All Guitar Vero Contest, Part 3
Day 3 of our trip was a drive to El Cajon, near San Diego, and a visit to Taylor Guitars.
Kendall and Nikke picked us up at the hotel quite early, and it was a good two hour drive to El Cajon.
A personal highlight for me was just the music and the chat on that trip, in both directions. We talked about many things, Kendall knew a lot about the area, and pointed out many landmarks as he drove; and Nikke played us some really good music, across a variety of genres, quite a lot I wasn’t familiar with, and definitely stuff I will investigate later. We talked a lot about Vero too, and where they see things are going for this relatively new social network.
When we arrived at El Cajon, it was 10 degrees hotter than Santa Monica. Just getting out of the car hit you with a sheer wall of heat. I was very grateful that day for the car’s air conditioning. We’d arranged to meet Tim Godwin, another of the contest judges and artist (development) director at Taylor Guitars, for lunch. An interesting fact I learned about Tim is that he knew another Yorkshire Brit, and as he explained that he was singing in a Joe Cocker tribute band, aptly named (if you know Joe Cocker’s material) ‘Mad Dogs and an Englishman’, I realised at once he was talking about Jason Feddy, an ex-pat, now living in Laguna Beach, that my friends and I used to go and watch play regularly in Harrogate Blues Bar. Small world, innit?
A lovely touch to the welcome at Taylor Guitars, was to see my name on the notice board as we entered. Pete went to work setting up his camera, and filmed a great deal around the factory as the tour progressed. The tour runs across two buildings on the plot at El Cajon. Now and again, as we ventured outside to look at the raw wood store, and as we crossed between one building and another, we walked back into that wall of heat. Phew!
Our tour guide took us around the factory and explained every stage in the development of guitars, from the raw material, to the finished products. I will save the rest for a later post, when I get chance to show some of Pete’s video footage too, I hope. I understand that Taylor run these tours daily, so, I f you are ever visiting the San Diego area, and want to know more about Taylor, how they make guitars, their processes end-to-end, and their sustainability ethos, I would highly recommend this tour, and especially so, if you’re a Taylor Guitars geek like me (link here)*.
*Update – Since the Covid-19 pandemic, Taylor Guitars has been forced to suspend its tours for the time being. I hope this resumes soon.
The last stage of the tour was a look at the ‘Guitar Gallery’. Taylor actively invite guests to take guitars off the wall, and try out as many as they want. I have to say, I immediately fell in love with a PS14, and had a jam with Kendall, who’d got himself one of the other V-Series guitars to play. My choice was a beautiful instrument, lovely to play, and certainly one for the wish list!
A scenic trip back to Santa Monica and dinner with Nikke and Kendall en route made up yet another amazing day. Sadly, it was the end of our time with our hosts from Vero, though we had another couple of days to roam and explore L.A.. What superb hosts, and I feel mighty privileged to have had their exclusive company for such a time. A trip I will always treasure.
Keen not to become merely tourists, Pete and I had plans for the remaining two days. Especially as Pete had a camera with him, we decided to make a music video, really as it seemed appropriate, as well as documenting the trip. We used Uber cars on the first day, but this was still a bit time-restrictive. On day two we hired a car, and made much more progress and covered more miles, heading off into the valleys where it was more picturesque. Again, you might get a clue from the photos, where we went. All to be revealed on video at some stage…. very soon I hope !
Lastly, there are so many people to thank: Nikke and Kendall, our amazing hosts at Vero; Tim Godwin and the staff at Taylor Guitars; Norman Harris, Michael Lemmo, Nick Dias, and the rest of the staff at Norman’s Rare Guitars; Mark Rivett and Dylan at the All Guitar Network; plus the ever-helpful and friendly staff at the Wyndham Hotel, Santa Monica On the Pier. Last but not least, my good buddy Pete Bennett, of Bigworld Productions, whose knowledge and good company were so invaluable, and our partners Claire and Alison, who keenly organised us both via FaceTime at strange times of the day and night.
Fondest memories made.