Clearance Taylor 2021 GTe Urban Ash Grand Theater Acoustic-Electric Guitar Natural

With their Grand Theater guitars, Taylor introduces a fresh category of acoustic guitar in terms of size, feel and sound. Another step forward in Taylor’s devotion to player-friendly guitar design, the solid-wood Grand Theater, like this 2021 GTe Urban Ash Grand Theater acoustic-electric guitar packs all the tone of a full-size, solid-wood instrument into a more compact, inviting form to give players the best of both worlds—the approachability and playing comfort of a smaller guitar that doesn't sacrifice the full-voiced tonal output discerning players crave. The result is a guitar that’s incredibly fun to play, with a distinctive sonic personality worthy of any pro player’s toolbox.

Body Shape
The enormous popularity of the GS Mini over the last decade informed the design of the Grand Theater. Rather than pursuing a better GS Mini, Taylor master luthier Andy Powers designed a new guitar entirely: different body and neck dimensions, with new bracing, made with solid wood. It preserves the playing comfort of a smaller guitar while also producing a fuller-sounding voice. And its compact form makes it ultra-responsive to a light touch. Between the unique body dimensions, scale length, nut width and bracing, it introduces not just a new body style, but a new guitar category in both feel and sound.

Tonewoods
First introduced on Taylor’s Builder’s Edition 324ce, urban ash is a tonewood Taylor has embraced both for its sustainability and tone. Responsibly sourced from Shamel ash trees in need of removal from municipal areas in Southern California, its tonal properties rival those of high-quality Honduran mahogany, serving up a pleasing midrange warmth. 

Together with C-Class bracing and the compact dimensions of the body and neck, the spruce top is responsive to a light touch yet capable of impressive tonal output, offering players a dynamic and expressive musical palette to explore.

The GT gives Taylor a platform to introduce another fretboard wood, eucalyptus, that offers great potential alongside ebony. Its comparable weight and density are ideal for holding frets, and Taylor is able to source it responsibly either from plantation-grown trees or through its Urban Forestry initiative with West Coast Arborists, Inc., in Southern California. 

Internal Bracing
The GT sports a new Taylor bracing system called C-Class bracing. The “C” is for "cantilevered". This bracing architecture borrows some of the functional benefits of Taylor’s V-Class bracing, including more stability, yielding impressive volume, sustain and intonation that sonically helps the guitar punch above its weight and sing with clarity and balance across the tonal spectrum.

Electronics
Taylor's ES2 is a revolutionary pickup design that delivers the latest in Taylor’s 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 natural characteristics of the guitar's tone to come through clearly and evenly, whether your playing acoustically or amplifying the sound of the guitar. The position of the sensors enables a more dynamic range of acoustic sound to be captured when plugged-in.

Combined with Taylor’s custom-designed “professional audio”-grade preamp, this system produces exceptional amplified tone and responsiveness. Whether you plug into a PA, your favorite acoustic amplifier, or direct into recording software, the Expression System 2 faithfully conveys the voice of your Taylor guitar. If you want to adjust your sound, you can color it with easy-to-use volume, and active bass and treble controls. The Taylor Expression System 2 is powered by a proprietary 9-volt battery compartment.