Worship Musician Magazine May 2024 | Page 51

Circa74 amp would serve the worship market well and that [ WM ] Worship Musician would be a good way to reach into that community . He asked me to come down to El Cajon , CA and see for myself how they make the amps right there at Taylor Guitar ’ s headquarters and also meet with their sales team about the possibility of becoming a dealer . Well , how could I say no to that invitation ?
I flew down early one morning from Seattle to San Diego and was picked up at the airport by Monte Montefusco ( Vice-President of Sales for Taylor Guitars ). Well , that was a nice touch . Little did I know that by the end of the day after several conversations while driving around that I would have found a new industry friend in Monte . I liked him a lot .
It is cool to see the City honor Taylor Guitars . They are El Cajon ' s largest employer .
As we neared the city of El Cajon , Monte slowed the car and told me to get my phone camera ready … there on the side of the road is the Welcome sign to the entire city and there on the sign it has Taylor ’ s logo and states , “ Home of Quality Taylor Guitars ”. That is pretty cool .
I visited Taylor for a factory tour about 30 years ago and since then they have spread to several more large buildings . Between this factory and their factory across the border in Mexico they make 700 guitars a day . That is an incredible number ! During the Covid epidemic when everyone and their brother started playing guitar , Taylor had orders for 100,000 guitars and it created quite a backorder situation . Now , they have pretty much caught up with the demand . The logistics of keeping that many guitars processing daily with over 400 employees is staggering to try and wrap your head around . Taylor is also now an employeeowned company and the vibe from the folks that work there was really a pleasant one . I was impressed .
A classy touch - welcoming my visit there ...
When I walked into the guitar showroom and was meet with a sign that welcomed me personally , I said to myself , “ OK , another nice touch ”.
Monte signed me in and took me through the Just part of the spacious show room there ...
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