Taylor Guitars

Since Joli is out of school this week, and Markus still has a couple days of preschool, I wanted to take her to do something that we wouldn't do with Markus. Now that we're taking guitar lessons together, I thought it'd be really cool to take the factory tour of Taylor Guitars! It turned out to be amazing!! It was an hour and a half long, and Joli didn't get bored until the very end, and then we saw the painting area! Of course we were both super excited that we could play the guitars in the lobby!

And by the way THIS is the guitar I want, but could probably never afford!

 They were all SOOOOO pretty!

 This is some of the gorgeous wood they had for some custom orders. They said it was brought back from Hawaii. It was just a log that was sitting on someone's deck, and they didn't want it! So pretty!

 The entire process was so fascinating!! These pieces they cut perfectly even and then fold open like a book so that the wood grain matches on both sides!

 There were some crazy machines.

 Here were some pieces that had been folded open and were glued together in the middle.

 They had laser machines that could make some amazing designs in the wood!

 Walking through the factory there were so many beautiful things to see!

 Joli was excited to see some colored guitars in the painting room.

 We were shocked to hear that they make up to 600 guitars a day!

 This is where the inlays are done for the middle ring.

 I thought this custom top was so awesome!

 Here we got to see the buffing machine.

 Joli and I had a blast hearing about the ebony used in the guitar necks, and seeing the different designs in them. It was so interesting to hear that Taylor Guitars had recently won an award for helping to preserve the ebony forests in Africa, and were the first to start using all the wood, instead of just the pure black in the middle.

 I think the ones with some marbling from the outside edges, are even more beautiful! I love seeing the grain and the detail! 

 Joli decided that she wants to build guitars when she grows up, and she especially wants to be the person who puts the frets in. She thought that was awesome!

 We learned quite a bit about the different pieces used inside the guitars to create different sounds, which was also very fascinating. 

 Then we saw where they bend the wood for the edges. We didn't get to see it happen, but the machine was really neat!

 Joli got to keep a piece that they actually use when gluing the guitar together.

 When we went downstairs, we got to see the detailing on the corners and what different options are available. These details are actually glued and sanded down by hand!

 One of the last steps in the edging process is putting it under a black light to make sure there's no glue on the outside, otherwise it will stand out in the painting process.

 This is where we saw the machine that actually paints the guitars. One at a time this big claw takes it and puts it under a spray to paint it evenly. Then it's placed under a UV ray to cure, and then checked for imperfections, before getting another coat, and then set to cure again.

 The last thing we saw was the electric guitar area, where they were building the wires.

 Then they installed them in the guitars.

 Finally the last detail, the strings!

 Each one is a work of art!

 We had so much fun!

 On our way out we were told to grab a few coasters, which were the cutouts from the middle of the guitars!! So cool! Joli and I each took four, and they said we could even have more!

 Once we were back in the lobby, we checked out the merchandise and then played with the guitars a little more. Since all the other people in our tour had left, we sat in the sound booth and played the songs we had memorized together. Some of the people working in the building would peak their heads around the corner, and just smile as Joli sang and played a little song. 

We hung out for a little while a played together. I was actually somewhat pleased that Joli was less impressed by the fact that Taylor Swift had been there, and more impressed with the beauty of the guitar. It's nice that she's still all about the music!