In our builder profile this month, Musicians Hotline is proud to bring you this feature on the fastest growing acoustic manufacturer anywhere, Tacoma Guitars of Tacoma, WA.

MH: Leith, Give us an overview history of Tacoma Guitars and how the brand was introduced to the marketplace?
LA: Originally we were a division of Young Chang America, a company well known for piano manufacturing. They had a panel plant in downtown Tacoma WA, which purchased wholesale tone woods and made piano soundboards for export back to Korea. Tacoma was the ideallocation; one of the largest ports on the West Coast with easy access to high quality raw materials and a labor pool accustomed to working with wood.

In 1996 the idea to create an American acoustic guitar company was brought to fruition with the help of some key process flow and design personnel. Then in 1997 the first Tacoma Papoose guitar took to the market when the designs of Terry Atkins (formerly of Gibson Custom Shop, Hamer, Washburn) met with George Gruhn (guitar designer/historian of Gruhn Guitars Nashville) to create the offset "Paisley soundhole" and the concept of "Voiced Support Bracing."

In the late 1990's, with the Asian economy in decline, the company was purchased by our current owner here in Tacoma and we have been privately owned since.

MH: What is the vision of the company?
LA: Tacoma's vision is to offer the widest variety of voicings in our instruments so that a player can find the tone that fits them and their musical genre best, without costing an arm and a leg. Too many guitars sound the same out there and the Dreadnought has always been the guitar to rule what an acoustic guitar should look and sound like. We are here to shake that view a bit and offer a larger palette of tones to find oneself in. Musical styles are changing, and as a contemporary manufacturer I feel we have to be there with those changes to give musicians an edge on their style.

MH: As the fastest growing Acoustic Manufacturer, how has Tacoma established their brand equity, and come so far so fast?
LA: Acoustic music has been growing on a macro level since the early 90's, especially since Eric Clapton's first Unplugged appearance. Since then the acoustic guitar has made it's way back to the forefront of bands and has become a popular voice for the singer/songwriter genre with wide appeal. Much of our growth has been directly attributed to the popularity of the acoustic guitar, in addition to the increasing strength of our distribution and dealer network. We came on board with Guitar Center in 2000 and saw a lot of growth from their popularity as a large retailer and have been supporting our independent dealers in the same fashion ever since. Above all else, a great product speaks for itself. When a player finds that one guitar which speaks to them, it is like coming across a pot of gold.

MH: What do you feel is unique about how Tacoma Guitars are manufactured?
LA: While we are a manufacturing facility, I find that we still have the human touch which seems to get lost as soon as you start producing over 10 guitars a day. The only machines we really employ here are CNC for milling necks and bridges, the things that have to be the same from unit to unit. Every other facet of production is done by hand. We spray our guitars one at a time rather than by automation. We buff and sand by hand. We fret each neck by hand. The bracing and the kerfing is all glued in by hand and the guitar is set up by hand. We make about 10,000 instruments a year in this fashion, averaging about 40 units a day. When we can do all this labor intensive production and still offer a guitar for 2/3rd's the cost of some more well known manufacturers, I think we are doing something incredible.

MH: Tell us a bit about Tacoma's revolutionary offset sound hole design?
LA: The premise is this: 90% of the sound of an acoustic guitar comes from vibrations in the top. A traditional guitar has one primary weakness - the position of the hole. Think of it from an engineering standpoint - the soundhole is located in the area where the most stress is found, that is directly above the bridge. And the bridge is being pulled upward by the 180 lbs or so of string tension. By moving the soundhole to a low stress area of the top, less bracing is required allowing the top of the guitar to function more like a speaker's cone. It increases the performance of the top and also allows us to move the bridge more to the center of the soundboard and voice the guitar in a very unique way.

