private instrument maker

Taylor Guitars

Industry Retail

A guitar maker selling acoustic and electric instruments, with employee ownership, repairable durable products, and wood-sourcing responsibilities. Taylor Guitars lands in the middle because ownership is comparatively aligned and the model leaves more value with stakeholders, but person-dependent governance and ecological harm prevent a stronger rating.

Why this matters: Durable craft products can score well only when sourcing and governance evidence support them.

Letter grade C Performative High confidence (AI) Rubric gcd-rubric-v1 Last reviewed May 6, 2026

Final Score 37* C - Performative

CPERFORMATIVE37 pts

* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.

Base Material43

Bonus+0

Cap66No structure cap

After Cap43

Penalties-6

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Evaluation Overview

C - Performative

The score turns mainly on Ownership, with the largest penalty coming from Reversibility.

Strengths

Ownership6/10
Extraction6/10
Labor Sovereignty5/7

Penalties

Reversibility-5
Ecological Harm-1

Evidence state

ConfidenceHigh confidence (AI)
ThoroughnessPartial (AI)
Linked claims12
Direct axis claims11
Coverage11/11

Scoring Axes

Axis	Score	Why this score
Ownership ? Control rights: shareholder-dominated at 0, worker cooperative control at 10.	6 / 10	Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. That places Taylor Guitars in the middle of Ownership: there is some mission, member, producer, or public-interest constraint, but decisive control is not fully democratic. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 125 scored entries below, 20 tied, 81 above on Ownership. Linked evidence Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. [1]
Governance ? Binding decision authority: centralized control at 0, democratic stakeholder control at 10.	4 / 10	Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 108 scored entries below, 18 tied, 100 above on Governance. Linked evidence context Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. [1] Taylor Guitars says it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership, giving employees an ownership stake while not documenting full worker cooperative governance. [2]
Extraction ? Surplus allocation, wage share, CEO pay ratio, margins, and structured extraction judgment.	6 / 10	Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. That places Taylor Guitars in the middle of Extraction: the institution creates real value but still leaves room for rent extraction, unequal bargaining, or surplus capture. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 115 scored entries below, 24 tied, 87 above on Extraction. Linked evidence context Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. [1] Taylor Guitars' employee ownership routes enterprise value from guitar manufacturing toward employees rather than outside shareholders. [3]
Labor Sovereignty ? Worker power: coercive conditions at 0, co-determination or ownership at 7. Employee dissatisfaction matters only when source-backed evidence shows concrete limits on worker agency, such as coercive scheduling, retaliation, wage theft, harassment, unsafe conditions, suppression of worker voice, or extreme turnover.	5 / 7	Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. That places Taylor Guitars in the middle of Labor Sovereignty: workers or participants have some protection or agency, but not enough binding power to control the relationship. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 152 scored entries below, 40 tied, 34 above on Labor Sovereignty. Linked evidence context Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. [1] Taylor's 100 percent employee ownership gives workers a material stake in the company, though the reviewed record does not show one-worker-one-vote control. [4]
Solidarity with the Unemployed ? Treatment of exits and nonworkers, including severance, redeployment, and non-competes.	4 / 7	Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. That places Taylor Guitars in the middle of Solidarity with the Unemployed: some access, severance, retraining, openness, or mutual-aid value is present, but it is not central or durable. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 127 scored entries below, 30 tied, 69 above on Solidarity with the Unemployed. Linked evidence context Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. [1] Taylor's sustainability work on tonewoods, ebony, and forests extends some responsibility to sourcing communities and ecosystems beyond current employees and customers. [5]
Loss-Bearing Fidelity ? Willingness to absorb costs to preserve values, workers, users, and public obligations.	5 / 7	Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. That places Taylor Guitars in the middle of Loss-Bearing Fidelity: there is some willingness to preserve obligations, but the record still leaves meaningful risk-shifting concerns. The value stays below the top tier because the linked record does not show full democratic control, non-extractive lock-in, or complete stakeholder protection on this axis. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 119 scored entries below, 43 tied, 64 above on Loss-Bearing Fidelity. Linked evidence context Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. [1] Taylor publishes sustainability work around tonewoods, ebony, and forest projects, documenting some willingness to bear sourcing responsibilities tied to its products. [6]
Market Conduct ? Pricing fairness, switching costs, lock-in, and rent extraction.	4 / 5	Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 106 scored entries below, 73 tied, 47 above on Market Conduct. Linked evidence context Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. [1] Taylor sells guitars through an employee-owned craft manufacturing model with published sustainability commitments for key materials. [7]
Product Integrity ? Preservation of quality rather than degradation for monetization.	5 / 5	Taylor Guitars centers product craft and published sustainability work on tonewoods and ebony sourcing, supporting product-integrity scoring beyond the employee-ownership claim alone. Taylor Guitars centers product craft and published sustainability work on tonewoods and ebony sourcing, supporting product-integrity scoring beyond the employee-ownership claim alone. That places Taylor Guitars high on Product Integrity: the core offering is genuinely useful and comparatively less dependent on traps, degradation, or harmful dependencies. A still-higher or maximum value requires stronger proof that this structure is durable, broad, and not merely discretionary. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 134 scored entries below, 92 tied, 0 above on Product Integrity. Linked evidence context Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. [1] Taylor Guitars centers product craft and published sustainability work on tonewoods and ebony sourcing, supporting product-integrity scoring beyond the employee-ownership claim alone. [8]
Scale Integrity ? Whether growth improves or degrades fairness and accountability.	4 / 5	Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 109 scored entries below, 81 tied, 36 above on Scale Integrity. Linked evidence context Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. [1] Taylor has built a well-known guitar manufacturer while transitioning to employee ownership and publishing tonewood sustainability projects. [9]

