Wood n Steel Summer 2012

8/13/2019 Wood n Steel Summer 2012

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Coffey Shop I just purchased a 2012 SpringLimited cocobolo 814ce and wantedto tell you how fantastic Bob Coffeyat Coffey Music is at keeping his Tay-lor advocates happy. Bob and Zach[Arntz] (your Taylor guy and Coffey’srep) let me try out everything, includinga beautiful 914ce that Zach sent outto Coffey for my inspection. UltimatelyI purchased the cocobolo Spring LTD.I also ordered a tobacco burst 814cewith a short-scale neck.

Bob Coffey is as good as it getsas a Taylor dealer, and over the years,I have purchased many Taylors fromhim. It is this kind of extra effort thatkeeps our local Taylor dealers so con-nected to the community and keepspeople coming back in each week tosee “what’s new” in the Taylor section.A special thanks to Zach, as well, forproviding such top-notch customerservice and sales advice. The new-est additions to my Taylor collectioninspire me to play better and longer

than ever before.My best release of job stress isplacing one of your beautiful guitars inmy hands. The rest just happens.

David C.

Awesome in Austin Thank you for the awesome RoadShow in Austin, Texas last night. JRand his partner [Corey Witt] (awesomeguitar player) did a great job. I am abeginner and plan to be a Taylor ownerin the next year. I learned a lot andreally appreciate the time they spentcovering everything with the audience.

Frank Varela

Case Closed We are Andy’s “other” guitars, andwe would like to register a complaint.Andy used to play us all the time,making sure none of us was neglected.

Ever since he bought his Taylor NS34ce,he seems to want no part of us. Wehaven’t seen the light of day in a longtime. It’s awfully dark in these cases.We’ve even heard him talk about buy-ing a Taylor steel-string of some sort.PLEASE don’t let him. We miss Andy.Could you possibly put out a recall onall Taylor nylon-string guitars? We’dappreciate anything you could do tohelp.

Andy Christie

After the Fire I had my old Taylor 550 [12-stringmahogany Dreadnought] repaired ayear or so ago, and it occurred to methat I never thanked all the great folksthere at Taylor for doing such an excel-lent job. The 550 was in my garage whenit burned to the ground. The firemenhad it sitting on top of a pile of debrisin the driveway when I found it the nextday. Fortunately, it was in a hardshellcase and seemed salvageable. I thinkthe Yamaha 6-string I had next to itmust have protected it some, as theYamaha’s top had burned off. At any rate, you all did a superb jobof repairing it, and I swear, it soundsand plays better than ever. Thank youall for your excellent craftsmanship andfor assisting me with the details of howto ship it without incident.

Roy Goodman

Sunnyvale, CA

Not for Sale In July of 1987 I was looking for aguitar, so I went to my favourite shopthat sold acoustic instruments. I toldthe owner, “I am walking out of herewith a guitar today,” so he sent me toa practice room and started bringingme guitars. I tried Martins, Lariveesand more. Then he brought me a TaylorDreadnought. “Hmm, I like this!” Thenhe walked in with a maple Jumbo 615with a three-piece back. I had neverplayed a Jumbo before. I played one Gchord, and that was it, I had found myguitar.

I have been a full-time musician mywhole life, and that guitar has been withme every step of the way. I still havethe original case, which is held togethermainly with duct tape. It has seen a mil-lion miles of road. I have let some prettyamazing guitarists play it over the years,including Craig Young, former leadguitarist for Terri Clark. Everyone hassaid they have never seen its equal. A

few offered to buy it for way more than Ipaid for it. The answer is no every time.You could offer me a million bucks and Iwould say no. The guitar is a part of me.I’ve played it so much that I wore a holethrough the top, which I had repairedand a new, slightly bigger pickguard puton. I was thinking of retiring it because ithas seen some rough times — it’s beenknocked over, dropped, smashed intowith mic stands, and the headstockeven went through a window once. Ibought another Jumbo 615 cutawaybut, sadly, had to sell it when thingsgot tough. It has been 25 years since I

walked into that shop, and I am so gladI did. That guitar is one of the reasons Istill play music for a living today.

Ken McCoy

Mongolian Mojo I am a United States Peace CorpsVolunteer serving in Mongolia. When Ileft the U.S. about a year ago to startmy 27 months of service, I struggledwith leaving my coveted 300 SeriesTaylor behind. I remedied this by goingout and buying a Baby Taylor the weekbefore I left. A year later the little guyis still going strong. It has weatheredharsh conditions, bumpy travel andextreme climates, and still sounds asgood as it did the day I bought it. Mon-golians absolutely love when I breakit out and play for them. I have takento allowing my Mongolian friends andco-workers to sign the guitar in the tra-ditional Mongolian script. Thank you somuch for continuing to produce qualityguitars and giving me a beautiful, resil-

ient instrument to remember my experi-ence in Mongolia by.Justin Guerra

Credit Report I’ve never contacted you before,but I felt like it was time to give creditwhere it’s due. I’ve been playing guitarfor 22 years and have played many dif-ferent brands. I lead praise and worshipat our church and found your guitarsto be the most versatile and full sound-ing of any guitars I have played. I ownsix Taylors now: a T5 Custom, 412ce,214ce, two Babys, and now a GSMini. I am always amazed at the soundand playability of your guitars, and justwhen I think I’ve seen it all, here comesthe GS Mini and blows my mind. I ama small-framed lady and love having asmall-bodied guitar that doesn’t soundsmall and is incredibly comfortable tohold. I believe my new GS Mini and I

are going to be friends for a very longtime. I also want to give credit to oneof your dealers. Butch at Bigham Musicin Dalton, Georgia is great. I’ve gottenall my Taylors from him, and I’ve alwaysbeen more than satisfied. I don’t knowof anywhere else I’d rather do business.Thanks for making great guitars.

Janet Pinette

Six-String Therapy I was in Little Rock, Arkansas forcancer treatment when I took a fall thatresulted in an injury to my spine. Five

weeks in the hospital were followed bytwo weeks in physical and occupationaltherapy as an in-patient. I had to learnhow to walk all over again. Yet I alsorealized that I needed to play somemusic. Problem was, I was far awayfrom home and my Taylor 314ce, andfor the time being, a full-size guitar wasout of the question. Enter the GS Mini.Playable in a hospital bed and a wheel-chair! Not to mention a great-soundinginstrument that I’m still playing nowthat I’m back home and in remission.Thanks, Taylor, for being a big, or “Mini,”if you will, part of my recovery.

Ross DeAeth

Better Late Than Never I’ve been playing the guitar for closeto 47 years. I’ve had Martins, Yamahas,Washburns, even a Hohner. I still havean old Martin D-28 and a real old Guild12-string that sings with me. But I havenever had such a wonderful instrumentas my new Taylor 414ce Limited. It has

the sweetest sound of any guitar I’veever owned, and plenty of punch whenI need it. It also frets easier than anyguitar I’ve ever had.

I guess it boils down to what a for-mer boss told me: “Son, you catch onquick after a while.” I can’t compliment you enough.Rest assured I will own a Taylor fromnow on.

Charlie Fite

Memphis, TN

All About Acoustifest Just a quick note to tell you howmuch I appreciate your continuing sup-port of the clinics and Acoustifest puton by Melodee Music. I can’t think of abetter way to showcase and promoteyour instruments. I enjoyed Bob Taylorspeaking at Acoustifest a couple yearsago. For several years I was interestedin trying a LKSM6, but could never

find a local dealer with one in stock.Zach [Arntz] brought one to Acous-tifest last year, I played it and boughtit. You produce fine instruments, but Ibet you sell more due to your supportof the stores who carry your product.I can’t say enough good things aboutMelodee Music and their involvementwith the local community as well aslocal musicians. I am glad you feel thesame way.

Eric Knight

Lots of Love Love my Taylor 210ce. LoveWood&Steel . Love dreaming aboutmy next Taylor guitar. Love the yetunnamed koa SolidBody Standard onlast issue’s back cover. Love the ideaof Taylor having a contest and givingaway a koa SolidBody to the personwho names the new models. My sug-gestion: “The Mahalo Series.” Thanks and keep up the great work.

Joseph D Godec

Beginning with the Best I can’t sleep tonight! Tomorrow,at 43 years young, I will buy my firstguitar: a 2008 tobacco sunburst Taylor814ce. I read Bob’s book and havewatched over a dozen YouTube videosof the factory processes. Tomorrow I am buying more than aTaylor guitar. I am providing myself withfuture blank pages for memories yetto write. My friends asked me, “Why,at 43, are you thinking of starting toplay guitar, and why would you spend

so much money on your first guitar?In only seven years you’ll be 50!” Ithought about this for a moment andsaid, “Well, I’ve always wanted to playguitar. After researching Taylor Guitars,their quality, their people, Bob’s vision,and having a firm belief in myself, whynot start with the best? Besides, ifI don’t buy a guitar, I’ll still be 50 inseven years. When I do turn 50, I’ll beplaying a Taylor!”

Brian Kennicott

8 Builder’s Reserve VI: Mustache Bridge Koa Jumbo Who doesn’t appreciate a good ’70s mustache? Our classic mustache

bridge returns to celebrate the Jumbo 12-strings of Taylor’s early days.

18 Spotlight: Ebony’s Artistry Preserving the supply of ebony requires that we use what the forest provides. That means embracing its aesthetic diversity. Here’s a sample.

20 More Than a Store What’s the secret to a good local guitar shop? A staff that knows their gear, knows their customers, and knows how to create a sense of community.

