I agree that plywood is a better choice for the back of a hammer dulcinmer, but not because of the tone, but because of the structural reasons. That is not the case with guitars,mandolins,not jsut my opinion either.As to the difference in making guitars or marketing guitars, I would much prefer to make guitars myself, one at a time, individually, for an individual and apply my skill to a particular instrument,than to have my name on them, be setting behind a desk, being sure the bills were paid on time, concerned with all the employee regulations the government requires and all of that stuff that makes him(Mr. Taylor) a business owner and no longer a maker. Do you think,with the excpetion of the money they make, that Mr Taylor is still a maker in the sense of making guitars?His neck to body joint has changed lots of folks minds regarding the production of guitars, but that itself in part is from a production standpoint--that neck/body joint is basically a bolt on configutation-- lots of people including individual makers use that neck/body joint fro easier repairs later--