Bob Taylor is an American luthier

Luthier

A luthier is someone who makes or repairs lutes and other string instruments. In the United States, the term is used interchangeably with a term for the specialty of each maker, such as violinmaker, guitar maker, lute maker, etc...

 who has pioneered or helped develop many of the newer technological innovations used in acoustic guitar production today. His Taylor acoustic guitars are very popular among professional musician

Musician

A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....

s, and are used by Jon Foreman

Jon Foreman

Jonathan Mark Foreman is the lead singer, lead guitarist, main songwriter and co-founder of the alternative rock band Switchfoot. He started Switchfoot in 1996 with drummer Chad Butler and bassist Tim Foreman ....

, Leo Kottke

Leo Kottke

Leo Kottke is an acoustic guitarist. He is widely known for his innovative fingerpicking style, which draws on influences from blues, jazz, and folk music, and his syncopated, polyphonic melodies...

, Dan Crary

Dan Crary

Dan Crary is an American bluegrass guitarist.He helped re-establish flatpicked guitar as a prominent soloing bluegrass instrument. Crary is an innovator of the flatpicking style of guitar playing. He is also a Speech communications Professor at California State University, Fullerton...

, Jason Mraz

Jason Mraz

Jason Thomas Mraz , also known as Mr. AZ and Mr. Raz, is an American singer-songwriter. Mraz released his debut album, Waiting for My Rocket to Come, which contained the hit single "The Remedy ", in 2002, but it was not until the release of his second album, "Mr. A-Z", in 2005, that Mraz achieved...

, Prince

Prince (musician)

Prince Rogers Nelson , often known simply as Prince, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Prince has produced ten platinum albums and thirty Top 40 singles during his career. Prince founded his own recording studio and label; writing, self-producing and playing most, or all, of...

, Dave Matthews

Dave Matthews

David John "Dave" Matthews is a South African–born American musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band...

, Matthew Bellamy

Matthew Bellamy

Matthew James Bellamy is an English musician, singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the lead vocalist, lead guitarist, pianist, and main songwriter of the alternative rock band Muse.-Early life:...

, Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift

Taylor Alison Swift is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America...

, and Jeff Cook (of the country band Alabama

Alabama (band)

Alabama is a country music and southern rock band from Fort Payne, Alabama, United States. The band was founded in 1969 by Randy Owen and his cousin Teddy Gentry , soon joined by Jeff Cook...

), among others.

Bob built his first guitar, a 12 string dreadnought, his junior year in high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

. He was so pleased with the results that he built two more guitars during his senior year. After graduating high school, he went to work at American Dream guitars in San Diego, in September 1973.

While working at American Dream guitars, Bob refined his biggest contribution to the acoustic guitar — the bolt-on neck

Bolt-on neck

Bolt-on neck is a method of guitar construction that involves joining a guitar neck and body using screws as opposed to glue as with set-in neck joints. The term is a misnomer, introduced mostly by Fender whose guitars traditionally had "bolt-on necks". Real bolted joints are uncommon in guitar...

. His first bolt-on neck was a conversion (from a dovetail neck joint) of a Guild G-37. Now, all Taylor guitars use bolt-on necks, which allow much easier repair of neck-joint-related problems.

After several years, Bob Taylor and two friends from American Dream bought the company from the former owner, Sam Radding. They named it Westland Music Company; eventually to become Taylor Guitars

Taylor Guitars

Taylor Guitars is an El Cajon, California‐based luthier, specializing in acoustic guitars, as well as semi-hollow and solidbody electric guitars. It was established in 1974 by Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug.- History :...

.

Taylor Guitars has since developed a guitar finish that uses ultraviolet

Ultraviolet

Ultraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...

 lamps to dry in a few hours (versus weeks for traditional nitrocellulose

Nitrocellulose

Nitrocellulose is a highly flammable compound formed by nitrating cellulose through exposure to nitric acid or another powerful nitrating agent. When used as a propellant or low-order explosive, it is also known as guncotton...

 lacquer finishes), and also was the first guitar company to use CNC wood router

CNC wood router

A CNC wood router is a Numerical control tool that creates objects from wood. Parts of a project can be designed in the computer with a CAD/CAM program, and then cut automatically using a router to produce a finished part....

s in the construction of acoustic guitars.

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