Sweetwater Sales Engineers Partner with Andy Powers on Taylor Customs
Occasionally, our Sweetwater Sales Engineers have the opportunity to venture beyond the Hoosier State to see where and how the prized gear we offer gets made. On a recent trip to Taylor’s California facilities, a select group sought the guidance of Taylor’s CEO Andy Powers, with the goal of devising a handful of custom acoustic guitars that revel in specialty tonewoods and meticulous craftsmanship. Representing an impressive result of this distinguished collaboration, this one-off Rosewood Custom Grand Auditorium acoustic-electric guitar boasts a Lutz spruce top and AA Indian rosewood back and sides. Chosen explicitly by Sales Engineers with Andy’s input, rosewood and Lutz spruce provide articulate definition and lively dynamic range with little to no overtone clutter. You’ll find all the comfort-minded features of the Grand Auditorium body shape present, including a body cutaway and ES2 electronics. Moreover, custom appointments take comfort and style up several notches with detailed rosewood binding, a rosewood rosette, and even a beveled armrest that keeps the playability sublime.
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Prized cuts of tenacious tonewoods
Sweetwater Sales Engineers peered into Taylor’s tonewood vault and came away choosing visually stunning rare cuts of spruce, rosewood, mahogany, and ebony. The AA rosewood back and sides vibrate with sumptuous bell-like clarity while displaying complex and beautiful woodgrain. Meanwhile, the Lutz spruce top brings rosewood’s depths into focus with sophisticated energy that sounds more seasoned and mature than your typical Sitka spruce top. Taylor’s mahogany neck and signature neck carve simultaneously prioritize comfort and playability, and the neck is carefully stained to complement rosewood for a striking, unified look. An ebony fingerboard rounds out the playing experience with a welcoming glassy smoothness, accented with deluxe inlays and rendered even more playable by a Florentine cutaway up top.
Bountiful hardwood appointments
The Rosewood Custom Grand Auditorium is laced with fine, subtle details that showcase the beauty and function of natural wood. Sales Engineers fittingly emphasize rosewood in their appointment selections — the pickguard, truss rod cover, binding, and rosette are all carved from rosewood. These selections complement the Rosewood Custom Grand Auditorium’s more functional pieces of hardware, which include Gotoh tuners, an ebony bridge, ebony bridge pins, and a bone nut. What’s more, the Rosewood Custom Grand Auditorium is buttressed internally with formidable V-Class bracing carved from Sitka spruce for heightened presence and projection.
Grand Auditorium body style
Taylor's beloved Grand Auditorium body style employs the width and depth of the dreadnought. Still, its narrower waist gives Grand Auditorium-bodied acoustic guitars a sleeker look with remarkable high-end response — helping to sharpen the definition of each note. And the comfort of this body style is a huge reason the Grand Auditorium is a popular instrument for live performance. From fingerpicking to strumming, the Rosewood Custom Grand Auditorium acoustic-electric guitar is an excellent choice for nearly every playing style.
Taylor's Expression System 2
Taylor's Expression System 2 uses a proprietary pickup behind the saddle. The pickup's three individually calibrated, precisely positioned piezo-electric sensors respond organically to the instrument's acoustic energy as it's transferred through the saddle. In concert with Taylor's custom-designed preamp, the result is a natural acoustic sound with incredible dynamic range and responsiveness. Sweetwater's guitar gurus are mightily impressed with Taylor's Expression System 2.
Taylor Custom Grand Auditorium Acoustic-electric Guitar Features:
- Tonewoods hand-selected by Sweetwater Sales Engineers and Andy Powers of Taylor
- Contoured all-purpose Grand Auditorium body style elevated with special appointments and a natural gloss finish
- Spruce top carved from a rare hybrid Lutz species serves up mature power and seasoned dynamic range
- AA Indian rosewood back and sides provide a strong, clear sound that dampens unpleasant overtones
- Mahogany neck with Taylor’s signature neck carve, topped with an ebony fingerboard, inlaid with MOP
- Premium rosewood binding
- Beveled armrest and Florentine cutaway significantly improve playing comfort
- Numerous hardwood appointments, including a pickguard, a truss rod cover, binding, and a rosette, all made from rosewood
- Deluxe Gotoh 510 tuning machines, bone nut, and ebony bridge/endpins fuel lasting tuning stability and heightened string resonance
- Sitka spruce V-Class bracing allows the guitar's top to vibrate, providing enhanced tone
- ES2 electronics for outstanding amplified character
