Counterpoint: Reasons why buying a new Tayor guitar can be a valid alternative

I discussed the reasons why buying an expensive guitar may not be the right decision for many prospective guitar buyers in this article linked here: 

Thinking of buying a guitar? Learn from my mistakes and misunderstandings.

However, there are some valid reasons why a person might spend more and buy a better guitar, and some of these are not necessarily obvious or intuitive. Also, I specify Taylor brand in particular because Taylor does some things that are rather unique and worth considering.

The following are the reasons that a good and more expensive guitar from Taylor may be worth considering.

How the Neck is Joined to the Body of the Guitar

The reality of acoustic guitars -- especially those with steel strings -- is that over time, the guitar body tends deform a bit due to the enormous pull of the strings when tuned to pitch. This deformation involves the neck block -- the structure through which the neck is primarily fastened to the guitar body -- which becomes a pivot point for the neck. Over time the neck pivots toward the strings slightly, causing a change in angle between the neck and the guitar body. This change in angle increases the action of the strings. In other words, over time, the strings slowly creep away from the fingerboard, thus making the guitar more difficult and less comfortable to play.

(This is why, in my own inexpensive Orangewood guitar, I use light strings (11-47) and tune the instrument to a standard-D tuning. Both of these actions reduce the stress on the neck joint and prolong the maintenance-free life of the guitar.)

The solution to this neck-attachment deformation is called a neck reset. This is done by separating the neck from the guitar body and modifying the neck-body joint so that the angle of the neck in relation to the guitar top will be straighter. This results in the strings again being closer to the fingerboard.

A neck reset is a major and expensive repair on most guitars -- if it can be done at all. Most expensive guitars have a glued-dovetail neck-attachment joint, and the body end of the fingerboard, called the fingerboard extension, is often glued directly to the guitar top. Both of these attachment points usually have to be heated to soften the glue, and then carefully worked apart. These processes are fussy, sometime pretty difficult, and time consuming. Then once apart, the dovetail joint must be carefully re-oriented for the proper neck angle. Then, finally, the fit of the dovetail tendon must be adjusted to once again fit snugly in the dovetail mortise. When that is done, the joint and the fingerboard extension are re-glued onto the guitar body.

On guitars of low replacement value, if an owner still wants a neck reset rather than getting a replacement instrument, a luthier will sometimes be able to reduce the cost of the reset by doing what is known in some circles as a kung-fu reset. This involves not disassembling the neck-body joint, but rather simply ungluing the fingerboard extension from the top and then just sawing through the dovetail tendon to finally separate the neck from the guitar body. That done, the surface of the neck heel is adjusted to re-set the angle of the neck to the body, and the neck is converted to a bolt-on attachment instead of a dovetail, and then the fingerboard extension is re-glued to the guitar top.

Unfortunately, some guitars are so difficult to reset that luthiers with not attempt it or will charge a premium. This includes some high quality factory-built Yamaha Yairi guitars from the 1970s as well as a few hand-built guitars by various luthiers around the world. In a few cases, the adhesive used might have been epoxy rather than the more common and more repairable glue options such as hide, fish, white, or wood glues. In other cases, the joint itself may be a design other than a dovetail joint. This includes a simple mortise-and-tendon joint, and some dowel joins done with wood, or worse, steel pins.

A final problematic situation is with some budget guitars, though they have an adjustable truss rod (which is a good thing and is used to adjust the curvature, not the angle, of the neck), if the rod is adjusted via the guitar sound hole, it may even be a very complicated process to do a kung-fu reset, and therefore expensive and impractical.

Taylor's Innovative Neck-Joint Designs

Enter Taylor guitars. In pre-1999 designs, they had a bolt-on neck design in which it was relatively easy to remove the neck. However, the fingerboard extension was still glued to the guitar top. So the technician would heat the fingerboard extension to soften the glue, and gently work a metal blade under the extension to un-glue it from the top. That done, it was a simple matter to loosen the two bolts from inside the guitar body to remove the neck. It was quicker and simpler. However, to then tune the neck-body joint to re-establish the optimal neck angle was still a matter of luthier judgement and skill.

But 1999-and-newer Taylor guitars have a fully bolt-on neck, which they call their new technology (NT) design. This involves two bolts to replace the traditional dovetail joint, and a single bolt to secure the fingerboard extension to the guitar-body top.  Better still, their manufacturing process is very precise, using shims inside the neck joint to create the proper neck angle. So when a neck reset is due, if the technician calls the Taylor factory, they will request certain measurements off the guitar, request the ID numbers from the original shims, and then using that information, send out new shims to insert into the neck joint. 

The NT joint eliminates difficult and time-consuming ungluing of the neck, while simultaneously reducing the time and skill required to re-adjust the neck angle. Beautiful.

So a major reason to consider a Taylor guitar is their precise neck-joint technology. Sweet!

Life-time Warranty

Many expensive guitars have a life-time warranty for the original owner. So when my 1998 Taylor guitar needs a neck reset or if a brace comes loose, for example, I will take it to an authorized Taylor repair shop, and the cost to repair will be borne by the manufacturer.

Environmentally-friendly Materials & Finishes

Taylor has been a leader in using alternative tone woods in their instruments. An example is using Ovankol or Sapele woods for guitar-body sides and backs instead of the traditional Rosewood or Mahogany. This environmentally-responsible manufacturing philosophy results in great sounding instruments without further threatening endangered species.

Further, Taylor has been a leader in innovative finishing processes. They use water-based finishes to eliminate hazardous organic solvents. These UV-cured finishes also provide an improved level of precision in their application, which allows for a thinner finish that yields improved tone.

Better Electronics

For those who prefer acoustic-electric guitars with in-built pick ups and equalizers, high-end guitars will have superior components that sound better and may be both more flexible and durable than their less-costly counterparts.

Taylor, in particular, installs their own proprietary pick-up systems, which have their own unique, premium sound.

Unique Bracing and Construction

Unlike some manufacturers that emphasize tradition such as Martin and Gibson, Taylor is constantly exploring new and better guitar design. Their most recent major innovation is a departure from the traditional X-bracing pattern on acoustic tops, and instead going to a V-bracing pattern. They believe that this innovation offers both better tone and volume without sacrificing structural integrity.

Solid Wood

No discussion of the benefit of high-end guitars would be complete without mentioning the benefit of a solid wood -- in particular, the solid, not laminated, guitar top. 

Sound preference is certainly subjective, and I, personally, find certain all-laminate guitars to have acceptable acoustic sound -- especially when rather lightly constructed and with a thin finish coat.  That said, it's hard to find many who think that laminate guitars sound better than all-solid-wood guitars, or even just solid-wood-top guitars.  Further, a well-maintained, oft-played solid-wood guitar will tend to sound better with age.

So those are the main reasons to consider a high-end guitar -- especially the Taylor brand. If you take care of your gear and plan to keep it a long time, it may be worth it to go high quality and go Taylor.