This custom limited edition Grand Auditorium is limited to a total production of 12. It features premium back and sides made of solid hand-selected European Maple, a European Spruce top, and revolutionary V-Class bracing. It is beautifully appointed with a Spring Maple Vine Koa inlay, Koa single-ring abalone rosette with bound Soundhole, Goto 510 Antique Gold Tuners, and ES2 electronics. For added comfort and playability, the body is fashioned with a Beveled Armrest. Standard specs for this model include a 25-1/2" scale length, a 1-3/4" nut width, and a Venetian cutaway. The guitar ships in a deluxe Taylor hardshell case.

Body Shape
A Taylor original, the Grand Auditorium helped establish the Taylor acoustic sound. The popular body style makes for a versatile guitar that yields ample volume in response to light fingerpicking, and reacts to medium strumming and flatpicking with a clear, balanced sound across the tonal spectrum. For players seeking a great all-purpose guitar, the GA is an excellent choice.

Tone Wood Pairing
Maple instruments are traditionally known for having a focused tone with a fast note decay that cuts through a mix. Taylor maple body guitars have been voiced to produce greater warmth, complexity, volume, sustain and responsiveness, while retaining maple’s naturally clear, linear qualities. The clarity of the high end is still there, but the bottom end has been extended. The result is a more multi-dimensional sound that gives players the kind of musical versatility of other classic tonewoods, making Taylor's maple models a compelling choice as a primary guitar, not just a stage guitar. Taylor maple guitars are voiced to be very reflective of the player's technique, so a player with a dynamic playing style or someone who likes to vary their picking attack will appreciate how easily those playing nuances come through in the tonal response.

For this custom Limited Edition, Taylor paired the body with a European Spruce top. European Spruce is a slow-growing tonewood that is lightweight and tremendously flexible, yet has the right amount of stiffness for added sustain. This combination of tonewoods produce an instrument that has beautiful color, sustain and articulation. It's dynamic, expressive and reactive to every note in a musical performance.

V-Class Bracing
Taylor's V-Class bracing is a fundamental innovation in acoustic guitar design. It marks an important evolution beyond traditional X-bracing, introducing an entirely new platform for acoustic performance. It is essentially a "sonic engine" that optimizes the response of an acoustic guitar in three key ways: by boosting volume, sustain and by largely resolving the intonation (in-tune-ness) issues that have long plagued acoustic guitars. V-Class bracing creates purer, more orderly notes that don't cancel each other out or sound "off". They have clearer, more consistent response, and the whole fretboard is brought into greater sonic alignment for a more musical playing/listening experience.

Guitars with V-Class bracing are easier to tune; the pitch sounds purer and more solid, and electronic tuners can more easily locate notes for quick, precise tuning. Other benefits: harmonics ring more uniformly down the neck, notes are louder with more projection and sustain, and notes are more consistent, i.e., upper register notes don't get choked out or swallowed. Fewer "sour" sonic qualities exist with chords; a more agreeable relationship is created between notes as they ripen, bloom and decay.

Electronics
Taylor's ES2 is a revolutionary pickup design that delivers the latest in Taylor's ongoing innovation in acoustic guitar amplification. The heart of the Expression System 2 is Taylor's patented behind-the-saddle pickup, which features three uniquely positioned and individually calibrated pickup sensors. Because the pickup doesn't sit under the saddle, the bottom of the saddle comes in full contact with the bridge, allowing all the nuance of the guitar's tone to come through clearly whether playing acoustically or plugged-in. The location of the sensors enables a more dynamic range of acoustic sound to be captured than ever before while playing plugged-in.

Together with Taylor's custom-designed "professional audio"-grade preamp, this system produces exceptional amplified tone and responsiveness. On stage through a PA, plugged into your favorite acoustic amplifier, or direct into recording software, the Expression System 2 faithfully conveys the voice of your Taylor guitar. The Taylor Expression System 2 operates through a proprietary 9-volt battery compartment and easy-to-use volume, and active bass and treble controls.