Sometimes this is easy, and sometimes this is hard. First, try not to second-guess a feeling when you know you’ve found the right guitar. All too often a person laments the guitar that got away, so when one inspires you in a way that you know is right, act on it.

Now, if that doesn’t come to you, and you’re shopping for a guitar among many options, try to define what the guitar is meant to do for you.

• Is it a one-time purchase to solve all your guitar needs for life, or
• is it a guitar to fit a particular musical style or desire?

Most people have multiple guitars because they have multiple needs and play many styles. For instance,

• a small-bodied guitar might be perfect for fingerstyle, but
• you might want a larger guitar for strumming

This is where people get confused. It’s so much easier if you try not to make each guitar solve every musical problem, especially if you’re a person who already knows you need more than one guitar. However, even with these challenges, you will eventually like one particular guitar more than the others, and when that happens, go for it!

A guitar’s body shape + the tonal properties of woods + player technique = guitar tone

In other words, a guitar’s dimensions generate the guitar’s fundamental sound, the types of woods used for the guitar help flavor that sound, and the way one plays interacts with those tonal attributes.

The idea is to choose a body shape and combination of woods that respond well to the way you play.

For example,

• if you’re a lively strummer who wants a lot of volume, a small-bodied guitar may not be right for you
• if you’re a fingerstyle player who craves a warm sound with rich overtones, maple probably won’t cut it

Working out your own personal tone equation will help you find some great model options.

Questions to Ask Yourself before choosing a guitar:

What is my playing style?
strumming
flat picking
fingerstyle
other

What do I want it for?
Versatile use
Specialist use
Solo
Band

Where will I play it?
Home
Gigs
Studio

Acoustic Shapes
A guitar’s overall shape defines how big the soundboard is, and a bigger shape tends to translate into more tone because there’s more surface area vibrating with the strings. Each Taylor shape features a refined design that helps establish a distinctive sound for that guitar. Here’s a rundown of Taylor Guitar’s five standard shapes and their accompanying sounds.

Grand Auditorium (GA)
The medium-sized GA gave the world an identity-defining Taylor shape and sound. It was big enough to compete with the bigger, traditional dreadnought shape, long established in the acoustic world, yet the GA offered more sonic balance instead of a bass-dominant tone. The slightly tapered waist helps create an even blend between the bass, midrange and treble notes.

That tonal balance comes through for strummers, the clarity suits fingerstyle playing, and the overall presence sits well in a studio mix with other instruments. The GA is a superb all-purpose guitar shape that rewards players with versatility and incredible range.

Grand Symphony (GS)
If you crave acoustic horsepower — if you’re a strummer or picker who likes to drive a guitar and get full-bodied tone and robust volume, yet without compromising balance — the GS is your shape. It’s Taylor’s boldest, richest acoustic voice, and, like a good sports car, blends power with responsiveness, which means players can drive the GS hard without sacrificing clarity.

Grand Concert (GC)
Taylor’s smallest body shape (apart from the 3/4 adn 15/16 size Baby Taylor models) features a slender waist that helps curb the overtones. As a result, the GC tends to occupy less sonic space, which helps it blend well with other instruments both on stage and in a recording mix.

Because of its tonal clarity, the GC is well suited for fingerstyle and for pickers who play lead lines. With the availability of the Expression System® acoustic pickup or studio microphones, acoustic volume is not an issue.

The GC also features a shorter 24 7/8-inch scale length, which, together with the more compact size, offers physical comfort and playability that may appeal to players with smaller hands.

Dreadnought (DN)
Bob Taylor chose to honor the large, traditional guitar shape he inherited by refining it, taking a potent tone known for its strong bass response and adding a balanced midrange and clear notes to give flatpickers and strummers the ability to be both aggressive and articulate across the tonal spectrum.

Strong pickers are bound to love the blend of power and fidelity, which adds a new tonal dimension to roots-flavored music.

Jumbo (JM)
Taylor’s biggest shape delivers a big, full sound without the bottom-heavy boominess. The curvy dimensions present a lot of soundboard real estate, yet the contoured waist helps tighten the midrange, keeping the overtones in check.

Jumbos are great as big, full strummers, especially for solo artists who want a robust acoustic voice without sacrificing balance. Taylor Jumbos particularly shine as 12-strings, yielding a rich, lush tone with lots of signature Taylor clarity and balance.

