Tonewoods & The New 600 Series: A Conversation With Bob Taylor

Starting with their first builds in the '70s, Taylor Guitars have never been afraid to embrace bold ideas. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the California firm's selection of tonewoods and its ongoing efforts to ensure continued sustainability of the world's forests.

This year Taylor overhauled their 600 Series of acoustic flattops, using Maple back and sides to reveal the true musicality of this lesser-used guitar wood. While Maple has long been used for the bodies of cellos, violins and fine archtop guitars, its reputation for overly bright tones and limited sustain have kept it from being more widely used with flattop acoustics. Master luthier Andy Powers and the Taylor team took this as a challenge, crafting a new design that accentuates the innate musical qualities of the wood.

Maple is widely available in North America, which is another reason for its use. A priority for Bob Taylor and his team was to build a stellar instrument using materials with less negative environmental impact than traditional Mahogany or Rosewood. But this is not the first instance of Taylor doing its part to increase sustainable on a global scale. A few years back, Taylor led an effort to purchase an Ebony mill in Cameroon. The company soon changed the landscape of the Ebony market by paying the same price for lumber with light coloration as pure black specimens.

We recently had a chance to pose some questions to Bob and Andy from Taylor about the updated 600 Series and guitar woods in general. Watch the video interview above and click below for your chance to win a new Taylor 612ce.

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