Taylor Guitars - Our Legendary Partners
Partnerships make life sweeter, and Shawn and I have been partners for over a dozen years. Good partners learn from each other, complement one another, and nudge each other out of their comfort zones into bigger and better things.
Partnerships in business can work the same way, and we've certainly found that to be the case with Taylor Guitars. Bob Taylor hasn't just lent us his manufacturing and sourcing expertise. He's mentored us in countless ways to make us better people and to help us build a better business.
Taylor Guitars are some of the most beautiful looking and beautiful sounding guitars in the world. And while they've been in business for decades longer than we have, our shared values of uncompromising design, superior usability, and impeccable aesthetics transcend time and are just as alive in us as they are at Taylor.
We are proud of the design innovations we have developed at Standard Spoon, and for our muddlers, we have looked to materials innovation as well. When Bob Taylor visited West Africa to source ebony wood for his fretboards, he discovered that only 1 out of every 10 trees was used for musical instruments, because only 1 out of every 10 trees was uniformly black in color. The ebony industry has, for centuries, de-valued wood with color in it.
When Bob realized that the only way to identify an all-black ebony tree was to cut down ebony trees until you found one, he knew that this massively unsustainable practice had to stop, and he's worked to change the story of ebony for the world. Ebony wood is still black -- and also comes with marbled gold, blonde, and chocolate whorls and flecks that transform the wood into a totally unique expression. Bob helped the farmers solve an ecological (and financial) problem of massive waste, and has helped us create an aesthetic opportunity for our tools.
Our Ebony is ethically harvested in Cameroon, and each one of our muddlers is unique. Some are the deep black that ebony is traditionally known for, and other pieces carry a unique signature of gold specks and even waves of color throughout.
The ebony muddler is ideal for muddling due to its weight, its lack of porosity, and its durability.
Ebony wood is very challenging to work with. Shawn Michael hand-turned these for the first few years on our lathe, and now Taylor's top notch team of skilled woodworkers and luthiers help to bring our design ideas to life right here in California. We are proud to offer possibly the most unique muddler on planet earth.
Having a great partner like Taylor Guitars has made us a better company. We are able to support a more socially responsibly and ethically harvested ebony initiative, and we are able to provide a magnificent muddling experience to our customers.