26 Backstage Pass: Terry Wollman The versatile guitarist and veteran music director talks about layered arrangements, working with great session players, and recording with his 912ce.

28 What Are You Working On? A guitar neck is sanded, acoustic amp components take a stress test, and the interior of a guitar case gets some “plush” treatment.

Volume 72Summer 2012

3

Find us on Facebook . Subscribe on YouTube. Follow us on Twitter: @taylorguitars

2 Letters

4 Kurt’s Corner

5 BobSpeak

5 Editor’s Note

10 Ask Bob

24 Soundings

30 Events

31 Calendar

32 TaylorWare

Departments

12 The Future of Ebony In our special report, Bob Taylor talks about Taylor’s ownership stake in a Cameroonian ebony mill, the challenges of ebony sourcing, and the framework being developed for ethical, sustainable business.

On the CoverFeatures

208

We’d like tohear from you

Send your e-mails to:[email protected]

Letters

6 Your First Open Mic If you haven’t, maybe you secr etly want to. An open-mic survivor shares tips that will lead to a smooth performance for you and your listeners.

2 www.taylorguitars.com


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Read this and other back issues of Wood&Steel at taylorguitars.com

Online

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Outward Bound In early May I had the pleasure of joining more than 100 Taylorcolleagues and friends at a luncheon to celebrate the 20-yearanniversaries of two of our own: Chris Wellons, our Vice Presidentof Manufacturing, and Gerry Kowalski, our Training Specialist. Chris joined the company as a self-driven 19-year-old cabinet maker and hasrisen through the ranks to guide Taylor through several major cycles ofproduction growth. Gerry came to the company as a luthier from ColonialWilliamsburg, Virginia, where he built lutes and baroque guitars indramatic contrast to Taylor’s modern approach — preserving the historicmethods that were used in the 18th century. Gerry’s eye for detail atTaylor prompted Bob Taylor to enlist him to spearhead the developmentof our first formal training program, which has evolved over time into a

robust online teaching platform that plays a huge role in maintaining ourquality standards. During the lunch gathering, Bob shared remarks about each withthe group, mixing personal memories and funny stories with glowingtestimonials highlighting their important contributions to the company. Herelated their accomplishments to his philosophy of company leadership,which he described in terms of spheres of responsibility. At the core,Bob explained, is an employee’s individual responsibility, which coversthe specific parameters of his or her job description. Fulfilling thoserequirements, in his opinion, represents the bare minimum of the workthat someone should do. Next are the larger spheres that extend beyondone’s immediate job to address the greater needs within a departmentand beyond. The growth and success of Taylor, Bob noted, has comeat the hands of people like Chris and Gerry, who have continuouslyexpanded their spheres outward, embracing a greater leadership role bysupporting and inspiring others, resulting in a broader positive impact. Listening to Bob speak reminded me of our ebony feature in thisissue, and the leadership role that he and the company have embraced.As a manufacturer, Taylor could simply keep its energies focused on its“core sphere” of complying with the environmental laws that govern theway we buy ebony and other woods. But as many of you have come toappreciate, Bob has never settled for doing the bare minimum. As you’llsee in our report, his far-sighted vision has been shaped into a workingplan that aims to transform the way ebony is harvested and processedin Cameroon. Although it’s early in the process, the results harborthe potential to radiate outward and benefit other instrument makers,

Cameroonian communities, the environment, and guitar owners forgenerations to come. I doubt that Bob, Chris, Gerry or others here at Taylor envisionedthe range of positive impact their work might eventually have when theyshowed up for their first day of work. But for so many of us at Taylor,being part of a culture that supports that is what makes working here sorewarding. Have a wonderful summer.

— Jim Kirlin

Editor’s Note

Spring cleaning is a great thingto do with your home. You get to sortthrough all the junk you’ve accumu-lated and throw away things that wereonce useful but no longer serve a pur-pose. It’s important to do this with abusiness as well, only sometimes youneed to throw away old proceduresthat once served a purpose but now just make it harder to do good, cleanbusiness.

It’s normal for a company to addprocesses and procedures as it growsand matures. Unfortunately, these canadd complexities and bureaucracy that

get in the way of getting the job done.

Occasionally the “fix” for this can addeven more complexities and bureau-cracy, and lead to more systems. Thiscan absorb a lot of people’s time andworkload, and really not contributemuch value in the end.

Sometimes you just need to stepback and evaluate things anew. Thiswill help you redesign your processesand procedures to fit your businesstoday and in the foreseeable future,and jettison all the old, unnecessarysteps. I liken this to tearing out mostof your old, overgrown landscaping,

keeping just the important, matureplants, and starting over. We’ve beendoing precisely that here at Taylor. OurProcess Improvement Project is one ofthe major initiatives we’re working on,and perhaps the most important one. We’re finding that as we free uppeople’s time from tasks that don’tadd value, they can instead do workthat does add value, such as makingmore guitars to meet the demand, fill-ing dealer orders more quickly, improv-ing our quality assurance, and givingbetter, more responsive customerservice. We’re now cross-training our

people so they have a broader range

of skills and can work in more depart-ments. With the process improve-ments we’ve made so far, we’ve beenable to increase our daily guitar pro-duction by nearly 20 percent. We’ve removed an amazing amountof time that had been added to theprocesses of taking an order, schedul-ing that order in production, makingthe guitar, and finally shipping it. Itused to take several weeks for a guitarthat was ordered to be scheduled inproduction and then started. Now theguitar’s production is started the day

Cutting the Clutter

Kurt’s Corner

Contributors

David Hosler / Wayne Johnson / David Kaye / Kurt Listug / Shawn PersingerShane Roeschlein / Bob Taylor / Glen Wolff / Chalise Zolezzi

Technical AdvisorsEd Granero / David Hosler / Gerry Kowalski / Andy Lund / Rob Magargal

Mike Mosley / Brian Swerdfeger / Bob Taylor / Chris Wellons / Glen Wolff

Contributing Photographers

Rita Funk-Hoffman / David Kaye / Katrina Horstman

Circulation

Katrina Horstman

©2012TaylorGuitars. TAYLOR,TAYLOR(Stylized);TAYLORGUITARS,TAYLORQUALITYG UITARSandDesign;BABY TAYLOR; BIGBABY;PegheadDesign; BridgeDesign;PickguardDesign;100SERIES;200SERIES;300 SERIES; 400SERIES;500 SERIES;600 SERIES; 700SERIES;800 SERIES;900 SERIES; PRESENTATION SERIES; GALLERY; QUALITY TAYLORGUITARS,GUITARS ANDCASESandDesign;WOOD&STEEL;ROBERTTAYLOR (Stylized);TAYLOR EXPRESSIONSYSTEM;EXPRESSION SYSTEM;TAYLORWARE;TAYLORG UITARSK4; K4,TAYLORK4; TAYLOR ES;DOYLEDYKESSIGNATUREMODEL;DYNAMICBODYSENSOR;T5;T5 (Stylized);BALANCEDBREAKOUT;R.TAYLOR;RTAYLOR(Stylized);AMERICAN DREAM;TAYLORSOLIDBODY; T3;GRAND SYMPHONY;WAVECOMPENSATED;GS;GSMINI;ES-GO;V-CABLE;andGA areregisteredtrademarksofthecom-pany. DOYLEDELUXE;GA MINI;YOURTONE. AMPLIFIED;andFIND YOURFIT;NYLONSERIES;KOASERIES;WALNUTSERIES;GRANDAUDITORIUM;GRAND CONCERT;SIGNATUREMODEL;

GSSERIES;LIBERTYTREE;LEOKOTTKESIGNATUREMODEL;DANCRARYSIGNATUREMODEL;DYNAMICSTRING SENSORare trademarksofthe company. Patentspending. Pricesand specificationssubjectto changewithoutnotice.

Publisher / Taylor-Listug, Inc.

Produced by the Taylor Guitars Marketing Department

Vice President of Sales & Marketing / Brian Swerdfeger

Editor / Jim Kirlin

Art Director / Cory Sheehan

Graphic Designer / Rita Funk-Hoffman

Graphic Designer / Angie Stamos-Guerra

Photographer / Tim Whitehouse

Printing / Distribution

Courier Graphics / CEREUS - Phoenix

Volume 72Summer 2012


2012 Taylor Factory Tours & Vacation Dates A free, guided tour of the Taylor Guitars factory is given every Monday

through Friday at 1 p.m. (excluding holidays). No advance reservations arenecessary. Simply check-in at the reception desk in our Visitor Center, located

in the lobby of our main building, bef ore 1 p.m. We ask that large groups (morethan 10) call us in advance at (619) 258-1207.

While not physically demanding, the tour does include a fair amount of

walking. Due to the technical nature, the tour may not be suitable for small

children. The tour lasts approximately one hour and 15 minutes and departs

from the main building at 1980 Gillespie Way in El Cajon, California. Please take note of the weekday exceptions below. For more information,

including directions to the factory, please visit taylorguitars.com/contact.

We look forward to seeing you!

Holiday Closures

July 2-6(Company Vacation)

Monday, September 3(Labor Day)

October 15(Taylor Guitars Anniversary)

November 22-23(Thanksgiving Holiday)

Monday, December 24

through Friday, January 4(Company Vacation)

BobSpeak A Developing Story The country of Cameroon is a longway off, not only in travel hours, but inalmost every other way we can mea-sure, especially for those of us wholive where everything is available tous. As you probably know, we starteda small company in Tecate, Mexicoover 11 years ago, and it has growninto a vital part of our overall opera-tion. When I take people there for atour, they always make a commentlike, “Wow, this is much nicer andmore developed than I imagined. I wasexpecting something totally different!”

