Taylor GuitarsReviews of taylorguitars.com

I recently experienced a second disappointing interaction with a CSR at Taylor Guitars. The first was a few years back and I did not report it. Anyway, I called in to Taylor Customer Service to ask about availability of a 'feedback suppression' soundhole accessory for my Taylor NS acoustic guitar. Many guitar soundholes are a standard 8 cm. or 10 cm. diameter. However, the soundhole on my Taylor NS guitar is 9.5 cm. So, I called to ask if Taylor could suggest a source from which I could acquire a feedback suppression soundhole accessory for the guitar. The Taylor CSR quickly suggested ... and I kid not, 'Just stuff the 10 cm. rubber disc into the guitar'. Wait! What? When I rebutted that this might not be the most effective or elegant way to accomplish what I was trying to do, he went on, 'Sir, I have a few other calls I need to get to.'. That was the end of it. Bob Taylor, what on earth are you doing in terms of post-sales support for people who buy your guitars? Therefore, this net TP rating of '2' is for the overall quality of the Taylor guitar build -3 for Customer Support - since you clearly care little about that aspect of the business. It is likely that my last Taylor guitar has now been purchased; there are many other beautiful guitars in the marketplace to consider.

In terms of build...the guitars are excellent, and play very well indeed. However, I recently (just before the pandemic) bought a 317e. After a few months a number of white spots showed up on the finish. I couldn't take the guitar back as the store was closed. I later wrote to Taylor and asked for their opinion. One of their 'experts' told me that he thought I had knocked the guitar against a wall and got paint on it, after I told him that it was below the final finish and definitely not paint. The dismissive tone of the email was quite striking and he clearly did not believe me. I took the guitar instead to a local maker of (very) high end bespoke guitars, and was advised that the problem was almost certainly due to a sloppy application of finish, which was not given time to dry before a new layer was applied. I found the same advice on a number of guitar forums. Taylor told me to bring the guitar to their centre in Amsterdam so they could review it. I live in the UK. To get the guitar to Amsterdam I would have to pay insurance and shipping at my own cost. I was also told that there is no Taylor agent in the UK who can both verify that I am telling the truth and correct the shoddy finish. The tone of the Amsterdam team was similarly disinterested and when I expressed disappointment I was just told 'I am sorry you feel that way' (the very definition of passive aggressive disinterest). I only really wanted some advice and perhaps some sympathy. My guitar is now a great advertisement of what you get when you buy Taylor...a great build which is let down by a sloppy finish and zero customer service. They seem to have expanded too quickly as there is apparently no longer any pride in their craftsmanship. Only buy Taylor if you don't care what your guitar looks like and have money to burn.