Taylor Guitars continues its maple musical revival

Taylor’s new 600 Series Grand Concert acoustic “has a delicate, articulate voice, but it’s not a quiet or weak-sounding guitar”

The California-based guitar manufacturer expands its maple 600 Series acoustics with the new 612ce and 612ce 12-Fret Grand Concert models

ollowing a redesign of its maple 600 Series acoustic guitars earlier this year, Taylor continues the expansion with two new Grand Concert models, which have been revoiced to bring out a richer maple sound and given an aesthetic makeover. The 612ce and 612ce 12-Fret embody the same tone-forward vision as their 600 Series siblings, with shape-specific bracing and wood thicknesses, thin finish, and new seasoning processes, which together expand maple’s tone profile to include more complexity and overall playing versatility.

“It has a delicate, articulate voice, but it’s not a quiet or weak-sounding guitar,” explains Taylor Master Builder, Andy Powers. “It’s actually really loud and powerful. But because the shape is a smaller outline, it will emphasize a certain clarity in its articulation and a certain high-end chime that a larger guitar won’t.”

With the 612ce 12-Fret model, the geometry of the bridge to shorter neck results in a different voicing option for fans of the Grand Concert shape. “By making a shorter neck, you shift where the strings fall in relation to the body,” says Powers. “The bridge sits in a different spot on the body, so the way the player drives the top is different, with an extra robust punch in the midrange. It makes for dramatically present notes.”

Notable, unique design features on the new 600 Series models include customised wood thicknesses and bracing, torrefaction (a high-temperature roasting process applied to the Sitka spruce tops to give a new guitar an aged or played-in sound), a hand-rubbed colour and finish, protein glue, Expression System 2 (ES2) electronics, and sustainably sourced First World tonewood.

The 612ce will be made available at authorised Taylor dealers for a suggested retail price of $3,998 (approx. £2,632) and the 612ce 12-Fret at $4,198 (approx. £2,764). The newly redesigned 600 Series is also available in the 614ce (Grand Auditorium), 616ce (Grand Symphony), 618ce (Grand Orchestra) and 656ce (12-String Grand Symphony). For more details, visit www.taylorguitars.com

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