656ce (2018)

Taylor’s latest design refinements add extra overall girth to our maple/spruce 12-string sound, while also highlighting maple’s articulation, enabling all the octave courses to be heard. A maple-specific back bracing profile adds warmth, and a special seasoning process for the spruce top called torrefaction produces an aged tonal character with greater acoustic resonance and responsiveness. Protein glues for the bracing and bridge boost the tonal transfer between key wood components, while an ultra-thin gloss finish minimizes dampening. A hand-rubbed “Brown Sugar” stain on the back and sides gives maple’s striking figure a beautiful violin-hued appearance without adding extra thickness to the finish. Featured appointments include grained ivoroid Wings fretboard inlays, an inlaid ebony backstrap, ebony binding with ivoroid purfling, an ebony/ivoroid rosette, and a striped ebony pickguard, along with Taylor’s Expression System^® 2 acoustic electronics. The guitar features a Venetian cutaway and comes with a deluxe hardshell case.