Taylor’s Gold Label Goes Grand Pacific
Taylor’s time-turning Gold Label Collection ventures into more attainable territory with the Gold Label 817e acoustic-electric guitar. It boasts a unique deep-body rendition of Taylor’s Grand Pacific shape, structured at the back and sides with rosewood for a sonic disposition that’s incredibly deep, rich, and musical. A torrefied Sitka spruce top and Honduran rosewood back and sides only compound the 817e’s old-school character with muscular lows, full-bodied highs, and the dynamic sensitivity of a perfectly played-in instrument. Plus, the 817e’s neotropical mahogany neck with Standard carve, 15-inch-radius ebony fingerboard, and LR Baggs Element VTC electronics retain the effortless playability and stage-ready sound that have cemented Taylor as the benchmark for modern acoustic-electric performance. A smattering of charmingly old-school cosmetics rounds out the Gold Label 817e with golden-era style, including a revamped headstock shape, a handsome script logo, and “Continental” inlays.
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Gold Label Collection’s latest addition
For much of Taylor’s half-century history, the brand has been a beacon of 6-string progress. From their innovative advancements in bracing to their time-tested bolt-on neck joint, Bob Taylor, Andy Powers, and the rest of the Taylor crew lay claim to many of the most lauded acoustic enhancements since the prewar era of acoustic guitar building. However, what if Taylor were to turn back the clock to the 1930s and 1940s, incorporating the most cherished elements of those trailblazing instruments with its boundary-pushing approach to guitar building? That’s the philosophy behind Taylor’s Gold Label Collection, within which a deep-bodied version of its round-shouldered dreadnought — the Grand Pacific — adopts new fanned V-Class bracing and an Action Control Neck with a long-tenon neck joint.
Those traits are only the beginning of the Gold Label Collection’s golden-era appointments, as their distinct aesthetic personalities showcase a fresh new headstock shape, a reimagined Taylor logo, a Curve Wing bridge, a Crest headstock inlay, and (of course) a golden label laid into the soundhole. The result is a stunning series of instruments that proudly borrows both sonically and visually from the age of prewar flat tops, mandolins, banjos, and archtops, then elevates it with over 50 years of Taylor’s uncompromising and cutting-edge approach to acoustic craftsmanship.
World-class tonewoods abound
Capturing the complex voice of a vintage golden-era acoustic guitar is no simple task. Even with the world’s finest tonewoods, brand-new instruments often require years of playing to match the level of response of a 6-string that’s been strummed for decades. To speed up the process, the Taylor Gold Label 817e wears a Sitka spruce top that’s been subject to the brand’s torrefaction process — in essence, a form of roasting that transforms the very structure of the timber. The benefits of this process are by no means limited to vintage-obsessed guitarists, and scores of Sweetwater’s Taylor fans of all backgrounds have come to favor torrefied tops for their warmer voice and smoother, “aged-in” character. Complete with a set of Honduran rosewood back and sides, the Gold Label 817e dishes out a serious level of low-end depth and harmonic density that recalls the greatest guitars of the 1930s and 1940s.
Voiced with the LR Baggs VTC system
LR Baggs VTC electronics capture the kind of amplified acoustic tone you’d expect from a world-class audio engineer working overtime. At the core of the VTC system lies an LR Baggs Element pickup with Tone and Volume controls — a unique build that tracks the guitar top’s vibrations instead of string attack. VTC technology saturates amplified tone with extra harmonic content and analog warmth that sounds natural yet is noticeably better than a standard acoustic pickup. Additional dynamic automatic EQ handles problematic frequencies as they arise with touch-sensitive compression that works with your playing for a more authentic amplified tone that’s tough to beat.
Taylor Gold Label 817e Features:
- A collection of instruments inspired by the sights and sounds of the golden-era flat-top guitars of the 1930s and 1940s
- Deepened Grand Pacific body style offers a more traditional feel for Taylor’s standout round-shouldered dreadnought
- Torrefied Sitka spruce top delivers an ultra-responsive, broken-in sound from the moment it leaves the case
- Honduran rosewood back and sides dish out chest-thumping low end and full-bodied highs
- Fanned V-Class bracing (installed with traditional hot hide glue) complements this guitar’s golden-era character with superior volume and enhanced sustain
- Long-tenon wood joint combines Taylor’s cutting-edge bolt-on system with historic craftsmanship, resulting in greater wood-to-wood coupling and bolstered low-end resonance
- Neotropical mahogany neck with the fan-favorite Standard carve maintains the modern playability that guitarists have come to expect from Taylor
- 15-in.-radius Crelicam ebony fingerboard plays with a smoothness and superb sustain
- LR Baggs Element VTC electronics system faithfully captures this guitar’s unplugged voice when it’s time to plug in
- Sealed-back tuning machines ensure dependable intonation
- Revamped headstock shape, crowned with a retro-inspired Taylor script logo
