Taylor Ukulele's...Some New (or not new) Info :)

Hey everyone, have some info for everyone that is interested in the Taylor ukuleles.

I just spent the past few days out at the Taylor Guitar factory. They do something really cool for dealers, they bring us out to the factory for a few days for what they call Taylor University. During our time there we go over almost everything about Taylor, take a very extensive factory tour, talk to guys who do the designing, and my favorite part chat with Andy Powers.

I'll just talk about the Ukuleles. I talked to Andy for a little bit about ukes, and they are going to be making production ukes, and I asked about other sizes, Yes there will be other sizes not just Tenor. When will these be out??? Don't hold your breath They will not release them until they are completely designed and happy with them. They've built 80 total ukes for the public so far. 30 Koa, and 50 Mahogany, which Andy assured me were 100% hand built in his shop, no bolt on necks either. While getting a tour of Andy's shop (sorry, that area is off limits for photos) I saw an ukulele neck on the bench, which was set up for a bolt on neck.

So in short everyone who is speculating about Taylor's ukes, they will be coming out just not soon. They will have more sizes available, but not soon. As they said numerous times this past week, Taylor isn't interested in doing something just to jump on a band wagon. If they are going to do it they will do it right. And having Andy Powers on their team I'm completely confident they will be great ukes when they come out

P.S. I get people asking me if I can sell our Taylor ukes separate of the guitars, Yes I can, if you have someone that will buy the guitar at the same time

Aloha Aaron,
Howzit Bruddah...how you been buddy....I'd be intrested to see and hear what they have to offer...and at what price range...I rarely buy ukes from luthiers that have
just started building ukuleles....but the you never know factor that intrigues me...what can I say, I'm ukulele nosey.. hee hee

Thanks Aaron.
As an owner of 4 Taylors, I am anxious to see the production ukes, whenever that may be. I'll try to be patient. Since I know Taylor pretty well, I can say that I'm sure whenever they do come out, they will be a quality uke.

mm stan said:

Aloha Aaron,
Howzit Bruddah...how you been buddy....I'd be intrested to see and hear what they have to offer...and at what price range...I rarely buy ukes from luthiers that have
just started building ukuleles....but the you never know factor that intrigues me...what can I say, I'm ukulele nosey.. hee hee

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Cool thing is Stan, it's not really going to be a "new" uke. Andy Powers (who has been building ukes for around 20 years now) is the head luthier at Taylor now and is the one building/designing the ukuleles They are great!

Yeah, I don't think they'll have any problems selling it especially if it's around the same price or slightly higher than Collings. I think the guitar makers ie. Rick Turner, Collings, coming into the ukulele world has raised the overall quality. Of course there were already high quality instruments but as a consumer, I like to have many options.

I too would be interested in a Taylor uke. They will probably be pretty pricey, tho' knowing Andy Powers they will be nice.

I'm going to an event in April that he will be at so I'll see about asking him about the ukes.

BigSkyUkuleleGirl said:

I too would be interested in a Taylor uke. They will probably be pretty pricey, tho' knowing Andy Powers they will be nice.

I'm going to an event in April that he will be at so I'll see about asking him about the ukes.

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Andy is a great guy. Got to sit with him at lunch a couple days, and talk to him for awhile. Really down to earth, nice, and loves building/designing instruments. We got into a discussion about tap tuning and run out on guitar tops, fun times

I've got 3 of the Taylor ukes in my shop right now. Would love to own one of them.

Yes, Andy is a nice guy and a great luthier.

btw, Both Taylor BR-IV (koa) and BR-VII (mahogany) ukes are great.

I had a chance recently to play the mahogany Taylor ukulele while visiting a dealer and was very impressed. It was well made and played and sounded great. That being said, price point would determine whether or not I would be interested since there are so many small custom shops building wonderful instruments at reasonable prices.

Mitch