Does Taylor use scientific research in design?

I took the Taylor tour a year ago, but I did not notice an acoustic research lab. I know that guitar building is an art, but I was wondering to what extent does Taylor use science in designing guitars. I also didn't notice the use of such instruments in the building areas to ensure that less than optimal woods are not used and to "tune" each instrument to its optimal potential. I think that the art of lutherie can't be reduced to simple measurements, but I would think that it could be enhanced with such techniques.

The new neck attachment design (not the three peice neck which I don't like) is a step in this direction, as is the use of the computer driven cutting machines and the UV cured finish, but I would imagine that there is a great deal more that could be done expecially with regard to shaping the sound.

You know, creating a good steel guitar is an interesting combination of art, craft, and experience. Manufacturing copies of that guitar involves a bunch of science. Taylor has created techniques and designs which allow them to integrate the design, tooling, and manufacturing phases in such a way as to create an extremely high quality product at a reasonable price.

That said, I get the feeling that the overall designs of the Taylors are approached more from an art than scientific standpoint, and behind that is a strong emphasis on industrial engineering which helps work out the details in such a way that they can be mass-produced.

In the seventies, there was a line of "engineered" guitars created on science-based designs by Dr. Michael Kasha, Richard Schneider, as well as acoustic experts Adrian Houtsma of MIT, and Eugene Watson of Penn State. These were built around the theory that certain areas of the top radiate certain frequencies and thus can be optimized for these frequencies. Really solid acoustic research went into these guitars and some extremely efficient guitars were created. Unfortunately, the consensus of players was that they were "sterile" and "cold" sounding and the series of guitars fell flat.

Since then, it has been generally acknowledged that art and craft play a strong role in guitar making. Nevertheless, off in the back of the Taylor plant somewhere, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if there weren't a design lab with an anechoic chamber and audio gear used to try to quantify what exactly they've done when they make a great guitar. I bet they also can check the results of their devcelopment and manufacturing to check differences between manufactured product and prototypes. I bet it is kept private, as well.

Bob