MH: Tacoma also utilizes a unique bracing system, and bridge design. Can you elaborate on these?
LA: The "Voiced Support Bracing" idea stems from what we learned about when bracing an offset sound hole. A guitar only really needs a certain amount of bracing in order to keep it structurally stable. Any more and you'll sacrifice tone and dynamics. We use an A-frame style bracing on our offset soundhole models and a variation on the classic X bracing used on traditional models. A few years ago we added to the X bracing with two cross braces along the outside of the X, and called it the "Bow-Tie" brace because it visually looks like a bow tie. The addition of just two braces keeps a traditional soundhole stable and rigid at the center while freeing up the edges to flex and move air - just like a speaker cone.

Our bridge design is asymmetrical and follows the logic that tone and mass are related. The bass side is larger than the treble side and the overall shape of the bridge is curved rather than flat. It gives the best response to each individual string, and balances the vibrations transmitted to the top according to the size and tension of the string.

MH: How many models are currently being produced, and briefly describe?
LA: We have two basic concepts in the Tacoma Guitar family:
1) Traditional soundholed guitars: Dreadnoughts, Parlors, Jumbos, and Little Jumbos, in both 6 and 12 strings.
2) Paisley soundholed guitars: Chiefs, Roadkings, Archtops, Basses, Papooses, Mandolins, and Baritone guitars.

Currently we have about 66 models in our line and we're shipping close to 50/50 of these two product families.

MH: Tell us a bit about the Tacoma facility located in Tacoma, WA.
LA: We have a 43,000 sq. facility to work with which houses all of our machinery and employees. Our import lines, Olympia Guitars and Orpheum Instruments have another facility conveniently located closer to the port of Tacoma.

MH: How many people are currently employed at the facility, and how many instruments are manufactured monthly?
LA: We have about 85 employees altogether and we produce around 800-900 Tacoma's a month and inspect, set-up and ship about 1800-2000 Olympia Guitars a month.

MH: Tell us a bit about the exotic woods that are being utilized, and specialty custom shop options available at Tacoma?
LA: We use a variety of woods - Mahogany, Maple, Koa, Indian Rosewood, Brazilian Rosewood, and Claro Walnut. For top woods we use Sitka Spruce, Adirondack/Red Spruce, Cedar, Yellow Cedar, Koa, and Mahogany. All in all, when you consider wood options, pickups and optional finishes, you can get into the hundreds of configurations. Right now we have about 66 active models coupled with limited editions about 2 times a year. We have added a custom shop and depending on what you would like within our existing body styles, we can custom build virtually any design you'd like to have. The best thing to do is visit a local authorized Tacoma dealer for pricing and availability - you'll find them listed on www.tacomaguitars.com

MH: Any special tooling or quality control issues that are utilized you feel are unique to Tacoma Guitars?
LA: Like I mentioned before, our uniqueness is in our overall product offering and the fact that we are doing large volumes in a hand assembled manner. QC happens at every stage of the process flow. We have the advantage of having highly skilled employees in each department, many of whom have been here since the beginning. We love what we do and take great pride in each instrument that leaves here, and I think that is directly accountable for the quality control level.

MH: Any new models slated for the winter NAMM Show?
LA: Yes, we'll have some surprises as always for our dealers. We are excited about our Baritone guitars because they sound incredible, and we are proud to have Nickelback using them on their latest album.

MH: What do you feel is ahead for Tacoma Guitars in the future, and how do you anticipate continued growth?
LA: I feel we have an obligation to push guitar manufacturing beyond the norm. Being the size that we are allows us to move and be responsive to the market. As long as we have a clear vision of what we feel the playing community needs, we can give them tools that perhaps they have never thought about before. We will continue to create innovative instruments and prompt musicians to expand their musical pallettes with our products.

MH: In closing Leith, What do you feel has contributed to the incredible success of Tacoma Guitars thus far?
LA: 2 simple things; A vision for a great product, and the good fortune to have great people every step along the way, from our loyal and dedicated employees, to the dealers and users who have embraced our design ideas.

Information:
Tacoma Guitars
4615 E. 192nd Street
Tacoma, WA 98446
253-847-6508
www.tacomaguitars.com

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