Our thoughts and prayers have been with the residents of the East Coast in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. We’ve reached out to dealers, fans and friends of Taylor to check on their health and welfare. If you have an account you’d like to share with us, please do: http://www.taylorguitars.com/taylor-stories

Superstorm Sandy devastated the East Coast last week, leaving a path of destruction like no other storm before it. We were relatively lucky in the Atlantic City, New Jersey region, since the eye of the hurricane passed over us and spared us the non-stop winds and torrential rain that afflicted the areas farther north. We did, however, suffer two high-tide storm surges that reached record heights. We were without heat or electricity for four days, and banned from returning home for five days. My music studio, a converted garage, took in an estimated six inches of flood water.

When I finally returned home I discovered my Taylor 414ce in its case under my piano, sitting on soaking wet carpeting. You can see me in the picture pointing to the estimated water line on the paneling, compared to the height of my guitar case.

When I finally had the nerve to open my guitar case, I was stunned to see the guitar fully intact, neck straight, and the wood in perfect shape! The inside of the case, despite sitting in water or on wet carpeting for four days, was bone dry. And much to my surprise, the guitar was still in tune! I haven’t been able to check the electronics yet since I lost four amps in the flood, but that is a relatively easy fix if necessary. 

Needless to say, my guitar has a new name. Here’s hoping “Sandy” is with me for a long, long time. I promise to keep her dry in the future.

Submitted by: Dan Pittaro