All images and text copyrighted and property of Greg Gagliano.

FACTOIDS & TRIVIA

Late in 1974, Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug began making Taylor acoustic guitars in a small workshop in Lemon Grove, California. Taylor guitars were known for their slim, fast-action necks and bob Taylor's reputation as a master luthier spread quickly. By the early 1980s, Taylor needed to move into a larger facility in Santee, California and in 1990 the company moved to its current home in El Cajon, California. Throughout this period Taylor introduced several series of grand concert, dreadnought and jumbo size 6-string and 12-string guitars. Body woods used included maple, rosewood, mahogany, and koa. In mid-1990, Taylor began to use computer controlled milling machinery for the manufacture of guitar necks. This resulted in consistent quality and neck shape from guitar to guitar. Taylor's strength has been to use innovative techniques, materials and finishes to produce tradional looking guitars that will outperform the mass produced instruments of its established, better known competitors. The Model 555 12-string guitar shown is perhaps one of the easiest playing 12-strings by virtue of its superior neck. It is also one of the last to come out of the Santee facility.
 

TAYLOR 555 (1991)

 Body:  Hollow; solid 2-piece spruce top, solid 2-piece mahogany back, and solid mahogany  sides; triple bound top, single bound back

 Finish:  Natural, FullerplastŪ catalyzed varnish

 Neck:  1-piece mahogany, bolt-on; rosewood headstock overlay with pearloid logo

 Fingerboard:  Ebony, mother-of-pearl dot markers

 Number of Frets:  20

 Pickguard:  Tortoise, plastic

 Bridge:  Ebony with Micarta saddle

 Nut:  Micarta

 Tuners:  Schaller Mini, chrome

 Pickups:  One, undersaddle transducing

 Controls:  None

 Scale Length:  25 1/2 inches

 Neck Width at Nut:  1 7/8 inches

 Body Width at Lower Bout:  17 inches

 Body Depth:  4 1/4 inches

 Weight:  n/a 



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