When we first started in Mexico,

we were warned about corruption, lackof infrastructure, and the possibility ofpoor employee relations. We plowedahead anyway, striving to do the samegood job we do here in the States. Asis turned out, there is corruption, lackof infrastructure, and the possibility ofpoor employee relations there — justlike here in the U.S.! But in the end,our business there is a beautiful, thriv-ing establishment, full of wonderfulemployees who make Taylor productsvery well. And even though it was alittle harder to get some of the thingswe wanted to get in Mexico, everythingwas available in the end.

Cameroon? Well, it’s truly a devel-oping country, and there isn’t much youcan get there. Tools, supplies and mate-rials are all nearly impossible to obtain.These things have to be imported. Ifwe want routers or saws or drill bits,it’s easiest to import them, and noticethat I didn’t say easy; I said “easiest.”

Getting there is hard, and being thereis hard, as is working there. But oncewe land and get settled into our com-pany house for the duration of ourstay, we get used to the pace and thereality, and we do the work necessaryto plan for the future and improve thetwo factories we own, which produceebony parts from the ebony trees weare able to buy.

We make ebony blanks for guitarfingerboards, bridges and headstockveneers, and the same for violin parts,cello parts and contra-bass parts.We also make pool cue stick blanks,

friction peg tuner blanks, bridge pinblanks and piano key blanks. We try toutilize the ebony down to the smallestparts.

The goal is to operate under atransparent and legal structure. This iseasy until we get to articles in the lawthat contradict each other as to wherethe ebony can be harvested. We’vebeen invited by Cameroon’s forestministry to help edit the law to makeit clearer, and to prevent business orsocial conflicts from arising as we doour business. Meanwhile, we workwith good hearts and minds towardcontinuous improvement with the goalof a harmonious business that oper-ates within a well-written framework oflaws. We and our partners from Spain,Madinter Trade, are quite proud of ourclean record.

One of our great assets is theaddition of Anne Middleton, formerlyfrom the Environmental Investigation

Agency (EIA), the group that waslargely responsible for the successfulpassing of the Lacey Act Amendmentof 2008, which now governs legal log-ging imports into our country. Anne’spassion and expertise are helping usunderstand all the forest ramificationsas well as the laws. She also willhelp craft laws that make sense forthe environment and the business ofebony processing, and in a way thatboth environmentalists and businessescan embrace. She’s living full-time inCameroon as she works on improvingthis business.

I hope you get a better sense ofwhere ebony comes from by readingthe in-depth article in this issue. I feelstrongly that if we can make it in Cam-eroon, if we can build a wood busi-ness around ebony that people will beproud of, we can have ebony for manygenerations. We are seeking the helpand approval of all our environmentalfriends as well as the bureaucraciesthat enforce the laws. I hope to beable to tell you better and better sto-ries of Africa as the months and yearsroll by. I also hope that you’ll be ableto feel proud of how the ebony foryour guitar was obtained, whether youchoose a Taylor or even another brand.

— Bob Taylor, President

after it’s ordered. Huge improvement!By removing buffer zones and havingthe work flow from the day shift acrossthe night shift, we’re now completingguitars in production considerablysooner than we used to. Add theseimprovements together, and we’re nowable to give much faster service andrespond better to customer demand.

As we’ve developed better report-ing this year, we’ve also been a littlesurprised to see how high the demandfor our guitars truly is, and how manyguitars we need to be making to meetour dealers’ and your needs. As a

result, we’ve increased guitar produc-tion and added several Saturdays toour production schedule in order todeliver guitars at the rate and in thetimeframe people want them. We’reat our highest-ever number of employ-ees — over 700 people — and this issure to continue growing. Our goal isto find that magic level where we pro-duce the right number of guitars andthe right mix of models so we can offernear-immediate delivery to our dealers,which will enable you to get the guitaryou want, when you want it. Thank you for choosing Taylor, andhave a great summer.

— Kurt Listug, CEO

With the process improvementswe’ve made so far, we’ve been ableto increase our daily guitar produc-tion by nearly 20 percent.


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Here’s a simple definition of what itmeans to know a song cold. Someoneshould be able to wake you up at 3:00a.m. on a cold Christmas morning,shove a guitar into your stiff-fingeredhands, and still be treated to a credibleperformance of the tune. That’s thekind of familiarity with a song you’reafter. In order to get to that place, youneed to have rehearsed a song a fewdozen times so you’re not strugglingto remember chords and lyrics whenyou’re up on stage. You should know asong so well that your body and braingo on auto-pilot. Maybe for your firstopen-mic you should think in termsof an easy three-chord strummerrather than that alternative version of“Classical Gas” you’ve been watchingon YouTube.

7

1

Ce yr

vnue wiel.

KNOW YOUR

SONG COLD.

Let’s get something out of the way right up front: If I — a relatively inexperienced guitarist with far more enthusiasm than talent —

can pull off a satisfying open-mic performance, then you can too. Trust me, you don’t need the experience of Eric Clapton or

the virtuosity of Tommy Emmanuel to deliver a performance a n audience will appreciate. You just have to take ca re of business

before you set foot on stage. With that in mind, here’s a seven-step guide that will help you prepare for the big night.

3 7

4

Tuneup f ge.

pa enex оe.

There’s almost nothing more dauntingand distracting than stepping up onstage for the first time, looking out atthe audience, and seeing that everyoneis engaged in private conversations,laughing riotously, or droppingsilverware. You’re probably going tobe scared witless the first time, which

Want to know how to make an audiencerestless? Waste their time by spendingeven as little as 30 seconds tuning yourguitar. I’ve seen this happen severaltimes to performers who, out of sheernervousness or a real need to retune,felt compelled to fiddle with their tuningpegs the moment they stepped up onthe stage. Most venues will have a quietplace (often called a “green room”)where you can tune your guitar rightbefore you go on, which will help y ouavoid wasting the audience’s time.

means it’s already going to be difficult enough for you to focus on the task athand. Now add 27 loud sources of interruption all around you, and it’s easy to seehow your attention can become dislodged from your objective — which should bedelivering a good performance and nothing else. So before you decide to do anopen-mic, attend a few of them as a member of the audience. Look for a ven uewhere the music, not the pizza or bratwurst, is the focus. Keep searching untilyou find a venue where the audience is attentive and supportive of the musicians,avoiding those places where the crowd is completely indifferent to the music orprone to forming an angry mob with pitchforks and torches.

2Ce a up-

emp sng.

Face it, just because a song is insome way important to you doesn’tnecessarily mean it will capture andhold your audience’s attention. Whatyou want is to launch into your songand realize in the first few seconds thatthe crowd likes what they’re hearing.How will you know that? You’ll seesmiles forming, toes tapping, and fingers drumming, which will almost never happenif you choose an unfamiliar or depressing song. I gave this a lot of thought beforemy first open-mic and ultimately decided on a song called “Country Honk,” a rump-kicking acoustic version of the Rolling Stones’ “Honky Tonk Women.” It turned outto be a good choice because the entire audience was singing the chorus with me,which means they were totally engaged with the song and having a good time.

Either that or they were politely trying to drown me out.

5 fcu.As I mentioned earlier, you might benervous as you step on stage. Yourthroat might be dry, your hands shaky,and you might feel as though dozensof eyeballs are evaluating your clothing,your guitar and your hairdo. Forget allthat junk. Think about the fact that youcan knock this song out of the park, andthat you’ve already proved it in your own living room countless times. As you step upon the stage, right before you begin, think about how you start the song. And then… just start it. Yeah, I know. Your nightmare is that you’ll totally botch the beginning of the song,making you even more petrified, and that things will spiral out of control from there.I speak from experience, having recently become so emotionally dismantled by thesteam jet of a latte machine that I completely lost focus and botched the beginning of“Autumn Leaves.” I remember thinking, I can go on butchering the song or I can juststart it all over. I chose the latter course, and the audience was fine with that. Theyknew it was my first open-mic because I’d told them that. So they understood mynervousness and were rooting for me. Once I restarted the song, it went really well.

6dn’ foget hv fun.Audiences aren’t there to watch youwrestle with your personal demons.They’ve planted their butts in the seatsbecause they want to have a goodtime — and a good time to them meanshearing some tasty music. That’s whythe song choice is important. Butequally important is the audience’s

perception that you’re having just as good a time as they are. Stand up when youperform so that you can get your whole body into the song. Make eye contact.Be responsive to the applause at the end of the song. In short, communicate yourenthusiasm to the audience, even if you r eally feel like you’re on the verge of wettingyour pants. And one more thing: If possible, have a friend capture your moment in

the limelight on video so you can evaluate your performance later. Really, there’sno better way to make necessary adjustments to your style or song choice. Whichleads me to my final point…

Do an even passable job at your fir stopen-mic and you’ll likely be pumped upas you’re walking off the stage, the soundof applause ringing in your ears. Good.Now go home and evaluate the video orat least think about the things you did thatwere particularly effective and the onesthat could stand some tweaking. Did youget the sense that the audience’s attention was drifting during your performance?Choose a better song. Did you stumble badly on the guitar interlude? Find a songthat’s easier to play. There’s no shame in that. After all, audiences are looking forgood songs, not necessarily difficult ones. Did you deliver a wooden performance?Practice in front of a mirror so that you can see and hear what an audience seesand hears. Tap your foot while you play. Bob your head. Get into the song. And justknow that you’ll be even better next time. Oh, yes…there will be a next time, because per forming at an open-mic in frontof a live audience is as close as most of us will ever get to stardom, and it’s anabsolutely intoxicating experience. About the only thing you’re likely to regret is thatyou didn’t do it sooner.

