Bob Taylor is a legend in guitar circles and started making guitars at an early age, building his first as a school project. Thus he discovered his calling and has gone on to make guitars for musicians ranging from Neil Young to Prince. But alongside this passion he has built a global brand.
This is a thoroughly enjoyable story of business success with the usual early ups and downs. There are plenty of lessons to be drawn from Taylor's experiences. One came when he sawed the neck of his first guitar in order to turn it into an electric instrument. His parents encouraged handicrafts and so Taylor removing that guitar neck didn't seem like a bad idea. But he never managed to build it up again. It's one of his few real failures.
What shines through this story, though, is Taylor's humility. Despite fabulous success he refers to himself as "just a woodworker with dirty hands and jeans". It's a classic example of the entrepreneur's tale, elegantly told with an additional attraction for anyone interested in guitars. Best of all, it reads as well as one of his guitars plays.
