Taylor 717e Grand Pacific Builder's Edition V-Class - Wild Honey Burst Reviews
With its unique round-shoulder dreadnought silhouette, revolutionary V-Class bracing, and dramatically different tonal personality, Taylor’s 717e Grand Pacific Builder’s Edition blazes new ground for Taylor. Featuring premium all-solid tonewoods — Indian rosewood for the back and sides and a torrefied Sitka spruce top — this alluring acoustic-electric guitar delivers a seductively bold and versatile tonal profile that is perfectly amplified by the onboard ES2 electronics. As your eyes drink in this instrument’s understated elegance, your hands savor its flawless playability while your ears revel in its warm, rich, organic tone. The 717e Grand Pacific Builder’s Edition is a feast for the senses.
Earn $175 back in Bonus Bucks† OR pay $73/month with 48 month financing*
$175 Earn $175.00 back in Bonus Bucks† on this purchase when you use your Sweetwater Credit Card without financing. Select your offer in checkout. Terms
As low as $73/month
with 48 month financing*
See all payment options
Customer Reviews
Customer Added Media
Sweetwater Reviews
Nate McClure
Share Your Thoughts
Help other music gear aficionados by sharing your opinions of gear you've purchased.
Questions about the 717eBEWHB?
Or call us at (800) 222-4700
Sweetwater's Sales Engineers are regarded as the most experienced and knowledgeable professionals in the music industry, with extensive music backgrounds and intense training on the latest products and technologies. They are available to offer you personalized product advice any time you need it.
Highest Rated Reviews
Love this Guitar
Sustain for days. The tone is on tact, and so easy to play.
The Holy Grail
The price is just a flesh wound, good sir knight.
What if you could find a slope shoulder rosewood dreadnought that sounded like a perfect intersection between a Martin HD28, a Gibson J45, and an 814ce, with more definition/note separation AND sounded exactly that way plugged into your PA & FOH? That would be the holy grail, right? Boom, meet the 717BE, I own 0049 and it is never leaving my sight for the rest of my life. The best acoustic/electric ever made. 50 years from now, THIS model absolutely will be a collector's item.
Holy Grail of Sustain and Intonation
Grand Pacific 717e … I own many guitars some of which are a Taylor 814 CE with the old Fishman Blended system in it. It's my workhorse. Well the frets are seeing a lot of fret wear, so I thought that would be a great reason to begin looking at another gig guitar. An acoustic electric. I have a Martin D41 that has the amazing warmth, but no electric capabilities at the present moment. So, enter the GP 717e. I love this guitar. The V shaped bracing is amazing in the fact that the intonation is close to perfect anywhere on the neck. Speaking of the neck, I love the compound neck as well... almost plays itself.
And the sustain is so pure with so many overtone harmonics that appear in each chord. Trust me, I've playing for 49 years. Get this, my wife even noticed. Acoustically, The GP falls between my 814
CE and my Martin. Not too bright but yet not too warm. I also love the finish… this guitar begs to be held, to be played. And yes… I'm guitar poor. But I think I've found the Holy Grail. Thanks Andy Powers. And thanks Sweetwater. Even get compliments of the case. Over the top.
Taylor 717e Grand Pacific Wild Honey Burst
I have not purchased a new acoustic guitar since 1987. That guitar is still in my possession however I wanted to add a new high end acoustic/electric. Everyone that I spoke to kept telling me you have got to try one of the Taylor V-Braced instruments. Well folks not only is this a beautiful instrument, it plays extremely well, sounds amazing, sustains incredibly well and the sound just projects outward in a different way. I can strum, finger pick and play leads flawlessly. And I am blown away at the setup from Sweetwater - my gut tells me Taylor guitars make it very easy for the Sweetwater team, I barely had to adjust the tuning and we are in the midst of an extremely hot/humid moment in the weather. I know that this Taylor 717e will be with me for a long time and I suspect that it will sound better over time as it ages as well. Thanks to Wayne Davis for helping me on this transaction - if you haven't tried one of these V-braced guitars do it.
Best Acoustic Electric I’ve ever played!
Beautiful guitar! My first Taylor! I've had similarly priced Gibsons and Martins, but this guitar beats them all, hands down! Easiest to play, sounds better, and this guitar is a masterpiece!! Couldn't be happier!
A Beautiful Guitar
I just received this Taylor 717e Builders Edition in Wild Honey Burst and let me tell you this guitar sings! It was hard for me to purchase an acoustic guitar with never playing this model, so I watched every video I could on these Grand Pacific guitars and I am so glad I followed my gut on this and went with the Grand Pacific. This guitar has exceeded all my expectations! Also, this guitar is more beautiful in person, the satin finish is awesome. I highly recommend this guitar.
