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Photo courtesy Jackie Wonders Guitar Man Andy Powers E 22 by Robert Wald


very once in a blue moon there springs forth on earth a soul of true genius. Of Oceanside native Andy


Powers, 30, this can certainly be qualified. One only needs to check out the exquisite work generated by this young man to be thoroughly convinced. Even more note- worthy of his youth, Andy is recognized amongst his peers as a master in building the finest, most magnificent guitars in the world. Greater still, Andy’s spirit as a quality, humble human being is as deeply engrained in his soul as is his love for family, music and building guitars. For the past 20 years, Andy has been de-


signing and building custom guitars, uku- leles and mandolins under his own label, Andy Powers Instruments. However, Andy made a major career move when he accept-


theoceanmag.com


ed an offer from Bob Taylor of Taylor Gui- tars in El Cajon requiring full commitment of his creative energy in steering the com- pany toward new design and tonal frontiers. “I believe Andy to be among the most


talented guitar builders in the world,” Bob Taylor announced recently. “I’m excited to have him here at Taylor Guitars.” Tus, the torch has been passed to a new


generation of luthier. Before delving further into Andy’s work at


Taylor Guitars, it is important to retrace his life path to better understand his develop- ment from a young lad starting out in music to becoming the premier designer, builder, and performer of beautiful, high quality guitars. Te process Andy Powers endured on the way to becoming the man he is today did not come easy. Andy puts an incredible amount of energy and love into his craſt—


the code in making his guitars come alive. Special thanks to Jim Kirlin, editor of


“Wood & Steel”, a quarterly Taylor Guitars trade magazine for excerpts from his Fall 2011 article on Andy entitled, “Super Pow- ers”.


Background Born and raised in Oceanside, California,


young Andy Powers was nurtured by loving, open-minded parents who were hip to the advantages of home schooling. His parents are artists in their own right; his father a custom-finish carpenter who loves to surf; his mother a fine artist who paints, sculpts and arranges flowers. Both mom and dad are amateur musicians. “Both of my parents were always encour-


aging me to do things I was interested in,” Andy recalls of his upbringing. “Tere were


always musical instruments laying around the house—a piano, guitars, ukuleles--so we all played instruments. Since my father loves to surf he would take me to the beach with him, turning me onto surfing. He also brought scraps of wood home from his job for me to play with, and taught me how to use his woodworking tools. It just came nat- ural that surfing, playing guitar and wood- working are the things I love to do most.” As Andy gained further knowledge and


control in using the tools of his trade, his love of surfing led him to experiment in making surfoards for himself. Since he was also into playing guitar, he decided to try his hand at building a guitar. “I was 8 years old when I made my first guitar. It didn’t work too well, but I discovered the process of building a guitar was really fun.” During this early period, Andy’s dad encouraged him to


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