Taylor’s Exquisite 652ce 12-string Grand Concert
The Taylor 652ce is a superbly balanced 12-string that blends the comfort and playability of an electric guitar and organic acoustic tone in a gorgeous acoustic-electric instrument. Rocking a compact Grand Concert body with electric guitar-inspired contours, a 12th-fret neck join, and a shorter 24-7/8-inch scale length, the Taylor 652ce’s easy playability will appeal to electric guitarists. The first 12-string to join Taylor’s Builder’s Edition, this amazing guitar also features a reverse-strung setup like an electric 12-string. This emphasizes the fundamental note for a full, meaty 12-string voice. The tonewood marriage of maple body and torrefied Sitka spruce top, together with a hard rock maple neck, also channel the electric guitar experience with a bold, clear sonic signature.
Proprietary V-Class bracing helps deliver clean, focused, tone with articulate bass response. For guitarists who love to strum classic Beatles, Byrds, or Tom Petty songs on a 12-string, the 652ce is a great choice, and its amplified sound is supremely stage-friendly, thanks to state-of-the-art ES2 electronics. Elegant, yet understated appointments include mother-of-pearl Scepter fretboard/peghead inlays, a maple rosette, maple top and back purfling, gold Gotoh 510 tuners, and Taylor’s Silent Satin finish. The guitar ships in a Taylor deluxe hardshell case.
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Ideal for fingerstyle and tracking
For fingerstyle and tracking, Sweetwater’s guitar gurus favor Taylor’s Grand Concert body style, which gives you clarity and balanced tone that lends itself to layering with other instruments in thicker arrangements where a larger-bodied acoustic would take up too much sonic real estate. The 12-fret neck join gives this instrument an easy, relaxed handfeel, while the shifted bridge location dials up midrange assertiveness. This guitar’s smaller Grand Concert body and tapered waist not only make it a great studio and stage guitar, but its short scale and lighter string tension also make it easier to play — perfect for electric guitarists or younger players with smaller hands. It also makes for a more efficient design; the smaller body is inherently stronger, which enables it to be more lightly braced, making it easier to set the strings in motion.
V-Class bracing: a sonic revelation
Bracing is the internal framework of an acoustic guitar that helps shape its sound. Although X-bracing has been standard in acoustic guitars for over a century, it creates an innate conflict between two key elements of a guitar’s sound: volume and sustain. The guitar’s top (its soundboard) contributes to both. The flexibility of the top generates volume (projection), while its stiffness generates sustain. And with X-braced guitar tops, here’s where the trade-off comes in: when something is made stiffer, its flexibility is reduced (and vice versa).
V-Class bracing changes all that. With Taylor’s V-Class bracing, an acoustic guitar top can be both stiff and flexible — for more volume and sustain. V-Class bracing provides stiffness parallel to the strings for more rigidity and hence sustain. Flexibility on either side generates the air movement necessary for robust projection. It’s the best of both worlds. This groundbreaking innovation also improves intonation — not only producing notes that are louder and with longer sustain, but are also more in tune with each other.
The Builder’s Edition Collection
Taylor’s premium Builder’s Edition family of acoustic guitars is the brainchild of Taylor master guitar designer Andy Powers. Builder’s Edition guitars were created to highlight Taylor’s V-Class bracing system and to demonstrate Taylor’s most cutting-edge innovations. With a level of craftsmanship typically not offered on standard models, Builder’s Edition guitars provide players with an exemplary instrument that promises to inspire. According to Powers, “The Builder’s Edition concept is meant to be an expression of Taylor’s instrument-building imagination.” And what an incredible imagination it is!
Taylor 652ce Builder’s Edition Acoustic-electric Guitar Features:
- Contoured cutaway Grand Concert body
- Torrefied Sitka spruce top, figured big leaf maple back and sides
- Hard rock maple neck, ebony fingerboard
- Beveled cutaway, beveled armrest
- Curve Wing bridge with double-mounted string anchoring
- Reverse-strung setup
- Gold Gotoh 510 tuners
- Silent Satin finish