Dennis Globus lives in Seattle, Washington. He played his first open-mic night

with a brand-new Taylor 12-Fret he’d just purchased, and also owns an 814ce

and a GS Mini.


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hen Bob and Kurt first began crafting guitars, one of the body stylesthey inherited was the iconic Jumbo,whose lineage traced back to thearchtop guitars of the 1930s. Theyapplied their own interpretive designtouches to the curvaceous shape,which would prove to be a good fit fortheir 12-string models. The Jumbo’sdistinctive “mustache”-style bridgewas a carryover from Bob and Kurt’spre-Taylor days at the American Dreamguitar shop (it was designed by SanDiego artist David Randle), where thetwo had first met.

In the ensuing years, Taylor’sseminal Jumbo 12-string 855 (therosewood 12-string model played byNeil Young in the concert film RustNever Sleeps) evolved considerably,both cosmetically and structurally, tosuit the changing needs and tastes ofplayers. The mustache bridge wouldgive way to a more modern design, andother aesthetic refinements graduallytransformed the Jumbo 12 into a morecontemporary — and distinctively Taylor —acoustic package. This Builder’s Reserve offeringcelebrates Taylor’s early days with atribute to the classic Jumbo 12-string.

Our design team began by revisitingour original Jumbo shape, whichfeatures a full 17-inch body widthacross the lower bout. Additional retrotouches include early 800 Seriesappointments like our small diamondmother-of-pearl fretboard inlays, anabalone triple-ring rosette, and ofcourse, the unmistakable bridge, whichfeatures contrasting camel bone bridgepins with abalone dots. Gold Gotoh510 tuners tastefully complete thethrowback aesthetic. From our wood reserves weselected some of our finest sets offigured Hawaiian koa for the back,

sides and peghead overlay (includingthe truss rod cover), all outlined withcrisp white binding. A Sitka sprucetop bolsters koa’s shimmering tonalresponse with the help of Adirondackspruce bracing. With modern designfeatures like our NT® neck andExpression System® electronics, thisguitar artfully embodies the company’sprogression from its homespun earlydays to the latest performance-enhancing innovations.

In keeping with this year’s themeof Builder’s Reserve acoustic amplifierpairings, we’ve chosen sets of beautifulkoa for a matching Expression System

amp cabinet. Traditional cabinet detailslike dovetailed corner joints showcasesolid craftsmanship and elegantsimplicity.

When first built, our Jumbo12-string delivered a fresh take on aclassic design. This Builder’s Reservebeauty does the same, and makeslooking back more fun than ever. Aswith our other guitar/amp offerings,these will be sold together, and 30pairs will be made. For full specificationsand a list of dealers who carry them,visit taylorguitars.com.

9

Our classic mustache bridge flashes

back to the Jumbo 12-strings of

Taylor’s early years

BridgE

PASTto the

GuitarModel: BR-VIShape: 12-string JumboBack/Sides : Hawaiian KoaTop: Sitka Spruce with Adirondack Spruce BracingHeadstock Overlay: Hawaiian KoaInlays: Mother-of-Pearl Small DiamondsBinding: WhiteTuners: Gold Gotoh 510

AmplifierModel/Type : BR-VI ES AcousticPower: 40 WattsTechnology : Solid StateSpeaker Size/Type: 8-inch Custom Poly Cone Woofer, 1-inch Textile Dome TweeterSpeaker Arrangement: Bi-AmpCabinet: Hawaiian Koa

Clockwise from top left: Hawaiian koa headstock overlay and truss rod cover with gold Gotoh 510 tuners;

mother-of-pearl diamond inlays; the mustache bridge, featuring camel bone bridge pins with abalone dots;

the amp cabinet’s dovetailed corner joint; back and sides of flamey koa

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Builder’s Reserve VI


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NS74ce

design issue? Is it a covered war-

ranty item? How can it be repaired?

Paul Medis

Paul, yes, it’s a design issue, but onewith no solution. Sometimes it happensas the plastic shrinks, and since 1997we’ve solved some of those prob-lems. But if the pickguard is glued toostrongly to the top, if the top breathesand the pickguard doesn’t, the topcan crack. So the design prefers thesurvival of the top, and as a result thepickguard can be a bit sacrificial, asit should be. There’s a peel-and-stickadhesive on the back, and sometimesit gets loose. Call our Service depart-ment and they’ll fix you up. It’s easy toreplace.

My NS74 (2003) has its original sad-

dle, which looks like a steel-string

compensated Tusq saddle installed

backwards, so that the compensa-

tion (now on the A string) would

seem to be negated. Is that right? If

I change the saddle to bone, do you

recommend any compensation, or a

straight saddle? I’ve never had any

intonation problems with the guitar

as is.

Damon Krukowski

Damon, I can see how you mightthink that the saddle is a backwardssteel-string saddle, but it’s not. It’smade specifically for the nylon guitars,

I was in Washington’s Olympic Nation-

al Park recently and saw a burl in a

Sitka spruce tree that was about five

feet in diameter. There were many

other spruce trees with similar burls

nearby, and they were growing very

close to the beach. I know that you

folks at Taylor are all about tone-

woods, and that Sitka spruce is oneof the most important tonewoods

in guitar making, so I was curious if

you have ever had a chance to cut

into one of these spruce burls to

investigate what the grain pattern

and tonal properties are like?

Chuck Pautz

Seattle, WA

Chuck, no I’ve never had the pleasureof cutting into a spruce burl. I can tellyou, though, that it would be unusablefor a guitar top, as all burls are. There isno grain orientation in a burl, and theyhave no structural integrity that wouldbe sufficient to hold the string pressure.

I’ve had a 414ce for a couple of

years now and have noticed that the

white binding on the neck has begun

to yellow, especially near the nut and

on the bottom by the soundhole. Is

this natural, or am I doing something

wrong in taking care of it?

Mitch Beck

Barrington, IL

Mitch, it’s natural for this to happento the white binding or the finish thatis over the white binding. They bothstart to yellow as a unit, each adding alittle to the color. The fact that yours isa little uneven may be because of theoils in your hands or skin. Do you wearshorts and rest your guitar on a bareleg? The reason I ask is that each of ushas a unique chemistry in our skin, andsometimes that will cause things likethis to happen. There’s nothing you’redoing wrong, though. Just go with it.We used to have an employee herewho had the “Reverse Midas Touch”— just one touch of his hands on thestrings and they were dead. Eventuallyhe was forbidden to touch a finishedguitar. I never saw anything like itbefore or since!

David, I’d say that most cedar andspruce trees we get are of similar age.All the trees are smaller nowadays,as the really big trees are essentiallygone. The trees we see now are aboutthree feet in diameter, possibly four,and tend to be 250 to 400 years old.We used to get trees six feet in diam-eter, and those were 500 to 800 yearsof age.

I just purchased my first Taylor, a

110e. I was told to use an acoustic

cable to plug it into an acoustic

amp. I normally play an electric

guitar and have a couple of good

electric cables (Planet Waves, Mon-

ster, etc.). Does the cable make any

difference? Michael Bethke

Michael, you already have the perfectcable. It’s the same as an electric gui-tar cable.

I own a 6-string baritone, a Big Baby

and a T5-C2, and all three are mag-

nificent. I was wondering, though,

because I’m a huge blues guy, if

you would ever consider making

a resonator guitar. I would love to

own a resonator with the Taylor

stamp of quality on it.

Joe Moore

Sorry, Joe, I don’t think we’ll be doingthat. That’s a whole new ball game,and if we ask ourselves to choosebetween designing and tooling a reso-nator guitar and the dozen other kindsof guitars we don’t make right now, Ithink the resonator will keep gettingbumped. I’m just being straight withyou.

I read in an article by [luthier]

Ervin Somogyi that because of the

dynamics of the guitar, tonewoods

for faces need to be different from

tonewoods for backs if the instru-

ment is to have the best and most

even sound, and that they need to

be of differing densities because

the resonant frequency of the back

needs to be higher than the reso-

nant frequency of the face by at

least a tone. It further stated that if

there is too great or too small a gap

separating the fundamental reso-

nant frequencies of the top and the

back, then guitars have an uneven

tone, i.e., the sound becomes an

uneven mixture of loud and quiet

notes. Likewise, if the face and the

back are most active at the same

frequency or frequencies, they will

act in tandem to reinforce certain

notes but leave others weak.

What is your take on this claim

given that you have models in the

Koa Series that have all-koa faces,

sides and backs?

Bonifacio Gulla (816ce)

Temecula, CA

Well, Ervin is a very good guitar makerand what he says is true, and especiallytrue for his guitars. But we’ve madeguitars with perfectly even notes wherewe haven’t chosen the top and backwoods as he describes. Bottom line,once a guitar is made, you either likeit or don’t. I suspect that Ervin wouldnot like a Taylor koa-topped guitar,

but does that mean the person whoowns one and likes it shouldn’t like it? Ialways try to bring the discussion backto the guitar itself. I often get questionsfrom people who love their guitar, andthen someone comes along and saysthey shouldn’t like it, and then they askme if they should like it, you know?There are lots of guitars and lots ofpeople and lots of opinions. I think koa-topped guitars sound pretty darn good,as do the folks who buy them.

I have two Taylor guitars: a 10-year-

old 414 and a 61 4. I keep them both

in the case with the humidity at

about 45 percent. I don’t get to play

the 414 very often. Someone told

me that if you don’t play it very often

it will lose its bright sound. I really

don’t notice much change. Do you

think it makes any difference to have

the guitar sit for long periods with-

out playing it?

