Taylor Guitars has been crafting exquisite acoustic instruments for decades. From the materials they use to the attention to craftsmanship, Taylor guitars are regarded as some of the finest production instruments on the market. Much of that reputation is due to their commitment to innovation and pushing the traditional methods of building a guitar far into the future, which has never been more apparent than their paradigm-busting V-Class bracing. And every aspect of every Taylor guitar is designed with the player in mind. That is why you’ll find Taylor guitars in the hands of some of the preeminent performers, songwriters, and recording guitarists throughout the world.
Taylor is also well known for offering a massive array of guitars and instruments that each imparts its own sonic character and feel. High-end guitar connoisseurs marvel at the company’s stunning Presentation Series of instruments, with their exotic inlay work and deeply figured tonewoods. Players who are just learning the ropes of the 6-string acoustic guitar will appreciate the way Taylor has crammed custom-level appointments, playability, and tone into their budget-friendly Academy Series. No matter what level of Taylor appeals to your unique situation and tonal desire, there’s always a guitar that’s crafted with care waiting for you.
We have put this Taylor Guitars Buying Guide together to help you navigate the choices in design, woods, and electronics, guiding you to the Taylor acoustic guitar that will inspire you for years to come. Take it step by step, and we’re sure it will point you to the right instrument for you and your music.
What Taylor Guitar Body Shape Fits You?
The first stop along the way to finding your perfect Taylor is to choose the perfect body shape for you. Each design imparts your tone with a unique sonic character and feels dramatically different in your hands. Whether you’re looking for power and projection or harmonic detail and nuance, here you’ll find the general guidelines of what each design offers.
Grand Concert
The Grand Concert body shape is Taylor Guitars’ most compact offering. It is extremely comfortable for smaller players, while still being a great fit for everyone else. Sonically, the Grand Concert sings with a very focused voice that pushes each note out with very little low-end rumble or strident highs.
Grand Auditorium
Taylor’s most popular design, the Grand Auditorium is a marvelous balance of compact comfort and larger than expected tone. Its huggable design makes it an ideal performance partner. And the design’s depth allows the guitar to push a tone that’s balanced across the spectrum.
Grand Symphony
To maintain the sonic detail found in the Grand Auditorium while adding a bit more punch and low end, you’ll want to take a look at the larger Grand Symphony. Ideal for rhythm work, the Grand Symphony will project your strumming with ease.
Dreadnought
The iconic dreadnought acoustic guitar is famous around the world for its bold sound. This familiar design is sizable without being uncomfortable. And its penchant for a punchy and bold sound makes it a go-to design for strummers and flatpickers alike.
Grand Orchestra
For those looking for a large-bodied acoustic that boasts a pillowy low end, punchy highs, and a slightly scooped midrange, the Grand Orchestra is the body style for you. This is the most powerful body style in the bunch with an incredibly complex tone.
Choosing Tonewoods for Your Taylor Guitar
The woods an acoustic guitar is made from may have more to do with the guitar’s overall tone than most other aspects of its construction. They also have a large impact on the look and overall cost of the instrument. Below are some of the most common tonewoods used by Taylor, as well as a bit of what they bring to your new Taylor, both sonically and visually.
Top Woods
Spruce
Far and away the most popular tonewood for acoustic guitar tops, solid spruce brings a glorious balance of projection, articulation, and warmth to every guitar it’s put on. Whether you choose Lutz, Sitka, Engelmann, or Adirondack spruce, you can expect a powerful instrument with plenty of sonic detail.
Cedar
Cedar is also a popular tonewood used for acoustic guitar tops. In comparison with spruce, cedar offers a much more mellow tone — one that is full of warmth and harmonic information. It also has the uncanny ability to translate that all perfectly when played with a delicate touch.
Back and Side Woods
Rosewood
Acoustic guitars with rosewood back and sides are some of the most popular in history. Not only does rosewood capture your eye with its chocolatey grain patterns, but its powerful character, punchy lows, and crisp high end seem to make instruments really come alive.
Mahogany
Mahogany is another tonewood that you’ll find on thousands of acoustic guitars throughout the world. Its golden hue is immediately recognizable, and its mid-focused warmth has made it a favorite of songwriters and rhythm guitarists.