Penalties

Penalty	Applied	Why this penalty
Reversibility ? Applied when positive conduct depends on current living leaders, founders, family owners, or other person-contingent governance rather than durable structure. Range: -5 to 0.	-5	Taylor Guitars's favorable conduct depends partly on current leaders, founders, family owners, executive discretion, or other person-contingent control rather than a fully locked democratic stakeholder-control structure. Taylor Guitars's favorable conduct depends partly on current leaders, founders, family owners, executive discretion, or other person-contingent control rather than a fully locked democratic stakeholder-control structure. That warrants a severe Reversibility penalty because favorable conduct depends on current people or discretionary leadership rather than locked stakeholder structure. The value is near the floor because the conduct appears central, large-scale, repeated, or institutionally powerful rather than incidental. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 0 scored entries below, 95 tied, 131 above on Reversibility. Linked evidence context Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership. [1] Taylor Guitars's favorable conduct depends partly on current leaders, founders, family owners, executive discretion, or other person-contingent control rather than a fully locked democratic stakeholder-control structure. [10]
Ecological Harm ? Footprint, trajectory, irreversibility, culpability, and scale, including whether ecological harm is central to the model and continued after credible notice. Range: -30 to 0.	-1	Taylor Guitars publishes sustainability work on tonewoods, ebony, and forest projects. Calibration notes Comparative anchor: Column-spectrum position: 57 scored entries below, 7 tied, 162 above on Ecological Harm. Linked evidence Taylor Guitars publishes sustainability work on tonewoods, ebony, and forest projects. [11]

Bonus Credits

No bonus credits applied in this version.

Confidence Basis

Confidence is computed from the evidence trail and review state, not typed into the profile by hand.

High 82/100

12 verified linked claims 11 direct axis claims 0 disputed claims 11/11 components covered

This confidence label measures the source-backed evidence trail. AI-scaffolded scores remain tentative until human review.

Claim confidence 17/20

12 verified linked claims

Source quality 12/18

Best source per verified claim, weighted by institutional reliability

Direct axis-specific claims 14/18

11 direct claims across 11 active components

Dispute load 12/12

0 disputed claims on this entity

Recency 10/10

Newest accepted timestamp: May 13, 2026

Reviewer status 7/12

Human-reviewed components score higher than AI scaffolding

Component coverage 10/10

11/11 evidence-bearing components have direct support

Evidence State

Profile stateAI draft / human-pending

VerificationUnverified

ConfidenceHigh confidence (AI)

ThoroughnessPartial (AI)

Correction routeUse “Challenge this rating” for factual errors, missing counterevidence, source problems, or calculation mistakes.

Company responseCompany representatives can submit source-backed corrections; payment never changes scores or reviewer authority.

Claims and Sources

Claims are the evidence record. Each claim needs a source link, axis category, status, confidence level, and timestamp before it can support a score.

* Tentative scaffolding score. Not human-checked or final.

1Taylor Guitars announced that it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership.