The Taylor Guitar Series 500, 600, 700 and 800 fall into the price range $3,400-4,000 – not a large variation for so many different models. So what makes the difference?

The answer is

• tone woods and
• body shapes

In this article, we’ll examine how different tone woods affect the character of the guitar.

The woods used on the top, back and sides of an acoustic guitar interact with the fundamental sound profile established by the shape, adding distinctive tonal “flavors.” A wood’s stiffness and density, for example, will influence its tonal frequencies, meaning that different species of woods will yield different degrees of bass, midrange, treble and overall sustain relative to each other.

The description of each series in Taylor Guitar’s acoustic/electric line on the following pages includes a note on the distinguishing properties of the tonewoods used on the back and sides of the guitar. These are just generalizations for reference; keep in mind that each set of wood is unique, which of course adds to the fun of sampling guitars.

Taylor 500 Series Back and Sides – Mahogany
Mahogany sits alongside rosewood in terms of its enduring appeal among acoustic guitar makers and players. Tonally, mahogany flourishes in the midrange zone, yielding a “bloom” of overtones that add richness to the overall acoustic sound.

You’ll hear that midrange resonance sometimes described as meaty or earthy.

As a traditional tonewood, mahogany is associated with a lot of vintage acoustic music like blues and folk, although plenty of contemporary players (including Leo Kottke) are devoted to mahogany’s tone. That midrange character, along with superb dynamic range, records well and offers a lot to a musician who appreciates character and texture — singer- songwriters, fingerstyle players, and blues/roots artists come to mind. Mahogany also sounds wonderfully resonant in alternate tunings.

Taylor’s 500 Series offers a choice of cedar tops on the popular 514ce (GA) and 516ce (GS) — adding even more warmth for fingerpickers and strummers — and Engelmann spruce on the Dreadnought 510ce and Grand Concert 512ce.

Taylor 600 Series Back & Sides – Maple
Maple’s focused tone is strong on the fundamental and produces a clean, bright sound. Its physical density translates into fewer overtones and quicker note decay. (It has less low end and more high end than rosewood.) Consequently, it has been a preferred guitar wood for ensemble playing, both on stage and in the studio, because it articulates clearly through a mix with other instruments. It’s also more immune to feedback.

Maple’s tonal properties work well for smaller-bodied guitars where the tone is being amplified, and with bigger-bodied guitars, including 12-strings, because it’s not bottom-heavy, so the sound tends not to be overly boomy. Of course, tone is often only half of maple’s equation, as its blonde complexion, coupled with varying degrees of figure, from flame to quilt, invite a variety of vibrant color shades and bursts that enhance the dimension of the figure while evoking vibrant personalities.

On Taylor’s 600 Series, white binding adds a crisp counterpoint to more than 15 available color shades, including sunburst options, offering more visual “pop” to the abalone rosette. And through the Modify a Model program, you can order any color or burst treatment offered through your dealer, at no additional charge.

Taylor 700, 800 and 900 Series Back & Sides – Indian Rosewood
East Indian rosewood’s sweeping tonal range is matched by its broad appeal, having carved out a deservedly rich heritage among acoustic players for decades. Boasting deep, full lows, bright, articulate highs, and rich sustain, rosewood’s tone is both complex and responsive to the player, and pairs well with a variety of guitar shapes.

With a small guitar body, fingerstylists and lighter pickers have access to a crisp, full-range tonal palette. With larger body shapes, flatpickers can drive basslines and pick out clean melodies, while strummers benefit from the dynamic range and the tonal balance. A rosewood Grand Auditorium lives in both worlds, making it one of the most versatile Taylor guitars a player can own.

Rosewood is appealing and abundant enough that it is used for three different Taylor series.

• The premium 900 Series rosewood has the broadest range of colors and tends to display tighter, straighter grain. The overall aesthetic is of elegant sophistication rooted in tradition.
• The 800 Series has evolved from its workmanlike appearance during Taylor’s early days into a stylish appointment package featuring figured maple trim.
• The 700 Series displays rosewood’s most organic personality, often with thick chocolate-hued bands and complemented by rosewood binding. The 700s also feature alternative soundboard offerings — cedar for extra warmth and richness and Engelmann spruce for a creamier look and slightly mellower response.

