String Theory
Luthier Jason Taylor knows mandolins and guitars inside out.
August 06, 2009
“I hate to throw wood away,” says Jason Taylor with a laugh, surrounded by numerous wood scraps and partially constructed guitars as he strums a mandolin in his instrument shop. Taylor recently opened Red Mountain Music in Forest Park, where he builds and repairs guitars and mandolins. He also offers guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, upright bass, and singing lessons (with a focus on harmony vocalizing techniques).As a luthier (a craftsman who makes or repairs stringed instruments), Taylor has a deep appreciation for different types of woods, and his enthusiasm for the aromas and textures of various woods is obvious. “Rosewood and mahogany, they both smell amazing. On some of my early mandolins, I experimented a lot with woods, but now I build them more to traditional guidelines because people want a certain thing. I’m no longer trying to change things radically in any way. Brazilian rosewood is the ultimate, but it’s endangered. When you touch it, it has a different vibe. It’s almost like hitting a piece of sheet metal; it’s got a ring to it.”
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| Luthier Jason Taylor will custom build guitars, mandolins, and other stringed instruments. (Photographs by Brian Francis.) (click for larger version) |
Rosewood from India has replaced the Brazilian species as the coveted wood for expensive guitars, though Indian rosewood is not quite as visually dynamic. “There’s something slightly different about the colors that the Brazilian rosewood gets,” Taylor explains. “It can be orange, it can be black with reds and greens and purples; it can have all sorts of crazy colors to it. My favorite is the chocolate brown.”
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(click for larger version) |
Taylor started playing guitar at age eight after learning the cello. He built his first instrument at age 16 while studying classical guitar at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. “I had wanted to build a guitar for a while and had a few tools,” he says. A family friend had a carpentry shop in his basement and taught him the process. Taylor eventually moved to North Carolina to study jazz but soon found himself smitten with the bluegrass sound so common to the area. Today, his tastes lean toward bluegrass and “old-time” music, especially traditional Irish melodies played on banjo and fiddle. Taylor currently performs with local bluegrass band Back Row Baptists.
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(click for larger version) |
It takes Taylor about two weeks to build a mandolin, as opposed to five or six days to assemble an acoustic guitar. He charges around $3,500 for a mandolin, and $2,500 to $3,000 for a guitar. “It takes a lot of patience to make a mandolin; it’s a lot of work,” Taylor says. In comparison, retail stores sell guitars that range in price from cheap $100 models all the way to Martin brand guitars, which can go for more than $5,000. “By having a guitar custom made, the buyer is more involved in the creative process. You get to know the person that’s making it for you, develop a personal relationship,” he explains.
“You can choose your woods, the inlay, the style of guitar you want.”
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The most difficult step is the finishing, or varnishing, process. Bubbles can form if the shellac is not applied properly, which then involves further sanding and polishing of the instrument. Taylor says the varnish will affect an instrument’s tone, though how hard a player plucks the strings must be factored in, as well. “Whatever you put on the wood, it’s going to stop some of the vibration,” he explains. “If it vibrates a whole, whole bunch, you want a thicker finish [varnish], maybe, to lessen the vibration. But then it goes back to the player. Maybe that player doesn’t play as hard as some other guy, so maybe he needs more resonance, you know? That’s very dicey territory, especially when you talk about trying to change the little 1% details on a guitar.”
The most expensive instrument he’s worked with is a “mandocello” that is currently on display at Maralyn Wilson Gallery. (A mandocello is played like a mandolin, but the body is larger. The neck is identical to that of a standard guitar, making the pitch lower than that of a mandolin, with the eight strings tuned as a cello.) The SOS Children’s Villages, the world’s largest orphan charity, has agreed to purchase the instrument to add to their list of items available in their catalog used at silent auctions held around the country.
“When all is said and done, I’ll get over $10,000 for that instrument,” Taylor says. “It was all hand carved.”
Taylor does not put any brand on the instruments he builds. “I haven’t started using labels. Every one of them is one of a kind,” he explains. “Each will have a slightly different mother of pearl inlay pattern (on the headstock, where the tuning pegs are), and I’ll give the instrument a number . . . I hope to have 700 or so instruments made before I die, which is a whole bunch for one person to build. Maybe 400 is a better number.” &
Red Mountain Music is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 825 39th Street South, behind Zoe’s in Forest Park. For more information, call 907-5166 or visit www.redmtnmusic.com.
