Taylor 362ce V-Class Grand Concert 12-String Acoustic-Electric Guitar - Shaded Edge Burst

Grand Concert: The small-body Grand Concert debuted in 1984 to meet the needs of a new wave of adventurous acoustic fingerstyle players. In contrast to the traditionally darker, boomier voices of bigger body styles like dreadnoughts and jumbos, the GC’s compact size and tapered waist kept the overtones in check. It was also more comfortable to play while sitting down, and the guitar’s slightly wider neck gave players more room for complex fingerings. The GC’s smaller sonic footprint also fit cleanly in a mix with other instruments when tracking in the studio and with a band on stage, making it a useful tool for professional session and side players. Taylor's current generation of GC models continues to accommodate fingerstylists with finger-friendly traits like a shorter 24 7/8-inch scale length, which makes fretting easier and adds a slightly slinkier feel on the strings due to the lighter string tension. If you feel more comfortable with a small body or favor controlled overtones, a Grand Concert is a great option.

The smallest of Taylor’s full-size body shapes. Its compact dimensions make for a physically comfortable guitar with an intimate feel and sound. The smaller footprint keeps the overtones in check, contributing to a focused, articulate sound that’s well-suited for recording and stage work.

Grand Concert Specifications: 19 1/2" / Body Width: 15" / Body Depth: 4 3/8"

Tropical Mahogany: Mahogany is known for its meaty midrange character, featuring a strong fundamental focus often described as “punchy,” “woody,” or “dry,” because it doesn’t produce a lot of ringing overtones. Mahogany’s earthy voice has been featured on many roots music recordings over the years.

Origin: India/Guatemala

Sound: Mahogany is a good wood to anchor a discussion of tones, as a lot of other wood tones can be described in relation to it. Its essential sonic profile is well represented in the midrange frequencies. Acoustic guitars in general tend to live in the midrange portion of the sound spectrum, but mahogany in particular displays a lot of midrange character. That thick, present midrange sound is sometimes described in guitar circles as meaty, organic or even chewy; wherever a player digs in on the fretboard, they're tapping into the core of the harmonic content of what a guitar produces. Those great midrange frequencies produce overtones that stack up and produce bloom, giving the sound extra girth. When one hears the resulting harmonics, the chewy tone serves up a big mouthful of midrange. As a popular tonewood for many decades, mahogany has been used on scads of old school acoustic recordings, and that sonic heritage carries across various strains of roots music, from blues to folk to slack key.

Goes Well With: A broad range of players and musical styles; people who like a well-balanced tone, nice dynamic range and a healthy serving of overtones. Blues and other rootsy players tend to respond well to mahogany's midrange character. A smaller body mahogany guitar (GC or GA) might appeal to fingerstyle players, whereas more aggressive flatpickers might opt for a mahogany Dreadnought or GS. For versatility, a mahogany GA is a good bet. Because of mahogany's midrange, a player with "dark hands" will tend to sound darker on a mahogany guitar. A bright player will sound slightly less bright.

Neo-Tropical Mahogany: Harder, denser woods like mahogany and koa that are used on the back and sides of a guitar are sometimes used as tops. Their stiffness initially translates into a bright tone and tends to need more play-in time to open up, but the more a mahogany-top guitar is played, the more it develops overtones that contribute to a fuller, richer sound. A mahogany-top guitar might appeal to rootsy players who like a little extra punchiness in their tone.

Origin: India, Central and South America

Goes Well With: Blues and roots players, anyone who likes an slightly more burly or punchy quality to their tone.

Expression System® 2: The Taylor Expression System® 2 (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. The location of the sensors enables a more dynamic range of acoustic sound to be captured than ever before. 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.

Behind the ES2 Design: Rethinking the Piezo Pickup: For decades, piezo-electric transducers have been positioned under the saddle of a guitar based on the long-held belief that the string and top vibration cause the saddle to “bounce” up and down. But Taylor’s electronics team, led by developer David Hosler, discovered that the vertical movement is actually heavily restricted, and that the saddle gets “locked down” due to the string tension’s downward pressure. That’s why a traditional under-saddle pickup with piezo-electric crystals often responds with a sound often characterized as thin, brittle, brash or synthetic, especially with more aggressive playing.

The saddle’s natural range of movement as the guitar is being played is actually back and forth like a pendulum. That revelation led Taylor’s design team to relocate the crystals from under the saddle to behind it. The new positioning enables the crystals to respond more naturally to the guitar’s energy as it is transferred through the saddle. Three pickup sensors are installed behind the saddle, through the bridge, with three tiny Allen screws that calibrate the position of the sensors in relation to the saddle.

Like the original Expression System, the ES2 features the same volume and tone control knobs. This makes it plug-and-play friendly both for artists and live sound mixers.

Venetian Cutaway: The Venetian cutaway is known for its soft, round lines. The sloping peak of the cutaway will vary depending on the shape of the body. The Grand Concert and Grand Auditorium have a steeper slope, while the Dreadnought is a bit flatter. Taylor's Grand Concert nylon-string models also feature a subtle, flatter slope, while their 200 Series cutaway models incorporate their flattest slope.

V-Class™ Bracing: Taylor's patented V-Class bracing is a revolutionary new pattern — a new sonic engine — that marks a major shift away from traditional steel-string bracing patterns. By allowing the soundboard to flex naturally while maintaining rigidity along the center (in the direction of the strings), V-Class helps enhance the volume and sustain. It also creates a more orderly response from the soundboard. Up and down the fretboard, notes are full, true and consistent, with more harmonic agreement. It represents an entirely new design platform that can be adapted to different body styles in different ways to infuse each with a unique sonic personality.

General

• Number of Strings: 12 String
• Orientation: Right Handed
• Body Shape: Grand Concert
• Bracing System: V-Class Bracing
• Cutaway: Venetian Cutaway
• Color: Medium Stain Entire Guitar, Shaded Edgeburst Top
• Electronics: Expression System® 2
• Case/Bag: Taylor Deluxe Hardshell Brown

Body

• Top Wood: Neo-Tropical Mahogany
• Back/Side: Wood Neo-Tropical Mahogany
• Rosette: Black Plastic 3 Ring
• Back Configuration: 2-piece No Wedge
• Body Binding: Black
• Armrest: None
• Top Finish: Satin
• Back/Side Finish: Satin

Neck

• Neck Wood: Neo-Tropical Mahogany
• Fretboard Wood: West African Crelicam Ebony
• Neck Profile: Standard Carve
• Fretboard Inlay: Faux Pearl Gemstone
• Fretboard Binding: Black
• Neck Finish: Satin

Peghead

• Nut Width: 1-7/8"
• Peghead Veneer Wood: West African Crelicam Ebony
• Scale Length: 24-7/8"
• Peghead Inlay: Faux Pearl Gemstone
• Peghead Type: Paddle
• Peghead Binding: None
• Peghead Finish: Satin

Other

• Bridge: West African Crelicam Ebony
• Nut & Saddle: Black Tusq Nut, Micarta Saddle
• Bridge Pins: West African Crelicam Ebony
• Strings: D'Addario XS Coated Phosphor Bronze Light (.010 - .047)
• Pickguard: Firestripe
• Tuners: Taylor Satin Black with Satin Black Buttons
• Strap Pin: Black
• End Pin: Black