Figured maple
Primarily found on Taylor’s 600 Series, figured maple may be the most visually striking tonewood you’ll find. And because of the density of maple, it is also the most tonally transparent. You’ll enjoy all the character the guitar’s design offers, while hearing all the top-end information your playing style conjures.
Koa
Guitars crafted from koa have been growing in popularity. The tonewood is capable of extraordinary figure. That, along with the guitar’s caramel color, will take your breath away. Sonically, you can expect a centered tone with a bit of added top-end chime.
Blackwood
Blackwood is a great option if you want each note to sing with a bold top and midrange clarity. You’ll find this tonewood featured on Taylor’s 300 Series, combined with the warm ring of mahogany back and sides.
Ovangkol
This underrated tonewood shares a lot in common with rosewood. You’ll find much the same punching low end and clear top. But ovangkol adds a bit more low-mid information as well.
Playing Live with a Taylor Guitar
If you’re a gigging musician, we’d love to recommend one of Taylor’s acoustic-electric instruments (designated by a “ce” in the product name), outfitted with one of the best acoustic pickup systems in the business.
Taylor acoustic guitars have long been a go-to solution for acoustic guitarists who want natural acoustic tone amplified through an amplifier for PA. Their groundbreaking Expression System electronics allow you to plug in directly and nail that sound with minimal fuss. Better yet, the system’s low-profile design removes the need to cut a sizeable preamp hole in the side of your guitar, maintaining your Taylor’s structural integrity.
Another thing to look for in a performance-ready Taylor is a guitar with a treble-side cutaway. This feature, which many Taylor models share, allows you to gain easy access to the guitar’s highest frets, which is perfect for single-note melodies, solos, and expansive fingerstyle arrangements.
An overlooked feature of some acoustic guitars is the structural integrity that layered — or laminate — tonewoods can add to your instrument. If you’re a player who is on the road or needs an instrument that can handle being moved in and out of different environments quickly, this style of construction — found on the Academy, 100, and 200 Series — may be just what you’re looking for. And while they still sound fantastic, this method can actually save you a few dollars as well.
Which Taylor Guitar Series Is Right for You?
Luckily, Taylor has grouped their tonewoods and features into some easily understood series. The majority of their lineup consists of the 100 through 900 Series. Yet you’ll also find a few outliers that set themselves apart from the pack with unique construction techniques, rare tonewoods, or a very specific target audience. After having chosen the right specs for you up to this point, finding the right series is as easy as finding the one that boasts the features you need.
GS Mini and Travel
Taylor’s GS and Baby Series of acoustic instruments were intended for smaller players and beginners looking for a compact instrument to start on. But Taylor’s famed quality and the unique tones they produced have found them used by adults and professional musicians around the world. And their comfortably ergonomic bodies boast a full-size voice.
Academy
Intended as a wallet-friendly introduction to the Taylor lineup, the Academy Series has quickly made a name for itself as a more than capable performer and instrument for pro-level players as well. The guitar’s solid spruce tops a comfortable arm rest contour and delivers a quality tone and unbeatable playing experience.
100
The 100 Series sports a Slim Neck profile and pairs solid spruce tops with the sonic and structural benefits of layered walnut back and sides.
200 DLX
These guitars up the aesthetics with white body binding and faux tortoise pickguards. And you’ll find their spruce tops married to beautiful layered koa back and sides. And to finish of the guitar’s stage-ready looks, Taylor finishes them with full gloss.
300
Here is where you begin to find all-solid-wood construction. The 300 Series’ combination of either sapele and spruce or blackwood with a mahogany top rings with their own character and will age beautifully with time.
400
The 400 Series guitars continue the tradition of adding finer, solid tonewoods — in this case either ovangkol or rosewood — and paying more attention to ornamental touches.
500
500 Series acoustic guitars are all about the glorious tone of mahogany. Whether selecting an instrument with mahogany back and sides or one that even boasts a warm-sounding mahogany top, the 500 Series is where you’ll find it.
600
Taylor has put an exceptional amount of time tuning their 600 Series to bring the most honest tone and power from their beautifully figured maple construction. Expect more low end and character than maple has ever been known for before.