Ernie Wint

Glendale, AZ

Ernie, I need to find this “Someone”guy and tell him to stop telling peopleall kinds of things that are wrong. I’mglad you asked me. Your guitar won’tlose anything from not playing it. Infact, I have guitars in my own collectionthat barely get played, and they soundbetter than new. It’s true. Don’t worryabout it. Guitars don’t lose sound.

I own a Taylor 810 that I bought

brand new in 1997. The guitar is

excellent, but I recently noticed that

the pickguard is starting to separate

from the guitar (just a little at the

bottom rear corner). At an auction

last summer, I saw an older 810 on

which the pickguard was almost

completely separated. Is this a

with the A string notched back. If youreplace the saddle with bone, youshould have it shaped to match theshape of the one you remove because,as you say, the intonation is good justas it is.I frequently play using alternate

6-string tunings like DADGAD and

detuning the standard down a

half step to give that deeper, open

sound. The problem is that, quite

often, string rattle comes into play,

and even the first and second strings

take on that twangy sound, almost

like a doubling effect. Is there a

particular model or maybe even a

different scale length that lends itself

better to the lower tunings without a

lot of the rattle or twang? I suppose

I could use a medium-gauge string

instead of light-gauge, but I reallydon’t care for heavier-gauge strings.

What would you suggest?

Larry Moody

Mooreland, OK

Larry, first we might want to loosenyour truss rod when you tune down.That doesn’t fix the lower tension, butI’m pretty sure you’d get better results.Our baritone models have a longer fretscale. Imagine that instead of tuning ahalf step lower, you simply added a fretbehind the first fret. Well, the baritonehas two extra frets, which means thatyou could put medium strings on it, andtune it to D, and it would be the exacttension as a normal neck, tuned to E.That might be a guitar you’re interestedin owning. You could tune it to D, puta capo on the first fret, and have aperfect Eb guitar. Put the capo on thesecond fret and have an E guitar, andtake the capo off and have a D guitar.It’s very versatile. You can also putheavier strings on it and tune it down toC or even B.

I’ve had a GS Mini since I got my

hands on the first one that came

to Carlson Music in Alexandria,

Minnesota. I play it every day. The

sound is already opening up nicely.

I’ve gotten very comfortable with

the short scale and will purchase a

mahogany-topped one as soon as I

can. It will be handy to have them in

different tunings. Since I’m a finger-

style player, I would be interested in

a cedar-topped GS Mini as well. Any

chance of that happening?

Steve K

Yes, Steve, it may happen as an LTDat some point. We just made a mapleand a rosewood laminate LTD Mini, andthey went over incredibly well. I can’tsay when we might do it, because I

don’t know, but it sounds like a goodoption to make some day. The GS Miniis such a successful model — we makeover 100 of them a day just to try tofill demand! So, sometimes it’s hardto branch out into variations when theregular versions are on back order, butbecause we like guitars, just like youdo, we always try different things, and Ithink we’ll do that sometime.

I played a 714 in the store the other day andpreferred it over the 814. One thing that’s

making me hesitant to make the purchase,

though, is that I’ve heard that cedar tops

degrade over time (rather than open up).

Is there any truth to this?

Chi Hsu

Chi, I’ll say there’s no truth at all to that, at least

that you will perceive. Maybe in the classical

guitar world, but I don’t think I’ve seen the

evidence even there. And considering the time

that it would take, you might find yourself long

gone by then. Get the cedar; like any guitar, it

will just sound better with age.

Got aquestion forBob Taylor?

Shoot him an e-mail:

[email protected]

If you have a specific

repair or service

concern, please call

our Customer Service

department at

(800) 943-6782,

and we’ll take

care of you.

10 www.taylorguitars.com 11

Ask BobSpruce burls, grading basics andpickguard separation

Is there a double-cut T3 in the

future? The only reason I haven’t

bought a T3 is because I prefer

the double-cut style. They have the

sound I’m looking for, but I can’t get

comfortable with the single cutaway.

Jay Koreny

Bristow, VA

Never say never, Jay, but we don’t haveplans for that yet. It definitely would becool.

I currently have a 314ce and want to

step up a bit. I’m looking at buying

a claro walnut W14. How does wal-

nut’s tone compare to rosewood or

cocobolo?

Myron Phelps

Myron, I’d have to say it’s a softer,warmer tone than either rosewood orcocobolo. That’s the best way I can putit. It’s hard to talk about tone, really, butwalnut is quite a bit softer than either ofthose rosewood species and yields anice, warm tone.

I’ve checked out the information

about humidity and its effect on

acoustic guitars. I have a 114ce,

which came with a zippered gig bag.

Does the bag work as well as a hard-

shell case when enclosing the guitar

with a humidity-controlling device or

product? Should I consider getting a

chipboard case or a hardshell case

to better control the changing humid-

ity levels the guitar encounters here

in Ohio?

John Horvath

John, I think a hardshell case does doa better job than the gig bag, but thatsaid, if you do use a humidifier or useHumidipaks, they will work well insideyour bag. You may have to wet them,or replace them a little more often, butthe bag does make a big differenceover nothing at all. I’d guess that it’s 75percent as good as a hardshell case.Just a guess, mind you, but that givesyou an idea.

How does Taylor grade wood?

What’s the difference between “A”

grade rosewood and “AA?” Do cer-

tain series use a certain grade of

wood? Is the grading purely cosmet-

ic or does it impact the sound?

Minwoo Nahm

Minwoo, within the same species,it’s generally more cosmetic than itis tonal. But not always. Sometimeswe find lightweight pieces that ringnicely, so it’s upgraded. Usually withrosewood we’re looking for bettercolor and straighter grain patterns, andthose grain lines can add up to tonalimprovements, but a lot of it is purelythe look. With spruce, we’re looking atmore than just the cosmetics. We alsotake into account the grain structurefeatures that would make it sound bet-ter. It’s very difficult to teach a personhow to grade wood, even if they workbeside you for years. So, it’s reallyalmost impossible to explain it here in acolumn, but those are a couple of thebasics.

I’ve really enjoyed the Sounds of

Wood&Steel albums put out by Taylor

Guitars. Will there ever be a volume

four?

Michael Hanvey

Thank you, Michael. They really weregood albums. But they were hard toproduce, and at the time we had a per-son working for us who surmounted allthe obstacles. We probably won’t doit again, unless the right person comesalong. Like you, I’ve enjoyed them andcrave another.

My loving wife bought me a 414ce

for our 20-year anniversary and I just

love it. I also have a 2011 Fall Lim-

ited NS24ce and love the different

sound of the nylon strings and cedar

top. Is there a difference in the age

of the trees used for spruce or cedar

tops, or does it just depend upon the

wood you acquire from the cutters?

David Guder

Newport Beach, CA

GS Mini


7/19

13

e in the guitar communitylove our exotic tonewoods.

We savor their beauty, revelin their tonal nuances, and draw inspira-tion from the craftsmanship that gives

them a second life as an instrument.But while our admiration for the finishedproduct may run deep, the back storydetails of a tree’s journey from the for-est to the factory are often less clear,especially the more removed we findourselves from the source. We mighthave a sense of a wood’s native origin(especially those with helpful geograph-ic cues like Indian rosewood, Sitkaspruce and Hawaiian koa), but there isalways more to the story. Over the years, Taylor has made aneffort to share some of these stories, inpart to give you a deeper appreciationfor the hard work that often goes intowood sourcing, especially in light ofimportant environmental issues such aslegality and sustainability. We’ve takenyou into the jungles of Central Americawith Bob Taylor to learn of the innova-tive mahogany sourcing initiatives we’vedeveloped with forest communities inHonduras. We’ve chronicled the guitarindustry’s collective efforts to promotethe sustainable sourcing of Sitkaspruce. Now the guitar industry findsitself at a critical juncture with anotherprecious wood species: ebony. This isthe first of a series of reports from theCentral African country of Cameroon,which has effectively become the lastfrontier for the legal sourcing of ebony.

As Bob Taylor first mentioned inhis column in our winter issue, Taylorrecently became the co-owner of anebony mill in Cameroon, and the impli-cations are far-reaching. This ownershipinitiative is significant because it bringsan instrument manufacturer closer tothe source than ever before, whichenables greater awareness and controlof the supply chain. Proper management of the ebonysupply is a vital issue because if wecontinue down our former path, theebony more than likely will go away aswe know it. Taylor’s co-ownership pro-vides a unique opportunity to developa new paradigm for ethical, eco-friendly

business, and the framework currentlybeing developed there has the potentialto positively affect both Camerooniancommunities and the stringed instru-ment industry. Like a healthy forest

ecosystem that fosters a balance ofdifferent species of flora and fauna inorder to thrive, there is an interdepen-dent business ecosystem that links ourfellow instrument makers, communitiesin developing countries where woodsare sourced, and customers. Ourefforts require a mix of long-term plan-ning, global collaboration, patience,and resilience against the inevitableobstacles that will arise. But the endresult will support sustainable forestryand provide greater economic stabilityto communities around the world.

The Lacey Act andGuitar Companies As we’ve noted in previous sourc-ing stories, there was a time when BobTaylor didn’t have to go any farther thana local lumber yard to buy wood. Trees,after all, were a renewable resource,and the wood was readily available.But in recent decades the seeminglyendless supply of certain wood specieshas been outpaced by consumption.This depletion has in turn threatenedtheir surrounding forest ecosystem.As a result, the guitar industry, alongwith other industries that rely on woodto make their products, bear a greaterresponsibility for knowing how theirwood was sourced, as well as theimpact of sourcing on the environmentand local communities.

