Taylor Guitars is an acoustic guitar manufacturer and was founded in 1974 by Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug. They had met a year earlier in a repair shop for musical instruments. Bob already had a lot of experience in building acoustic guitars and Kurt wanted to start his own business. This was achieved with Taylor as a professional and innovator and Listug was responsible for the business side. In a short time their company grew into a leading global manufacturer of high quality acoustic guitars. Today, in their ultra-modern factories (El Cajon, California, USA and Tecate, Baja California, Mexico) with more than 900 employees, hundreds of guitars are produced every day. In early 2011 the company opened a Taylor distribution center in the Netherlands to serve the European market. |
![]() Bob Taylor |
1974 - 1992
Halfway through 1977 a switch was made from a 5-digit to a 3-digit serial number.
The serial number has a 4- plus four more digits. For example: 4-1133. This system was only used for two years, 0001-1121 in 1991 and 1122-3152 in 1992. Example 960522434 The first two digits indicate the year. - 96 = 1996. The third and fourth digits represent the month. - 05 = May. The fifth and sixth digits are the day of the month. - 22 = 22th (May). The seventh digit indicates the model. - 4 = Big Baby. [0 = 300 or 400 Series, 1 = 500 through Presentation Series, 2 = 200 Series, 3 = Baby or Big Baby , 4 = Big Baby, 5 = T5, 7 = through 2002, 8 = 100 Series, and 9 = Solid Body Series.] The last two digits indicate the sequential production number for that day. - 34 is the 34th guitar of 22 May 1996. |
replaced by an 11-digit from January 2000 to October 2009. The coding is the same as with 9 digit serial numbers, only not the first 2 digits but the first 4 digits do determine the year. Example: 20080605812 The first four digits now indicate the year. - 2008 = 2008. The fifth and sixth digits represent the month. - 06 = June. The seventh and eighth digits are the day of the month. - 05 = de 5th (June). The ninth digit indicates the model. - 8 = 100 Series. [0 = 300 or 400 Series, 1 = 500 through Presentation Series, 2 = 200 Series, 3 = Baby or Big Baby , 4 = Big Baby, 5 = T5, 7 = through 2002, 8 = 100 Series, qnd 9 = Solid Body Series.] The last two digits indicate the sequential production number for that day. - 12 is the 12th guitar of 5 June 2008. Example: 1108137123 The first digit indicates the location where the guitar was produced. - 1 = El Cajon, California, USA. [1 = El Cajon, California, USA; 2 = Tecate, Baja California, Mexico] The second and seventh digits indicate a 2 digit year. - 17 = 2017. The third and fourth digits represent the month. - 08 = August. The fifth and sixth digits represent the day of the month. - 13 = 13th (August). The last three digits indicate the sequential production number for that day. - 123 is the 123th guitar of 13 August 2017. ![]() Taylor factory, El Cajon, California, USA |