August 06, 2009
“I hate to throw wood away,” says Jason Taylor with a laugh, surrounded by numerous wood scraps and partially constructed guitars as he strums a mandolin in his instrument shop. Taylor recently opened Red Mountain Music in Forest Park, where he builds and repairs guitars and mandolins. He also offers guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle, upright bass, and singing lessons (with a focus on harmony vocalizing techniques).As a luthier (a craftsman who makes or repairs stringed instruments), Taylor has a deep appreciation for different types of woods, and his enthusiasm for the aromas and textures of various woods is obvious. “Rosewood and mahogany, they both smell amazing. On some of my early mandolins, I experimented a lot with woods, but now I build them more to traditional guidelines because people want a certain thing. I’m no longer trying to change things radically in any way. Brazilian rosewood is the ultimate, but it’s endangered. When you touch it, it has a different vibe. It’s almost like hitting a piece of sheet metal; it’s got a ring to it.”
|
|
|
|
|
| Luthier Jason Taylor will custom build guitars, mandolins, and other stringed instruments. (Photographs by Brian Francis.) (click for larger version) |
Rosewood from India has replaced the Brazilian species as the coveted wood for expensive guitars, though Indian rosewood is not quite as visually dynamic. “There’s something slightly different about the colors that the Brazilian rosewood gets,” Taylor explains. “It can be orange, it can be black with reds and greens and purples; it can have all sorts of crazy colors to it. My favorite is the chocolate brown.”
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(click for larger version) |
Taylor started playing guitar at age eight after learning the cello. He built his first instrument at age 16 while studying classical guitar at the Alabama School of Fine Arts. “I had wanted to build a guitar for a while and had a few tools,” he says. A family friend had a carpentry shop in his basement and taught him the process. Taylor eventually moved to North Carolina to study jazz but soon found himself smitten with the bluegrass sound so common to the area. Today, his tastes lean toward bluegrass and “old-time” music, especially traditional Irish melodies played on banjo and fiddle. Taylor currently performs with local bluegrass band Back Row Baptists.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
(click for larger version) |
It takes Taylor about two weeks to build a mandolin, as opposed to five or six days to assemble an acoustic guitar. He charges around $3,500 for a mandolin, and $2,500 to $3,000 for a guitar. “It takes a lot of patience to make a mandolin; it’s a lot of work,” Taylor says. In comparison, retail stores sell guitars that range in price from cheap $100 models all the way to Martin brand guitars, which can go for more than $5,000. “By having a guitar custom made, the buyer is more involved in the creative process. You get to know the person that’s making it for you, develop a personal relationship,” he explains.
“You can choose your woods, the inlay, the style of guitar you want.”
|
|
|
|
|
| (click for larger version) |
The most difficult step is the finishing, or varnishing, process. Bubbles can form if the shellac is not applied properly, which then involves further sanding and polishing of the instrument. Taylor says the varnish will affect an instrument’s tone, though how hard a player plucks the strings must be factored in, as well. “Whatever you put on the wood, it’s going to stop some of the vibration,” he explains. “If it vibrates a whole, whole bunch, you want a thicker finish [varnish], maybe, to lessen the vibration. But then it goes back to the player. Maybe that player doesn’t play as hard as some other guy, so maybe he needs more resonance, you know? That’s very dicey territory, especially when you talk about trying to change the little 1% details on a guitar.”
The most expensive instrument he’s worked with is a “mandocello” that is currently on display at Maralyn Wilson Gallery. (A mandocello is played like a mandolin, but the body is larger. The neck is identical to that of a standard guitar, making the pitch lower than that of a mandolin, with the eight strings tuned as a cello.) The SOS Children’s Villages, the world’s largest orphan charity, has agreed to purchase the instrument to add to their list of items available in their catalog used at silent auctions held around the country.
“When all is said and done, I’ll get over $10,000 for that instrument,” Taylor says. “It was all hand carved.”
Taylor does not put any brand on the instruments he builds. “I haven’t started using labels. Every one of them is one of a kind,” he explains. “Each will have a slightly different mother of pearl inlay pattern (on the headstock, where the tuning pegs are), and I’ll give the instrument a number . . . I hope to have 700 or so instruments made before I die, which is a whole bunch for one person to build. Maybe 400 is a better number.” &
Red Mountain Music is open Monday through Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 825 39th Street South, behind Zoe’s in Forest Park. For more information, call 907-5166 or visit www.redmtnmusic.com.