700
After redesigning their 700 Series, Taylor has come up with a rosewood and Lutz spruce combination that rings like a bell. And the luthier-grade touches, such as Performance Bracing, reflections inlay, and a Douglas fir rosette, will take your breath away.
800
The 800 line is Taylor’s flagship spruce/rosewood line. Everything from the Advanced Performance Bracing to the wood glues and ultra-thin finish have been optimized for the ultimate Taylor tone. And of course, the aesthetic touches have been kicked up a notch.
900
Taylor’s 900 Series features their most beautifully appointed acoustic guitars in regular production. You’ll find an ebony armrests, koa and paua abalone edge treatment, elegant Gotoh tuning machines, and Taylor’s ascension fingerboard inlay.
Koa
Imagine a guitar that carries all the appointments of your ideal Taylor, constructed from some of the most beautiful Hawaiian koa you’ve ever seen, then add all wood appointments. That is the Taylor Koa series.
Presentation
The finest Taylor has to offer. While not a regularly produced line, these are the guitars that show you what Taylor quality and the expert luthiers they employ are really capable of. Collectors, look here.
Taylor Guitars: A Legacy of Innovation
Innovation in a world as tied to tradition as acoustic guitar building can be an upward battle. But no company has been able to make such great strides as Taylor. Below you’ll find some of the company’s most groundbreaking and popular twists to the process that have helped bring them to the top of the industry.
V-Class Bracing
Perhaps the biggest shake-up to traditional lutherie Taylor has made is their V-Class bracing system. Bucking the trend of X-braced acoustic guitars, the V-Class system directs the sound across your guitar’s top to produce a louder tone with more sustain and will even greatly improve your Taylor’s intonation.
UV-cured finishes
While it may look like a typical, wonderfully applied finish, the finishes on Taylor guitars are anything but. A proprietary material, Taylor finishes are UV-cured, allowing them to be applied extraordinarily thin to maintain your guitar’s resonance, while still offering supreme protection.
Bolt-on neck
While extremely controversial among acoustic guitarists, the bolt-on design that Bob Taylor perfected has won unanimous fans around the world. The guitars are extremely sturdy, repairs to the neck are fast and inexpensive (a big win for you), and adjusting the angle of the neck couldn’t be easier.
A commitment to responsible forestry
One way Taylor is changing the industry may not be apparent as soon as you look at your guitar. The company is heavily involved in the research of, and use of, sustainable tonewoods, ethical sourcing, and finding new, plentiful materials to ensure a vibrant planet and your ability to enjoy top-quality Taylors for years to come.
More Than Just Acoustic 6-strings
There’s no question that Taylor’s line of 6-string acoustic and acoustic-electric guitars is incredibly popular the world over. But Taylor also makes an astonishing line of unique guitars and other instruments with features not typically found on your standard strummer.
Electric guitars
Taylor has been in the electric guitar game for years now. Their ultra-flexible T5 guitars — available in both 6- and 12-string versions — perfectly marry traditional electric and acoustic tones with the ability to blend the two to taste. You’ll also find their similarly shaped T3 electric guitars to be some of the most beautiful and sonically versatile electrics around.
Nylon-string acoustics
Throughout many of Taylor’s series, you’ll find gorgeous nylon-string acoustic guitars that will hold their own in classical, Latin, and recording performances.
12-string
When you need the jangle and full sound of a 12-string acoustic guitar, Taylor has you covered. And there are very few 12-string acoustic guitars that play more effortlessly than Taylors.
As you can see, Taylor’s ability to offer players a world of options while remaining true to their extremely high quality standards is second to none. But having options doesn’t have to be intimidating. We hope that you find this palette of possibilities to be as exhilarating as we do. After all, Taylor’s variety is a good part of why you’ll find artists as diverse as Taylor Swift, Mark Tremonti, and Jason Mraz keeping theirs close at all times.
It’s also why we’re sure there is a Taylor acoustic guitar for you. Hopefully this Buying Guide has helped you zero in on the perfect instrument. But we know you may have more questions. Our team of knowledgeable Sales Engineers is eagerly awaiting your call and excited to get to know you, your music, and which Taylor is the perfect fit. Give us a call. (800) 222-4700.