Taylor has unveiled the Next Generation of its flagship Grand Auditorium acoustic guitars, taking the opportunity to also expand the “heritage-inspired” Gold Label range with a trio of square-shouldered dreadnoughts – and launching a couple of super high-end 900 Series models for good measure.
Many players will argue that Taylor's Grand Auditorium is the Goldilocks acoustic, big enough to be a strummer, lithe enough in the upper-midrange to show up beautifully for fingerstyle, capable of all styles. And Andy Powers, CEO and chief guitar designer at Taylor Guitars, would agree.
“This has been a go-to instrument for a lot of players, across a lot of genres, a lot of different musical environments,” he says. “Because it’s that ‘just right’ size. It fits so many players, across so many different styles of playing, across different music forms.”
And it has just got better. This Next Generation run of Taylor acoustics improves upon their design in three different ways: it has next-gen scalloped V-Class bracing pattern, Action Control Neck systems across the lineup, and an newly designed Claria acoustic guitar pickup and preamp system as standard.
V-Class bracing was a game-changer for Taylor, and here it argues that it has just got better, lightening “key brace zones for increased top movement and responsiveness” – all of which translates into more “warmth and richness”, an enhanced low end, while preserving the same level of projection and sustain, i.e. that sort of pre-EQ’d mastered quality that made the V-Class bracing such a success in the first place.
“On these guitars, you have this incredible, brilliant, real vibrant upper register – great accuracy, great balance – and yet, when I come down to the lower register, all the notes have this classic warmth, a nice presence,” says Powers. “It feels great when you’re strumming chords, you’re a rhythm player, you’re accompanying a vocalist, something like that. It works really well.”
As the name suggests, the Action Control Neck system allows players to adjust the action via a simple adjustment via the soundhole.
The long tenon aspect of its design will make Gibson electric guitar fans' ears prick up; again, Taylor says it promotes “enhanced sustain, warmth, and resonance” – every little helps. It also should be said that neck repairs, should you need one, are a lot easier than if your guitar has a traditional dovetail neck joint set with hide glue.
“We want the guitar to be playing an optimum condition, no matter where in the world you go, how old the guitar is, what the environment’s like,” says Powers.
Finally, there's the Claria pickup and preamp, arguably the most intriguing Next Gen update. It is an under-saddle piezo design with the onboard preamp’s controls relocated to inside the soundhole.
Nice and discrete, it's a simple drive, too; players get a Volume control, a Tone control, and a Mid-Contour control that can dramatically change the character of your sound when going through an acoustic guitar amp or mixing desk.
These Next Generation improvements can be found on a wide range of Taylor’s Grand Auditorium models, with prices starting from $2,499 and rising to, well, serious money. The limited run Next Generation Builder’s Edition 914ce will set you back a whopping $6,999. But it’s the 900 series, that's the going rate.
The Next Generation models include the “entry level” 314ce, the 414ce ($2,699), the 814ce (okay, at $3,999, we’re getting serious), the neo-tropical mahogany and sapele Builder’s Edition 324ce ($3,299), the Indian rosewood and Adirondack Spruce Builder's Edition 814ce, complete with bevelled armrest ($4,499), the regular, i.e. no bevelled armrest, 324ce, ($2,699), the 454ce ($2,799) and 854ce ($TBC) 12-string guitars, both of which feature standard V-Class bracing, plus the Honduran mahogany and sinker redwood Builder’s Edition 814ce ($4,499, see above) and its Adirondack spruce Blacktop sibling ($4,499).
But Taylor is not finished for its New Year announcements. The Gold Label series, a range inspired by classic non-cutaway acoustics, reimagined in the Taylor house style, has been expanded with a trio of square-shouldered dreadnoughts, the Gold Label 510e, 710e, and 810e, prices TBC.
As Powers says, these Gold Label models are a change of pace for the company.
“It’s like players are stepping into a different musical skin with our Gold Label guitars,” says Powers. “Songwriters, bluegrass players, Americana players, rhythm players, weekend strummers, worship leaders, all kinds of different players saying, ‘Wow, I love this sound. This is a whole different face of Taylor.’”
Rounding out the new models are a pair of collector-grade 900 Series doozies, the Gold Label 914e, which has a non-cutaway Super Auditorium body, and the Grand Pacific 917ce, both featuring Adirondack spruce on top, Honduran rosewood on the back and sides, LR Baggs VTC electronics, and they are priced at $5,999.
For more details, head over to Taylor Guitars.
