I recently ran into my old friends, Bob Borbonus and Rick Fagan of Taylor Guitars. In the course of our visit, I mentioned that we would be performing at the Kennedy Center in Washington in connection with the events of Sept. 11. Bob said, "Why not use our Liberty Tree Guitar?". This is that guitar. It is made of wood from the last surviving "Liberty Tree", that was destroyed by Hurricane Floyd in 1999. It's age was guessed at around 400 years old. These trees were where early American colonists would meet and discuss details about the revolution and strategize. Bob Taylor found out that wood from the fallen tree could be purchased. He bought it with the idea of preserving some of our nation's history in the form of a few special guitars. They made a very limited number (400) of these guitars and they were all sold, with a portion of the money going towards the planting of new Liberty Trees from the seeds of the last one.
This example is still owned by the Taylor Guitar Company and is on loan to me..
For the full story of this tree and these guitars try these links:
Liberty Tree Link 1
Liberty Tree Link 2
The guitar has a top of Sitka Spruce and back and sides of Liberty Tree (Tulip Poplar). It is built on Bob Taylor's Grand Concert body style. I was pleasantly surprised by the tone, having never heard of a guitar being made of Tulip Poplar.
It reminds me of a cross between Walnut and Mahogany in it's tonal quality. The inlay detail is unbelievable.
Check out the pics above.
Thanks to Bob Taylor, Bob Borbonus and Rick Fagan of Taylor Guitars for giving me a chance to play this unique guitar and a piece of American history, in our nation's capital for a very special event.
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