Ownership Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 5, 2026

AI scaffold

Taylor Guitars employee ownershipOfficial self-description · 68%

2Taylor Guitars says it transitioned to 100 percent employee ownership, giving employees an ownership stake while not documenting full worker cooperative governance.

Governance Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Taylor Guitars aboutOfficial self-description · 68%

3Taylor Guitars' employee ownership routes enterprise value from guitar manufacturing toward employees rather than outside shareholders.

Extraction Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Taylor Guitars aboutOfficial self-description · 68%

4Taylor's 100 percent employee ownership gives workers a material stake in the company, though the reviewed record does not show one-worker-one-vote control.

Labor Sovereignty Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Taylor Guitars aboutOfficial self-description · 68%

5Taylor's sustainability work on tonewoods, ebony, and forests extends some responsibility to sourcing communities and ecosystems beyond current employees and customers.

Solidarity Unemployed Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Taylor Guitars sustainabilityGeneral web source · 58%

6Taylor publishes sustainability work around tonewoods, ebony, and forest projects, documenting some willingness to bear sourcing responsibilities tied to its products.

Loss Bearing Fidelity Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Taylor Guitars sustainabilityGeneral web source · 58%

7Taylor sells guitars through an employee-owned craft manufacturing model with published sustainability commitments for key materials.

Market Conduct Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Taylor Guitars aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
Taylor Guitars sustainabilityGeneral web source · 58%

8Taylor Guitars centers product craft and published sustainability work on tonewoods and ebony sourcing, supporting product-integrity scoring beyond the employee-ownership claim alone.

Product Integrity Verified High confidence Human-reviewed May 5, 2026

Taylor Guitars aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
Taylor Guitars sustainabilityGeneral web source · 58%

9Taylor has built a well-known guitar manufacturer while transitioning to employee ownership and publishing tonewood sustainability projects.

Scale Integrity Verified High confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 13, 2026

AI scaffold

Taylor Guitars aboutOfficial self-description · 68%
Taylor Guitars sustainabilityGeneral web source · 58%

10Taylor Guitars's favorable conduct depends partly on current leaders, founders, family owners, executive discretion, or other person-contingent control rather than a fully locked democratic stakeholder-control structure.

Reversibility Verified Medium confidence Human-reviewed May 5, 2026

Taylor Guitars employee ownershipOfficial self-description · 68%

11Taylor Guitars publishes sustainability work on tonewoods, ebony, and forest projects.

Ecological Harm Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 5, 2026

AI scaffold

Taylor Guitars sustainabilityGeneral web source · 58%

12Taylor Guitars's public materials state a mission, values, ownership model, advocacy role, or institutional standpoint plainly enough that this record does not identify penalty-level neutrality theater.

Ideological Disavowal Verified Medium confidence AI-generated / human-pending May 9, 2026

AI scaffold

Taylor Guitars official siteGeneral web source · 58%
Taylor Guitars employee ownershipOfficial self-description · 68%
Taylor Guitars sustainabilityGeneral web source · 58%

Alternatives

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Competitors

BQUALIFIED44 Ace Hardware retailer-owned hardware cooperative · same market BQUALIFIED43 Do it Best member-owned hardware cooperative · same market BQUALIFIED42 Dr. Bronner's private benefit corporation · same market CPERFORMATIVE41 Patagonia private company · same market CPERFORMATIVE38 REI Co-op consumer cooperative · same market DEXTRACTIVE34 Framework Computer private repairable-electronics company · same market DEXTRACTIVE34 Grove Collaborative public benefit household-products company · same market DEXTRACTIVE31 Costco public company · same market

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Audit Log

Recent public changes for this company or group. The full audit log is part of the Transparency record.

May 6, 2026 at 12:00 AM UTC ai-scaffolding toxic-products-assessment

Added tentative AI-generated Toxic Products penalty 0 and directory value for current toxic, addictive, pesticide, livestock, chemical, or consumer-safety product exposure.

May 6, 2026 at 12:00 AM UTC ai-scaffolding confidence-calibration

Rechecked evidence coverage and source quality during the evaluation-quality pass; confidence now reflects direct source coverage, complexity, and remaining uncertainty rather than score direction.

May 5, 2026 at 12:00 AM UTC ai-scaffolding ai-scaffolding-score

Added tentative AI-generated claim-backed score components for a previously listed under-review company or group.

View Full Audit Log