TAYLOR GRAND PACIFIC
Taylor: A Grand Expression of Love
Unless you’re Willie Nelson, you’ll probably have many guitars in your lifetime. You’ll lose interest in some and they’ll collect dust. Or they’ll break and won’t be worth fixing. Or, more likely, you’ll outgrow them and trade them in for something better, something that suits where you are or where you’re going, not where you’ve been.
A Taylor is the latter. They’re built to last a lifetime, but not necessarily spend all of it in your hands. That’s because when you buy your first Taylor, you fall in love, not with that specific guitar but with a brand, with a sound, and when it comes time to upgrade only a Taylor will do.
Lucky for you, Taylor’s vast catalog caters to a player’s entire arc, from the first note to the last, and it’s through this incredible array that Taylor builds lasting loyalty without ever having to ask for it.
From the GS-Mini to 414ce and all the way up to the Grand Pacific, a brand new slope-shouldered dreadnaught premiered at this year’s Winter NAMM, wherever you’re going Taylor has a hitching post at every stop along the way, constructed always with the utmost quality and attention to detail, and all producing the spellbinding, mellifluous sound that is their hallmark, perfect for the subway, the sidewalk, the snack bar, and the stage alike.
The newest offerings from Taylor, the Grand Pacific line is unlike any Taylor that’s come before. In fact, they’re unlike any dreadnought that’s come before.
The Grand Pacific line uses V-Class bracing, which Taylor first introduced in 2018. It allows for close, individual control over flexibility and stiffness in a guitar’s top, generating volume without sacrificing sustain and visa versa. This also puts the body more in tune with the strings which produces greater, more consistent articulation and harmonic alignment. The result is an entirely new sound–one that’s warm and seasoned, nicely blended, and full of rich low end without being muddy, just like the guitars of the old bluegrass and roots records that inspired it.
“This guitar isn’t confined the way a dreadnought guitar can be,” Taylor Master Guitar Designer Andy Powers says. “It has the strength and power to be a great guitar for bluegrass, but it also has the clarity and playing comfort you’d find on a shorter-scale guitar, even though it’s a 25-1/2-inch scale. I bet a lot of fingerstyle players would enjoy this guitar, as well as players strumming chords as a singer-songwriter, or people fronting rock and country bands or their worship teams.”
The Grand Pacific line includes three models: the Builder’s Edition 717/717e, Builder’s Edition 517/517e, and the 317/317e.
The Builder’s Editions offer an additional suite of brand new features like compound carved neck profiles, rolled fretboard edges, chamfered body edges, a new Curve Wing bridge shape, and an optional Wild Honey Burst top finish, and all Grand Pacific models include a deluxe hardshell case with a patterned exterior designed to resemble hand-tooled, Western-style leather.
Whatever your choice in Taylors, whether it’s a Baby, a 610, a PS14ce, or one of the brand new Grand Pacifics, their vast catalog caters to a player’s entire arc from their first note to their last, and it’s through this incredible array that Taylor builds lasting loyalty without ever having to ask for it.
After all, they’ve been building it, along with their impeccable-sounding, easy-playing guitars, for almost 50 years, and with one strum on the right Taylor you know you’ll be playing it for 50 more. Maybe not that exact one, or that series, or even that size, but no doubt a Taylor and always a Taylor. Because, as Nathaniel and many other players can tell you, if you love a Taylor only a Taylor will do.
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