How Acoustics Are Born

Last issue, we joined Taylor’s master luthier Andy Powers to learn how skilled luthiers can make small-bodied acoustic guitars sound larger than life. As promised, we rejoin Andy this month to learn how he prototypes and tweaks guitars during the design process until a new model is ready to join the official range. Taylor’s recently launched, medium-size GT Series was a particularly interesting challenge, Andy says, because its downsized body meant he had to use new construction methods to unlock the guitar’s full potential, rather than rely on existing templates of how an acoustic should be built. But it wasn’t easy at first, he admits.

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