The U.S. Lacey Act, a landmarkpiece of legislation originally passed in1900 to protect wildlife and amendedin 2008 to include plants and plantproducts, marked a watershed momentin terms of business responsibilityamong importers of products made ofnatural materials, including wood. Eventhough some guitar makers had alreadybegun to embrace certain “green” ini-tiatives like wood certification throughorganizations like the Forest Steward-ship Council, those were voluntary andnot necessarily Lacey-compliant. Lacey,

by comparison, was stronger and far-ther reaching: It banned the trade ofillegally logged wood. Even more impor-tant, it shifted the burden of responsi-bility to wood buyers, compelling them

to provide proof to cover the completechain of custody back to the harvestingof the tree.

It’s worth mentioning that comparedto other wood-consuming industrieslike flooring companies and furnituremakers, the guitar industry consumesa thin fraction of wood. But guitar mak-ers do consume some of the exoticspecies that are at risk based on inter-national agreements such as CITES(the Convention on International Tradein Endangered Species of Wild Faunaand Flora).

The good news is that with clearlegislation and proper management,musical instrument makers, togetherwith communities where these woodsare sourced, have the ability to pre-serve the species we love so that ourgrandchildren and their grandchildrenwill be able to enjoy their unique musi-cal qualities.

Why Ebony? Compared to the attention weoften lavish on the attributes of otherexotic tonewoods, ebony is far lessglamorous. Used for the vast majorityof guitar fretboards, its role is funda-mental to the playing experience, yetis often taken for granted becauseof its more supportive function. Thewood’s dark complexion also tends tofade into the background comparedto other more visually striking woodsand appointments on a guitar. None-theless, ebony has long been one ofthe most desirable of woods amonginstrument makers for other reasons.Its high density enables it to be finish-sanded to a very smooth and durablesurface, which is comfortable on thefingers. The density also enables solid,predictable seating of the frets. Bycomparison, softer woods that aresometimes used for fretboards, suchas rosewood, can “squish” slightly asthe frets are seated, which can lead to

a less consistent fret job. In terms ofvisual aesthetics, ebony’s dark colorwon’t show dirt or grime like a lightercolored fingerboard such as maple.The darker color also creates a crisp

contrast with traditional, lighter-coloredinlay materials such as abalone andmother-of-pearl. For all these reasons,ebony is an ideal wood for instrumentfingerboards. Other components itis used for include guitar bridges,headstock overlays, bridge pins andappointments like binding and rosetteinlays.

Native Origins Like woods such as oak, walnut orrosewood, there are several species ofebony that grow in different regions ofthe world. Ebony grows predominantlyin Africa and India, although it is alsofound in places like Indonesia. Therewas a time when Taylor sourced Indianebony from Sri Lanka, but Bob Taylorsays it was the lesser of most of theebonies. We have also used Macas-sar or “striped” ebony, which comesfrom Indonesia, although for backs andsides only. The best ebony species forinstruments tend to be African strains(a tree’s typical growth cycle is about80 years), and Taylor has sourcedebony from Cameroon for 30 years.Until fairly recently, the African countryof Madagascar was another sourceof ebony (along with rosewood), butpolitical turmoil following the overthrowof the government in 2009 led to aspike in illegal harvesting within thecountry’s national forests. As a result,the export of ebony and rosewood wassuspended entirely, making it illegalto import it under the Lacey Act. Thateffectively leaves Cameroon as the lastarea for legal sourcing.

“You actually can get legal ebonyout of Congo, including FSC-certifiedebony,” Bob Taylor says, “but there isvery little of it and the price is manytimes that of Cameroonian ebony.”

E B O N Y ’ S F I N A L F R O N T I E RTAYLOR’S CO-OWNERSHIP OF AN EBONY

MILL IN CAMEROON AIMS TO ESTABL ISH A

NEW MODEL OF SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS

SourcingChallenges One of the commondenominators among the

different exotic tonewoodsused to make guitars is thatmany originate in tropicalregions of the world, oftenin developing countries. Thiscan present steep obstacleswhen it comes to responsibleforest management. Sucheconomically underdevel-oped countries often lack theproper infrastructure — andthe political will — to man-age their national resources.Trees are often located inremote forest regions thatmake it difficult to enforceany existing harvestingregulations, leaving the “backdoor” open for illegal logging.And the immediacy of povertycan supersede long-termthinking about preserving anarea’s natural resources, par-ticularly when people need tofeed their families. Corruptionis regularly a factor. Things

often happen more slowly.The available tools are oftenprimitive or in poor condition. “The reality is just differ-ent,” Bob says. “In Camer-oon, something seeminglysimple like cutting a tree canbecome very complicated.One person might have achainsaw, another has thechain, and someone else hasgas. And there might be awhole lot of conflict just toget that saw through the tree.And that’s after you finallydetermine if the tree can belegally cut or not.”

continued next page

By Jim Kirlin

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8/19

“This was news to everyone else,”Bob says. “Not even the previousowner of Crelicam knew. The cuttersdon’t tell anybody that. I just startedasking questions and went down thatrabbit hole and they told me.” Bob told the cutters on the spotthat he would buy the déclassé ebonyfrom them and pay the same priceas the black wood. They were takenaback. But no one will want it, theysaid. “Well, now they will,” Bob told them.It was a decision he says he and Vidalfelt compelled to make to be respon-sible stewards of the forest resources.

“Now that we know this, we can’tun-know the realities here in Africa,”

he says. “We live in a different world,a world where we have to respectthat environment. Decisions had to bemade, and Vidal and I have proudlymade them. Our ebony reflects thereality of the forest. This is what ebonylooks like. Here’s the good news basedon what we learned: There’s 10 timesas much usable ebony in Cameroon aswe thought there was.” Given the complicated issues thatsurround the sourcing of ebony, onemight wonder why an alternative woodisn’t used for fretboards. Ebony’s supe-rior qualities aside, Bob says the sourc-ing issues would be similar elsewhere.And since it’s legal to source ebonyin Cameroon (when following proper

protocols), purchasing a mill givesTaylor-Madinter a chance to introducemeasures of sustainability for the indus-try as a whole. “If somebody had done in Mada-gascar what we’re trying to do now inCameroon, maybe Madagascar wouldstill be supplying ebony,” Bob says.“And if nobody does what we’re try-ing to do now, how long will ebony beavailable from Cameroon before theNGOs and the government and every-body just has it up to here with woodbeing stolen off parts of the land itshouldn’t be taken from?”

15

Buying an Ebony Mill In November of 2010, Taylorpartnered with Madinter Trade, S.L., aSpain-based international distributorof guitar parts and tonewoods used tomake musical instruments, to explorethe possibility of purchasing the com-pany Crelicam, the largest ebony mill inAfrica. Located in the country of Camer-oon, the company employs 75 people intwo mill locations, one in the country’scapital, Yaoundé, and another about180 miles northeast in the city of Ber-toua. Crelicam supplies fingerboardsand bridges to several distributors,who in turn sell to makers of guitars,violins and other instruments that fea-ture fingerboards, and even pool cues.The company’s owner, a Spaniard, hadrecently decided to sell the businessand retire after running it for 12 years. Bob already had a good workingrelationship with Madinter’s managingdirector, Vidal de Teresa, as Madintersupplies Taylor with sapele (which alsocomes from Cameroon) and ovangkol.Madinter also had been an ebony clientof Crelicam. The partnership, Bob says,was a natural fit.

“Taylor has expertise in the pro-cessing of ebony, while Madinter wasalready a large distributor of Crelicamebony and had extensive experienceas a supplier to the trade,” he says.“Together, we felt that we had all thenecessary expertise to not only t akeover Crelicam, but to improve the prod-uct.” Bob and Vidal visited the companyin Cameroon in February 2011, andagain in July 2011. As prospective own-ers, the two did extensive research. “We turned over every stone in

About Cameroon Cameroon is located on the western side of Central Africa just northof the equator. The southwestern portion of the country borders the Gulfof Guinea, where the port city of Douala is located. Its border countriesare Chad to the North, the Central Africa Republic to the East, Congo,Gabon and Equatorial Guinea to the south, and Nigeria to the West. It’sbeen described as having all of Africa in one country for its cultural andgeological diversity, which boasts beaches, deserts, mountains, rainforestsand savannas. Ebony harvesting occurs in the rainforest regions, whichare located in the southern and eastern part of the country. The overallpopulation is about 20 million people, and both French and English arethe official languages. The country’s capital, Yaoundé, where one of theCrelicam mills is located, has nearly 2 million residents.


order to put ourselves in position tomake a sound purchase,” Bob elabo-rates. “We wanted to identify all thechallenges and potential shortfalls ofdoing business in Cameroon.” Between their two trips, Bob andVidal spent a lot of time meeting withNon-Governmental Organizations(NGOs) in Washington DC, London,and eventually Cameroon. They learnedof Cameroon’s high unemployment rateand discovered that those who did have jobs were often expected to take careof anywhere from 10 to 20 people ontheir wages. They also saw the primitiveworking conditions at the mill. As theirunderstanding of Cameroon’s economyand the milling operation deepened,their original ownership goals evolved.

“Our interest went beyond simplyoperating a business that only providedclients with uninterrupted supplies oflegal ebony and fair prices,” Bob says.“Our focus grew to include the workersin the factory, the citizens of the com-munities where the ebony grows, thetruck drivers who transport the wood,and the forest itself in terms of how wecan sustain it and set it up for futurestability and harvest.”

