Taylor Academy 12 Acoustic Guitar - Natural Reviews

I just received this guitar and I'm in love. First of all, it's so comfortable and fits me perfectly but the sound…..absolutely beautiful! I'm looking forward to playing this guitar for many years to come!!!

Got this guitar for my 11 year old grandson. He's been playing for three years. It was time to upgrade from his beginner guitar to an intermediate. This Taylor fits the bill perfectly. Sound, playability and quality for this price is amazing. This is a slightly smaller full size guitar. Thanks Michael and Sweetwater!!!!

The Academy 12 is an excellent guitar; precisely constructed and acoustically efficient with less ornamentation. This instrument is loud, clear and woody, with a singing resonance all its own. I think the pressure-formed, unbraced back construction is the source of this character. People think plywood, but it's not the same; this construction dates back to the big band and jazz guitars of the 40's. This guitar will not disappoint unless you're really into abalone and herringbone trim. That stuff is gorgeous, but can you hear it?

Beginner guitar? I don't think so this is such a beautiful sounding guitar I was fooled the moment I picked it up. After a few songs I know I was taking it home. Taylor really outdid themselves with this one. This is such a great guitar. I bought it as a travel guitar to bring around South America and with the high humidity and constant traveling it stayed in tune pretty well and gives me no problem at all. 10/10 I would recommend this guitar to all musicians.

My little brother who's been playing guitar for decades rattled out a couple of Christmas songs on this bad boy Christmas Eve. He wanted to keep it. The playability out of the included gig bag is amazing. Taylor hit one outta the park with this guitar. The elixir strings sounds amazing.

If you have the funds to make this your first guitar do it. You won't regret it.

Thanks Sweetwater.

I wish I had purchased this guitar first. Right out of thee box the playability and sound is amazing. Their are no beginner guitars, just lesser expensive ones. The size and weight of this instrument is great, super comfortable to play. The Elixir strings from the factory are a nice touch, they really ring, I'm a fan.

Thanks again to the entire Sweetwater team for excellent unparalleled service. It's nice to have a reliable place to shop where customer service is still on the main menu.

Beginners guitar pfft!! This thing is beautiful and it's playability is superb. Ordered a pick guard for it because I'm a little rough on my guitars. Definitely would recommend to a beginner or pro.

I really love how this guitar sounds, plus it's definitely beginner-friendly. I bought this originally for myself, but now my boyfriend is hooked by this guitar too and plays it even more than I do Btw, the packaging was excellent. Thanks for the sweets inside too!

I bought this about 8 months ago when they just came out, from SW. It's miles head of the Baby Taylor (which is already a great smaller-sized guitar). I end up playing this one all the time because it is so comfortable and projects so clearly, in spite of having 4 other acoustics that cost many times as much as this one. It is indeed a little smaller-bodied, but it is by no means small. It's actually the same overall length of one of my Grand Aud acoustics. So it's not in the same category as the Baby T.

Sounds and plays far more expensive than it is. Does it sound like a 3-5k acoustic? Well, no. But neither does it sound like $... It is simply a wonderful guitar for anyone. Don't let any talk about "beginner" model fool you - I've played for 30 years and I was sold after the first chord. And I like the slightly narrower nut since I don't have Mayer-esque-sized hands. With the way it sounds and how it came set up from SW, it's worth twice the price. And oh my word, it stays in tune. No matter how much I haul it around I usually have to do little or no tuning, and the thick gig bag with backpack straps is super convenient. This is the one I grab when I run out the door. Clear tones, easy playing, stays in tune, great projection, and affordable. **True confession - I bought it originally for my 12 year old daughter to learn to play, but she rarely get to since it is always with me... sorry sweetie.... :-) **

imagine, if you will, being a lefthanded guitar player . . . you walk into a music store and the walls are lined with beautiful instruments, but, alas, the store only has 2 lefty electrics (a Squire & a used Epiphone) & only one lefty acoustic in the room dedicated to acoustic guitars. imagine that for your whole life of playing guitar, all the stores are like that so that whenever you go to the music store, you don't even look at guitars & their beauty because you know that they will almost all let you down by being right-handed. needless to say, for the vast majority of my guitar playing days, it's been slim pickins with regards to the different acoustics i've gone through. until now.

this guitar sounds stunning. no buzzing, no sharp frets, no intonation problems, just the guitar that i wish i had my whole life.

If you are a beginner and looking at acoustic guitars, stop looking and buy this! You will NOT find a better "beginner" guitar at this price.

If you are an experienced player and are looking at your first acoustic- or perhaps a second acoustic, stop looking and buy this!

Although the Academy 12 is marketed towards the beginner market- this is NOT just a beginner guitar. This is the end result of Taylor's idea to build a high quality, inexpensive instrument. There is nothing on this guitar that doesn't need to be there; every cent has gone into the construction of a great sounding, great playing acoustic. The appointments are bare bones simple: satin-like varnish finish and no fancy inlays. Personally, I'm not into the flashy bling you see on a lot of guitars in this price range, so it suits me perfectly.

The woods used are high quality. The tuners are smooth and stay in tune. The build quality is ridiculously good for a five hundred dollar guitar. The smaller body and shorter scale length are a dream to play. The contoured arm rest is really comfortable and normally only available on Taylor's high end models. It actually comes with a gig bag! (Nobody does this anymore.)

Taylor has hit it out of the park with the Academy 12; the only regret I have is not getting mine sooner!