Beautiful
The 717ehb is a quiet beauty. Impressive workmanship but not flashy. No brashness. Smooth and easy to play. The sustain is amazing. The intonation is truly there all the way up the neck. But it is subtle and you must have the ear to appreciate. You need a quieter venue. (I have not plugged her in yet.) I do not play her around those who don"t appreciate the tone. I use a Taylor GS Mini for the wild crowd. This is guitar is like my wife. Hands off! You get your own!
Martin + Gibson Killer
I was so enamored with curiosity about this guitar when Taylor announced its birth. It checked all the boxes I"ve been looking for in a guitar. Body shape, I was considering a Gibson J-45, but honestly couldn"t find one that sounded good. Color and bling, I"m definitely a looks guy at first glance and I"ve had some amazing pieces of art on the guitar front. But, with time, none of them pleased my ears, so they went to new homes. Engineering, Taylor just has it in spades and continues to surpass pushing the envelope to create new standards in guitar construction. Sound, most of all, having owned all the big Martin and Gibson guitars multiple times and thinking each time, they would be the one, and break in, sadly to say they never did.
I... played 3 of these 717e guitars and each one of them was super consistent and mind blowingly amazing. The tone of this model is what I always imagined a guitar could sound like. A conglomeration of the best elements of a Gibson J-45 + Martin D-28 + Guild D-55 all mashed together to deliver what I believe to be the most superior guitar Taylor has ever made. It"s really all that and then some.
As much as I have an affection for all the guitar pillars that have been around forever, I have to say that none one of them really ever satisfied me. Martins are always muddy and hard to hear note definition in the mid range. Gibson"s are sweet but lack low end and can sound tiny. This Taylor addresses all those short comings and manages to excel and improve in all those areas the others struggle with. I own a 1991 Taylor D-410 and it kills. I always wondered what it would sound like in Rosewood with a little more chime and bass and now I know. The V-class bracing is stellar. The 717e is hands-down my favorite guitar. Did I mention I liked it?
Great Guitar
I bought this recently and it has exceed my expectations, even though I heard so many positive views before purchase. It"s a new and unique sound for Taylor and it"s a beauty . I have played professionally for many years and I consider this one of the best and most versatile guitars I have owned. The balance is excellent which makes it surprisingly good for fingerstyle, compared to many dreadnoughts out there. The sustain is remarkable thanks to the V Bracing, and the intonation high up the neck is unusually good.There are many details which have gone into this design to make it special. You Tube videos don"t convey the full sound and vibe of this instrument. I highly recommend it.
Beautiful, innovative, and just plain awesome.
This guitar is truly a beauty up close. The finish is perfect and the spruce top is really sweet-looking with the burst finish. The dark accents bring the guitar"s looks together.
The sound is great too. The V-class bracing and the body shape brings out a really forward, meaty-sounding tone. It sounds like the sound resonates in waves. The body shape compliments the V class bracing perfectly. And it is so comfortable to play. I can"t say enough about it. I own an Taylor 814ce, a custom PRS Angelus, I"ve owned at one time a Martin, a higher-end Breedlove, and I"ve played many others and this 717e is hands-down my favorite.
It really is just plain awesome. Words don"t do it justice. Buy this guitar. You"re missing out and you will forever be missing out. Until you buy this guitar. I mean it. Buy it. (Enter excuse or reason to not buy it). Doesn"t matter, and you"re wrong. Buy it.
Amazing guitar, inconsistent finish
This Taylor is a joy to play. Really can't say enough good things about it. If you can find one with a well done, smooth satin finish, it will definitely be the guitar you reach for. The one I received, unfortunately, has a substantial amount of sanding grit trapped under the last coat of finish. I've played two at local shops that came out much better. One was completely smooth and the other had some grit, but not nearly as much as mine. They are quite variable in the attention they get at the final finish stage, which has a big impact on what you feel everyday when you put your hands on it. If you can find a smooth one, grab it!
Cigar Box Sound was right
I read all the reviews and most were good, but I saw that one that said it was a cigar box sound. I was a little worried, but went ahead and pulled the trigger and dropped 3 Gs to get this. Here was right, it has a real canny sound to it. Not robust at all. I love the look and the build quality but the sound just isn't there. Now I have this and I got a Yamaha red label that sounds so much better for half the price.
Cigar Box sound
Folks if your looking for Willie Nelson's Cigar box sound this is the guitar for you. I know what they were going for, the old thin body, cattle trail sound of the fifties. I fell for the advertisement that it was a warn cozy sound, but it does not sound like your stadium rhythm instruments I am use to, its too expensive to sound this way. Save your money, if you like this sound buy a cheaper model. By the way I own three other Taylor guitars, one Takamine, three Fenders, and two Gibsons.