For Bob and Vidal, their vision wasgrounded in a three-pronged goal: sup-plying ebony in a way that was legal,ethical and sustainable. “Today’s Lacey Act in the U.S.and the forthcoming EU timber lawsaddress only legality,” Bob explains.“So, in essence, each one of us usersof ebony, or any other species, couldchoose to be legal and not worryourselves with the ethics, traditions orcurrent state of society in the coun-tries from which our woods originate.

But I feel it’s important that we in thedeveloped, wealthy parts of the worldtake special notice of the conditions inthese regions.” Bob points to the historical trackrecord of resource exploitation. “What has happened in developingcountries? Well, we go take their dia-monds and their coal and their oil andtheir wood until there’s none left. Thenwe leave the people kind of impov-erished. Do you know a lot of placeswhere exotic woods come from thatare flourishing and in great shape andare First World powers? If they are,it’s a place like Brazil, in which casethey say, ‘You can’t buy our rosewoodanymore.’ But if the people don’t haveany power or other means to supportthemselves, they’ll trade their wood for

a bowl of rice.”

Cutting Permits In order to be in the wood businessin Cameroon, you need a permit thatgrants you access to a specific ForestManagement Unit (concession). Suchconcessions can be logged accordingto certain regulations. For example,there has to be a cutting plan, with alimit to the number of trees that canbe cut. Under these specific permits,ebony is strictly off limits. This isbecause in Cameroon, ebony is clas-sified as a “special species,” and aspecial permit is required to harvest it.One reason why it’s not regulated byconcessions is that ebony trees tendto be widely dispersed. Crelicam has aspecial permit for harvesting ebony, butno concessions. “The way they work it is, you caneither cut ebony or you can have aconcession and not cut ebony, but youcan’t have both,” Bob explains. “So,we’re effectively a man with no land.We have to get permission to cut ebonyin places. They have community foreststhat are part of the country’s NationalDomain, and we can go make a dealwith the chiefs to cut ebony there.” There are approximately 13 com-panies in all of Cameroon who havepermits to cut ebony, and there arecurrently no new permits being issued.Every year a 14-person governmentcommission decides on the permitsand the individual quota allocations foreach. The total annual limit that permitsare issued for is 2000 tons of rawebony log material.

“When 2000 tons of it has beencut, it’s officially over for the year,” Bobsays. “So, each of those 13 compa-nies is issued a permit that tells themhow many tons they get to cut. Ourcompany has permits for 1,500 of the2000 tons. We’re the biggest and bestoperator there. The other 500 tons are

split between the other dozen permitholders.” One might wonder how Crelicamhas been allocated so much of thequota. “It’s a question we wondered our-selves at renewal time, which occursannually,” says Bob. “It appears thatour solid business plan, our two legiti-mate locations, and our 75 employeesare unique among the country’s otheroperators, who are hard to locate. Thecommission respects that and grantedour permit renewals.”

A Plan forSocial Investment Owning Crelicam and directlyoverseeing the milling operation puts

Taylor-Madinter in a first-hand positionto understand not only sourcing issues,but also Cameroon’s cultural and eco-nomic conditions. Bob and Vidal quicklyrecognized that the employees wereunderpaid, with their wages stretchedeven thinner due to the country’s highunemployment rate and the number ofpeople who relied on their support. AsBob and Vidal spoke with employeesas the new owners, they laid out theirvision for what the mill would eventuallybecome and announced that every-one’s wages would be doubled by theend of this year. They developed anaction plan for upgrading the workingenvironment. They explained how thewood processing skills they wouldlearn would enable them to add valueand get more money out of the ebonythey harvest. Currently, only raw ebonyblanks are exported from Crelicam,and the value-added work, whetherfor guitars or violins, is done in othercountries. “Our Cameroonian employees needto do that work,” Bob says. “We’regoing to start drying and processingthe wood so Cameroonians can sharein the processing of guitar and violinparts. Currently it’s not easy — we don’teven have running water. We don’thave electricity that you can count on,or a concrete floor that even looks likeit’ll support a machine. But one daythere will be machines making parts forour clients, right there in Cameroon, atthe ebony source.” To illustrate his point to the Creli-cam employees during one of his earlyvisits, Bob showed them video foot-age of the ebony processing work thatTaylor currently does at our factory inTecate. “As a guitar manufacturer I am con-fident that this can happen in Africa,”he says. “We can dry and process foursmooth, straight sides, delivering amuch better product to guitar factories.Just this simple operation will employ

more people in Cameroon, allowingthem to get more value from theirresource. I have no reservations aboutthe quality we can perform there. Andthe benefits to the clients are many,including less shipping weight andvolume. One day in the next five years,we’ll be able to go to the Camerooniangovernment and say, ‘For every ebonytree that comes out of the forest, weturn it into this much economy here inYaoundé and in Bertuoa.’”

Learning to Use Whatthe Forest Provides As Bob and Vidal discovered duringtheir early conversations with Crelicamemployees, the challenges of the ebonyoperation weren’t limited to the mill’s

shortcomings. The harvesting processwas another major issue.The company contracts with about

25 cutters who work in conjunction withCrelicam’s ebony cutting permit. “They go out into the forest, cuttrees using our permit, and we buy it bythe kilo from them,” Bob says. As Bob and Vidal talked to the cut-ters to better understand the nature oftheir work and the challenges they face,a more complete picture of the harvest-ing process began to form. For starters,they learned that it was an enormousamount of work to deliver the wood.Because the ebony trees closest to theroads had been harvested, the cuttershad to go deeper into the rainforest, onfoot, to get to the trees. Unlike loggersin the jungles of Honduras who usemules to remove mahogany from thedense forest, in Cameroon people carryit out. This has limited the harvestingrange to about eight kilometers (fivemiles) from a road. A cutter would getpermission to cut from a village with aconcession and hire a group of peopleto haul the wood cut from a felled tree. The cutters said another issue wasthe wide discrepancy in value betweenhighly desirable black ebony and themore marbled wood (featuring light-streaked variegation), also referred to as“déclassé” (lower class or grade) wood.Crelicam previously only paid a fourth ofthe black ebony price for the déclasséwood (about 8 cents a pound) becauseit was less desirable among their instru-ment-making clients. At that rate, thecutters said, it wasn’t worth all the laborto haul the déclassé wood out. Bob asked them how they deter-mined which trees were black andwhich were déclassé. They said theycut down an ebony tree and looked atthe wood. If it was marbled, they simplyleft the tree and moved on. Bob askedhow many trees on average they wouldhave to cut to find a black one. Theysaid about 10. Bob was shocked.

continued next page

Clockwise from top left: Bob with Crelicam partner Vidal de Teresa from Madinter Trade; Bob documents the

milling process; Bob shows employees video footage of the ebony processing work that Taylor does in its Tecate

factory.Opposite page: The interior of one of Crelicam’s ebony mills, located in Yaoundé, Cameroon


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17

It might surprise you to learn thatTaylor has been buying and usingwhat’s considered déclassé ebony fordecades. In fact, it accounts for roughly70 percent of the ebony we use forfretboards and bridges. The B-gradedesignation might be based on color-ation, wormholes, cracks or pores inthe wood. Our ability to condition thewood into a refined part resolves manyof the physical irregularities. Our Tecatefactory plays a vital role in this type ofwood processing, not only for guitarsmade there, but also for guitars thatwill be built in El Cajon. These stepsinclude properly drying the wood, andthen planing, tapering, sanding andlater shaping the parts by hand andwith sophisticated computer mills. While some other guitar makers userosewood fretboards for their lower-end models and reserve ebony fortheir high-end guitars, we use ebonyfor every guitar. One benefit of doingthis, beyond ebony’s performancesuperiority, is that it gives us a broaderspectrum for internal grading; in otherwords, we use it from the Baby Taylorto exotic Builder’s Reserve models. Though there may be some debateamong guitar enthusiasts about differ-ences in quality between marbled andblack ebony, Bob insists the differenceis just cosmetic. “There’s no difference in tone,density, the way it dries or anything likethat,” Bob says. “Although, one irony is

that worms actually seem toprefer the blacker

wood.”


Using Déclassé Ebony One other point that inevitablycomes up in discussions of ebony’scosmetic appearance is staining itblack. Other guitar companies havetried it. “I don’t have an issue with that —after all, we stain maple and mahogany,”notes Bob. “But it’s not easily done.For us, it would have to be a neck withno binding or inlays because the stainwould transfer to those materials.”