Whichever series you favor, rosewood will simply sing in your hands.

Top – Soundboards
When it comes to soundboards, Sitka spruce is far and away the tonewood used most often for guitar tops. It’s strong yet flexible, which produces a clear acoustic tone. Here is a brief rundown of soundboard properties among the woods Taylor commonly use for guitar tops:

Sitka Spruce — Used on the majority of Taylor acoustics, it yields a broad dynamic range and accommodates a versatile range of playing styles.

Western Red Cedar — Cedar’s softer density adds an element of warmth to a guitar’s tone, especially for players with a softer touch, like fingerstylists or moderate strummers and pickers. More aggressive players are better matched with spruce, as they might run out of headroom with cedar.

Adirondack Spruce — Compared to Sitka, it has more dynamic range and can be driven hard for greater volume without losing clarity. Some players also perceive an additional sweetness in the midrange tones. Its availability is limited.

Engelmann Spruce — Compared to Sitka, Engelmann often has a hint of additional richness that sounds like an aged or played-in guitar. Its availability is also limited.

Hardwood Tops — Woods like koa and walnut that are used on the back and sides of a guitar are sometimes used as tops, as well. Their stiffness translates into a bright tone initially, but the more the guitar is played, the more full-bodied the tone becomes.

One fine day while Dave Carroll sat with his band, near the back of a United Airlines flight from Chicago O’Hare, he heard a lady passenger behind him gasp – she’d just witnessed United’s baggage handlers throwing guitars and equipment on the tarmac below!

On arrival at Nebrasca, Dave found his long-serving Taylor guitar had a broken neck. What happened over the next 12 months or so is a lesson in how not to do Customer Service.

As a singer/song-writer, Dave’s response was to write a song, produce a video, and post it on Youtube.

With a million views in 3 days, United’s response began to change

Chapter 1. The “United Breaks Guitars” story on video (great music btw)

Chapter 2: CNN picks up the Story and CBCnews interviews Dave Carroll
United Breaks Guitars – CNN Situation Room – Wolf Blitzer

CBSnews Interview with Dave Carroll

Chapter 3: Bob Taylor of Taylor Guitars Supports Dave
Taylor Guitars Responds to “United Breaks Guitars”

Chapter 4: United Sees the Light?
United Breaks Guitars – A statement from Dave Carroll

United Breaks Guitars Song 2

Just in case you wanted them…

United Breaks Guitars – Song 1 Lyrics

United Breaks Guitars Song 2 Lyrics

Taylor 900 Series UK – like gold-dust

900 Series Acoustic Electric Guitars – Taylor’s True Masterworks! Taylor reserve their rarest, high-grade Indian rosewood for the 900 Series® acoustic-electric guitars. In fact, every ounce of material used to make these guitars is premium quality. That goes all the way from

• selecting the Sitka spruce tops by hand,
• to the choice pieces of iridescent abalone used for the inlay work,
• right on to the elegant Gotoh tuners.

All models are built from the same set of premium materials:

• Top: Sitka Spruce.
• Back/Sides: Indian Rosewood.
• Cutaway & Expression System Pickup – this is included on all 900 Series models.

The difference between them is their body shape… 

But the problem is, each of these guitars are like gold-dust in the UK!

Of course, if you’d like to see some "gold dust", here’s where you can find it! Taylor 900 series UK – for sale

Taylor 900 Series Models:

910ce – Dreadnaught

Taylor talk: "A Venetian cutaway and the Expression System’s seamless aesthetic integration enhance this guitar’s grace and good looks, offering the ultimate rosewood experience for the acoustic/electric performer."

912ce – Grand Concert

Taylor talk: "Among our most elite acoustic/electric guitars, the 912ce approaches the pinnacle of guitar design. Skill and crafstmanship are on display at every turn on this incomparable model."

914ce – Grand Auditorium

Taylor talk: "The sleek lines of its Grand Auditorium body are accentuated by a softly-rounded Venetian cutaway, complementing the 914ce’s shimmering appointments. Our finest Indian rosewood and Sitka spruce deliver a tone that can only be described as "an experience."" Click the link for more information on Taylor 914ce