James Tyler is with doubt a guitar-making icon, but he's also unique in balancing a deep interest in technology with a commitment to a time-honored craft tradition. He uses automated processes to keep the instruments feeling and sounding just right when it's in his favour. The consistency of his instruments are the pinnacle of impeccable craftsmanship and decades of innovation. Combined with a superb understanding of woods and you have one of the most enduring luthiers on the planet. Tyler guitars play brilliantly, with flawless character, a wonderful soulful neck, excellent clarity and a strong, resonant voice.
James innovated the neck to body “Anchor System”. Traditional neck pockets can move during travel no matter how hard you tighten the screws. James knew this was a problem and set to task to rectify the issue. The solution was not difficult to engineer and has been very successful. James began using metal sleeves along with the neck screws. The sleeves extend both into the neck and body pocket. This innovation provided an extremely rigid neck to body union that added over one square inch of contact point, resulting in what we believe is the best neck to body joints in the business.
Each and every Tyler has its own unique personality from tone feel and individual looks just like a fingerprint. Tyler's meticulous craftsmanship and skilled wood selection make every guitar a wonder. His refined approach allows each guitar to breathe in its own way, unleashing the individuality of the wood and pickups.
James Tyler has been building world-class instruments since 1980 for clients including Michael Landau, Steve Lukather ,Neil Stubenhaus , Robin Ford, and Neil Schon. Word spread like wildfire through the LA session community that James was making instruments that played beautifully and sounded absurdly good, and soon he was building up a huge customer base of A listers and hired session guns. This began the era when the sound of the James Taylor guitars dominated the wave. One of the most iconic ubiquitous songs of the '80s is Michael Jackson's Billie Jean played by David Williams. The song's signature riff was the sound of a Tyler. Tyler guitars formed the sonic backbone of countless hits throughout the '80s and cemented James Tyler's place in the guitar Valhalla pantheon. The iconic '80s session Rats had a secret weapon and that was James Tyler guitars. Tyler guitars formed the sonic backbone of countless hits throughout the '80s etching is way into the musical history books track after track hit after hit.
James Tyler soon attracted the attention of Line6 and they recruited James to build their flagship Variax model. His contribution to the Variax line - the James Tyler Variax - is a truly stunning collection of guitars that can be used on their own without the need for Variax HD technology. History was made and the Variax was a huge success cementing a relationship that continues to this day.