Enlisting the Support ofOther Guitar Companies As a new owner of Crelicam armedwith a deeper understanding of theebony situation in Cameroon, BobTaylor’s next step was to share hisfindings with other guitar makers whowere clients of the distributors to whomCrelicam sold their ebony. He puttogether a detailed presentation andpersonally visited companies includingMartin, Fender, Guild, Collings, PRS,Breedlove and others. He explainedthe realities of the ebony trade inCameroon and laid out the new visionfor the company: to provide ebonythat was sourced legally, ethically andsustainably, and over time to providethem with a better processed product.He explained Crelicam’s intent to usetrees with coloration in them becausea lot of the black ones had been har-vested. Ultimately, he invited them tobe valued partners who, together as agroup, could bring enormous improve-ment to the forest and communities inCameroon. “The 10 to 1 cutting ratio was illumi-nating to a lot of people,” Bob says. “Itwas the equivalent of showing a picture

of an elephant with his facechainsawed off

and

then asking them if they want someivory. Different people had differentreactions, but almost everybody said,‘Yes, we’ll use that wood, no pr oblem.’” Following Bob’s visit, Gregory Paul,Vice-President of Business Develop-ment for C. F. Martin & Co., emphasizedMartin’s ongoing commitment to thelegal and ethical sourcing of ebony. “There is no question that ebony isvery scarce,” says Paul. “Scarcity of anyspecies creates a trading environmentrife with abuse and illegality. Martinremains committed to sourcing materi-als from companies who clearly demon-strate that they do the right things forthe resource and the people to whomit belongs, all within the confines of therule of law.” One person suggested making theblack ebony available for a premiumupcharge, but Bob disagreed. “What will happen is people will just fight to spend extra money to getthe black wood, and that will work itsway all the way back to the forest, therewill be a price difference between thetwo, and we’ll be right back where westarted even though the numbers aredifferent.” Another person suggested thatas an ebony supplier, Taylor might beinclined to have two grading standards:one that set aside the black wood forits own guitars, and the marbled ebonyfor everyone else. It was a fair question. “I told everyone I was already theirgreat experiment,” Bob says, “becauseI make guitars out of déclassé ebonyall the time and have been for years.When the guitars are finished theylook great and no one thinks anythingof it. We’ll probably start to see a littlebit more wood with coloration, but wealready buy and use this wood.” Besides, Bob says, consumeracceptance of ebony variegation is

easier to achieve if it comes fromthe entire industry

together.

A related issue that Bob thinks guitarcompanies need to consider is the waythey have allowed their purchasing deci-sions to be influenced by people whoare removed from the realities of thesourcing process. “Some companies have their market-ing and sales people, who aren’t fullyaware of the sourcing issues, tellingthem what color their ebony needs tobe,” he elaborates. “And you know howthat happens? A customer — it couldbe a teenager — will call the companyand say, ‘Hi, I bought this guitar sixmonths ago, and it’s really awesome.But I was with my friend the other dayand he looked at my fingerboard andsaid it shouldn’t have that color in it.And I thought I was buying a qualityguitar, and now I found out you have alow-quality fretboard on there, and I’mcalling to find out what you’re going todo about it.’

“There’s always a friend involved,”Bob laughs. “Why that opinion? Well,it was born of the fact that for 100 or200 years if there was a striped treeand a black tree, we’d take the blackone. That same customer might alsotalk to his dealer, who calls the sales

rep at the guitar company and says, ‘Ihave a customer who’s really unhappy,’and the sales person tells marketing,and marketing tells the purchasingdepartment, who doesn’t understandthe wood sourcing issue, and the pur-chasing department says, ‘The ebonymust be black.’ And this all might havestarted from a person who buys yourlowest grade guitar. “Those decisions are made throughthis big chain of fear,” Bob adds. “Wework through a chain of confidence.We don’t bring fear up to the president;we bring confidence down to the cus-tomer. Part of my role in the ecosystemof guitars is for me to understand thesourcing issues and make a judgmentthat brings the most good for the mostpeople. A hundred years ago, I’d havebeen a totally different guy because itwas a different world. But things havechanged dramatically.”

This is far from the first time guitarmakers and customers have had toadapt to changes in the availabilityof tonewoods. Brazilian rosewoodand Adirondack spruce were oncewidely available. Aesthetic preferenceschange, too.

“Twenty years ago if there was sap-wood in a guitar, a dealer would sendit back,” Bob points out. “Now the treesare smaller so we use it, and we madeit a ‘thing.’ Some of our customers loveto request a cocobolo guitar with sap-wood in the middle.” Ultimately, Bob doesn’t think havingmore variegation in some of the ebonywill be a huge issue among customers.Dark ebony isn’t going away altogether,and companies including Taylor willstill grade so that the darker fretboardsare used for the higher-end models.And consider that when you look at afretboard on a guitar neck, you’re alsolooking at elements like frets, stringsand inlays. Besides, some of the varie-gation is truly beautiful. Anyone who’sseen some of the Macassar ebonyBuild to Order guitar bodies we’vemade in the past will certainly agree.We’ve also been setting aside ebony

with exotic marbling features for specialcustom and Build to Order guitars.(See pages 18-19.) As Bob reflects on the initiative inCameroon and the role that such com-munities in developing countries playin the ultimate success of companieswho rely on their resources, he reiter-ates the need for social responsibility inbusiness. “I believe that the best way out ofpoverty is business,” he says. “Peopleneed meaningful jobs, where they havesome say in their future. I don’t believethese problems can be fixed with char-ity, but I do believe that these peopleinvolved in getting our ebony cannothelp themselves. They desperately needa partner, as in us, who cares abouttheir plight and will use the business tobetter their lives.”Above: A sampling of

ebony’s variegation

Top down: Bob captures another step in the ebony milling process; L-R: Crelicam employees Vincent Lumpungu

Yakawumbu and Jean Paul Ndzié Mvondo. Top right: Pre-processed and banded fretboard blanks

Anne Middleton Joins the Team In March, Taylor welcomed Anne Middleton to our Crelicam opera-tions team in the role of Environmental and Community RelationsManager. Based in Cameroon, Anne is responsible for Crelicam’straceability and transparency of ebony wood (including FSC certifica-tion), legality (including compliance with CITES, the U.S. Lacey Act,the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and the European Union’sForest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade [FLEGT] ActionPlan), sustainability initiatives, building relationships with NGOs andcommunity leaders, domestic and international government relations,and anti-corruption measures.

Before joining Taylor, Anne was a forest campaigner at the Envi-ronmental Investigation Agency (EIA) in Washington, DC, where sheworked with industry and government officials to develop tools andresources for understanding and implementing the Lacey Act. Shealso helped build and sustain the Forest Legality Alliance (www.for-estlegality.org), of which Taylor is a leading member. Her educationalbackground includes a B.A. in Biology from Oberlin College and aMaster of Environmental Science and Management from the BrenSchool at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Middleton says she’s thrilled to bring her environmental back-ground into the business world and play a role in fulfilling Taylor’svision as an ebony supplier at Crelicam.

“For the first time in the industry, Taylor has taken a giant steptoward supply chain transparency by owning the source,” shesays. “It’s a huge challenge for us, but knowing exactly where thewood comes from and knowing that we’re investing in Cameroonand its people is as important to me as the quality of the guitar parts.What happens at Crelicam has the potential to have a positive andfar-reaching impact.” With Anne based in Cameroon, we look forward to sharing herregular reports on our progress at Crelicam in Wood&Steel and attaylorguitars.com.

“The United States Embassy Yaoundé is proud to

have provided assistance to Taylor Guitars and

its Spanish partner [Madinter Trade] during their

purchase of two Cameroonian ebony-processing

factories. We were happy to advise Taylor on the

business climate in Cameroon, introduce company

representatives to Cameroonian officials, and host

a dinner at the Ambassador’s residence in honor

of Bob Taylor. At the dinner, Bob met government

and non-governmental organization officials who

could assist with Taylor’s efforts in Cameroon. We

applaud Taylor Guitars’ efforts to improve employee

working conditions at the factories, and its determi-

nation to institute less wasteful and more ecologi-

cally sustainable use of ebony. We believe by foster-

ing Cameroon-U.S. business initiatives, we not only

improve income for American companies, but the

livelihoods of many Cameroonians as well.”

— U.S. Ambassador to Cameroon, Robert P. Jackson


10/19

Embracing Ebony’s Artistry Although black ebony has long been the reigning

aesthetic standard for fretboards in the guitar world,

ebony trees actually exhibit a diverse palette of colors

and character. Rich chocolate and caramel hues some-

times mingle with creamy wisps that sweep along the

length of a fretboard. Mottled patterns can r ange from

subtle variegation to wildly exotic marbling. Sometimes

the coloration is sparse and random, like the fretboard

on the custom guitar shown here.

Taylor’s commitment to eco-conscious ebony sourc-

ing means that as we move forward, both as a guitar

manufacturer and now an ebony supplier, we have an

obligation to use what the forest provides. Black ebony

won’t disappear, but over time you may start to see less

of it. We plan to use it more selectively, most likely on

guitars that have more inlay detail, like the 600 through

Presentation Series. On some custom guitars, we may

not want to add any inlays at all, as Mother Nature will

have supplied the artistic touches. In the end, we under-stand that people’s aesthetic preferences are subjective.

We also understand that, in the interest of preserving a

sustainable supply of ebony, the trees get a say in the

design process.

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not trying to compete on price. In fact,we won’t compete on price. We wantto discuss guitars, how they sound,what they’re made of, and how theydiffer. I’m not saying we pretend thatprice doesn’t matter, but anytime youget into that discussion early, you’re onthe wrong foot.”

In fact, he says, people often comein and want to talk about other things.

“Sometimes they use those reasonsto justify the visit, when it’s much moresocial than a fact-finding mission. Youdon’t have to justify it; you just have tohang out and have a good time. All weask is that you don’t scratch things.”

Johnston shared another anecdotethat speaks to the incredible impactmusic has on people.

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Just over 44 years ago, FrankFord and Richard Johnston foundedGryphon Stringed Instruments, namedafter the mythical half lion, half eaglecreature known for its watchful andloyal attributes. The store and its staffare recognized throughout the industryfor their extensive guitar knowledge(Ford and Johnston have written articlesand books, and Johnston is a frequentappraiser on Antiques Roadshow onPBS). In the early days, the two would

Johnston. “A customer came in and said,‘I want to thank you guys for giving mean opportunity

Documents

Wood n Steel Summer 2012