory with machines and sawdust – and a lanyard like in Agents of SHIELD.
While waiting on the tour to start, we got to hang around the gift shop, and play some of the guitars on the walls. It was unusual starting a tour in the gift shop.
The Taylor Guitars Factory tour
The tour kicked off with Colin giving an overview of the company and their operations. Then, we were out into the sunshine to check out some wood.
This is the wood left out to dry for turning into guitars. 
This is discarded wood employees use for their own personal projects. 
Even more wood.
Colin talked about where their various woods come from; it’s conditioning before it becomes guitars; and explained Taylor’s policy to keep waste wood to a minimum.
Apparently lots of Taylor’s staff like to apply their woodworking skills to stuff outside of their day jobs. They’re welcome to help themselves from the carts of discarded wood for their own projects. One member of staff makes toys from the wood in the cart for a local kids charity. So, how about that for a punch in the feels?
The tour continued through the factory, and we saw where each part of the guitar is made.
Girl, look at that body…
It started with bodies, namely the tops. Taylor Guitars created this machine themselves for holding the tops of their guitars together while the glue together.
Afterwards, we moved on to their lasers, which they use to do precision work, like these fancy schmantzy fingerboards:
We saw where Taylor guitars get their initial buffing. It requires a dedicated room away from schmutz.
You’re always watching my neck from the back of the room…
At this point in the tour, we learned more about the construction of Taylor’s necks. It’s a production technique unique to Taylor Guitars, and you can read about it on their website.
Because, why would I try to explain it when they explain it themselves? Duh.
A favourite thing I learned around this stage in the tour was about Taylor’s approach to ebony fingerboards. Traditionally, instrument manufacturers wanted their ebony to be as dark as possible.
However, Taylor saw a lot of ebony going to waste because of this. Consequently, they decided to use ebony with elements of white in it. Besides, right down to molecular level, there is absolutely no difference that would affect tone or feel, or anything else.
Unfortunately, when we went up the stairs shown in the last photograph, we went into an area with very cool stuff. But where photography wasn’t permitted.
We learned about Taylor’s V-class bracing, and the machines they developed themselves for bending the wood used for the sides of their instruments. Taylor created these themselves.
Come together, right now…
Shortly, we were back in pictures land.
Do you see the column in between the work benches, with the guitar body on its side? OK, so there’s a vertical disc, that workers place the guitar body flat against. The disc has tiny holes that sucks in air, so it holds the guitar against it, so it can be worked on.
Obviously, it has to suck pretty hard. And yes, it’s another one of Taylor’s own inventions.
Then we saw where the guitars are assembled.
And given one last buff…
And then we were done!
I bothered Colin for an interview, and had a little bit of a play with the GS Mini bass he highlighted in our chat…
…as well as some of the fancier models on the wall…
Taylor Guitars factory tour: conclusion
| My guide: Colin was articulate and clear in delivering the tour; it was clear he knew his stuff and was passionate about the company | No freebies or discounts: it would’ve been nice |
| Location: it’d be nice if there was public transport, but it’s an easy drive/ Uber/ Lyft from San Diego | Location: there’s literally nothing else around – not even a coffee shop |
| It’s free!: by way of comparison, a tour of Steinway pianos is $20, only takes place on Tuesday mornings at 9.30, and no photography is allowed |
In summary, the Taylor Guitars factory tour is a great experience, and if you’re in the vague vicinity, it is worth putting time aside for it.
It is very much for guitar lovers though, so if you want to fully enjoy it, I recommend ditching your SO.
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