Taylor's Andy Powers launches Powers Electric and its A-Type electric guitar

Andy Powers, the guitar designer who leads Taylor Guitars, has formed his own electric guitar company, Powers Electric, a brand entirely separate from Taylor, according to a Guitar World feature published on 24 October 2026. The guitar is called the A-Type. Powers remains at the helm of Taylor.

At Taylor, Powers is known for V-Class bracing, Action Control Necks and the use of urban-harvested tonewoods. The electric project began after Taylor co-founder Kurt Listug told him to build the guitar he wanted. Powers made the first one in his home shop; when friends started asking for their own, he realised he would need help.

The A-Type is a hollowbody shaped by Southern California nostalgia and culture. Powers told Guitar World he wanted to keep the light weight and resonance of a hollow guitar while getting rid of the feedback that takes off onstage. Sound posts couple the top and back so they move as one structure, which he says dramatically reduces feedback. The neck joint is also new: a horizontally oriented dovetail, designed so the neck and body become a single mechanical structure.

Powers approached the design by imagining what he would have built at the dawn of the electric guitar in Southern California, with no parts catalogs to draw on, so he made every part himself. He compares the process to writing songs, taking ideas off his "mental bookshelf" and putting them together.