As much as I own other Taylor guitars (T5z, 714 and a 210), this Academy is a surprisingly wonderful guitar. It plays very well and really looks great. When I bought it, I had the idea that one day I might just give it away as a gift to someone. When I first played it, I kicked that idea to the curb in a heart beat. It has a very respectable and distinct sound of its own. You may not see it in the pictures, but it's a very beautiful guitar as well, and I get a kick out of playing it. For me, it's a quick reach, and the ideal guitar to take on a weekend trip, or a full blown vacation. It's very well built. She's a keeper! As always, my thanks again to Sweetwater for turning me on to another wonderful guitar.

I'm a beginner and wanted a decent guitar to keep me inspired to play. The Academy 12 is a gem, it fits well and is so comfortable to hold and play. I practice everyday from 1-2 hours. Get this guitar!

I am a beginner and read reviews on this and many other guitars. Sweetwater had 4 of these in stock and with their high quality phots I got to pick the one I wanted. Fit is perfect and sound is incredible. I can't put it down!

I love this Guitar. The tone is beautiful and it stays in tune. My favorite part about it is it's playability. It is very comfortable, especially with the armrest that it has. The shape of the neck also contributes a lot to it. It is so fun to play that I really look forward to practicing every day. This is my second Taylor Guitar and I love them both.
Nicholas is my sales representative and he did a great job.

I just started playing guitar 3 years ago, and my first guitar was a Recording King "Dirty 30", which was a great first guitar, but it had a tinny sound. So I thought I would upgrade to the Yamaha FG830 dreadnought. While it was a fuller sound, the bass was overwhelming and the increase in size made it more difficult to play for me. Hoping that the third time would be a charm, I bought the Taylor Academy 12 and it is truly a great guitar for me. Its the Grand Concert size so its a bit smaller than the dreadnought, which made it easier to play, and it doesn't have that overwhelming bass so it has a nice crisp but full sound. I highly recommend this guitar.

Nice Guitar, plays decent (action is a little too high) but probably needs a setup. Tone is really good and improving with play. Stays in tune. Sweetwater shipped very quickly and packed very well.

Great guitar for the price. Easy to play sounds great.

Really enjoy the sharp edge being flattened to make playing more comfortable. I chose this over the academy 10 since it was smaller. It sounds great and holds its tune well. I have had it for almost three months and it is time for a string change. would recommend this for any beginner.

I purchased this 2 years ago and am still in love with the way it plays and sounds. Even my professional guitar playing neighbor was impressed by the quality of the build for the price point. Highly recommend.

I have a Taylor 224ce Koa DLX as my main guitar and own a GS mini mahogany. I am beginning to use alt tunings a great deal and wanted to buy a rather inexpensive acoustic that could stay in a Gsus tuning. Having had relatively good experiences from GS minis, I decided to give the Academy series a try. Just a mind boggling guitar for the price. In my opinion, better than the GS minis. The GS minis tend to have intonation problems with the low E string and can develope high action over time that even neck adjustments don't correct. These problems aren't deal breakers, especially given the demographic that Taylor is targeting (beginner guitarist who tend to strum and play at the nut). But they do compromise the concept of using the guitar as a second guitar for alternate tunings.
The Academy 12 is a truly amazing sounding guitar. Very woody, wide and incredibly balanced across the strings with an extremely sweet high and low end. EXTREMELY SWEET- oddly so for $499 guitar! I think a lot of that sound has to do with the very thin satin varnish on the guitar. I say that because it definitely gives my 224ce a run for its money sound-wise. The 224ce has a pretty thick gloss poly-cote that (I think) chokes the sound a tad. I find myself wanting to play the academy over my 224ce.
The Academy is a larger guitar than the GS mini. It's scale is 24.8" compared to a regular Taylor at 25.5". Because of this you don't have problems with intonation on the low E string. But there is still an action problem. The academy does have a higher action as you move up the neck and has a rather high action at the nut. Having this guitar set up by a professional will improve that situation. And at $499 I think it would be worth it given the astonishing sonic signature this guitar has. I don't know if this guitar will have action creep like the GS minis do but I think if you are an intermediate to advanced guitarist looking for an alternate guitar for alt tunings this guitar eclipses the GS mini.
Hats off to Taylor for developing and yet another entry level guitar that punches way above its weight!! I am a Fender man for electric guitars and some of that is because they actually care about the quality of their low and mid level guitar quality. Taylor definitely sits very comfortably in that description. (Gibson does not). Im hoping that Taylor will take the qualities of the Academy guitar and release a 200 or 300 level guitar that adresses some of the drawbacks of the Academy level guitars while delivering the same astonishing positives of this series.

A solid choice for beginners starting out. Smaller size and arm rest bevel makes playing comfortable. Frets were smooth and the action was low enough to make quick chord changes and soloing easy. Neck is thick enough to make your open "cowboy chords" comfortable to play, but still narrow enough to bring your thumb over to mute the low E if you want (and I have fairly small/medium sized hands). Because of its smaller size, you pay the price in volume and you really need to use a heavy attack if you're playing in anything larger than a small bedroom. Also be aware the sustain is fairly limited, if that's something you're looking for. Overall, I'd have to say I'm quite satisfied my purchase.

Nice appearance when looking at it,like the size of it but when playing songs on it it's much too bright. I bought it because I wanted a travel guitar.the action is set where it suppose to be,goes out of tune very easily so I put new strings on it and waited a week so the strings could set in but that didn't help.also put on phosphors bronze strings on to calm down the brightness but again no help.some people might like the brightness,oh well win some lose some