Podcast 143: Andy Powers of Taylor Guitars

Andy Powers is a force of nature. He’s a gifted musician, an avid
surfer and, of course, a stellar guitarmaker. As Andy tells us on
this week’s podcast, he’s always had the guitarmaking bug. In
fact, he attempted to build his first instrument when he was
still in elementary school and, when he was barely a teenager, he
had enough of a guitar repair business brewing that he earned
himself a letter from the IRS.


As an adult, Powers had a bustling business building archtops,
guitars, ukuleles and mandolins and doing restorations out of his
Oceanside, California workshop when he decided to switch gears
and become a full-time Taylor employee. At Taylor, Powers has
tirelessly worked on new lines and improvements, including the
Grand Orchestra model, revamping the 600 and 800 series lines of
guitars, the new Academy series of instruments and the GS Mini-e
Bass. During our chat, we talk about these models, the
recruitment offer he received from Bob Taylor, the state of
affairs when it comes to Taylor sourcing wood, his R&D
process and much more.


This episode of the Fretboard Journal Podcast is brought to you
by Retrofret Vintage Guitars in Brooklyn, New York.


https://www.taylorguitars.com
https://www.fretboardjournal.com