On our 700 Series we take the classic tonewood pairing of rosewood and spruce and conjure a rootsy Americana vibe. Standard appointments include a warm Vintage Sunburst top, ivoroid binding and rosette, along with ivoroid Heritage fretboard inlays, which bridge the past with the present.

Visually and sonically, our maple guitars command a striking stage presence. The bright, focused tone makes these guitars a favorite for performance, recording and any band setting, while a variety of color and sunburst options serve to enhance the natural figure in the maple sets we choose. Other signature touches include crisp white binding and our Twisted Oval fretboard inlay motif.

Big Leaf Maple/Stika Spruce
The 656ce Maple Grand Symphony 12-string Acoustic-Electric is constructed of big leaf maple back and sides with a stika spruce top so it has a crisp, bright tone that cuts through on stage.

Grand Symphony (GS)
Though you might see similarities to a Grand Auditorium, the GS body of the 656ce is unique in both sound and shape. Significant changes in its geometry yield a deeper, more piano-like bass. A wider lower bout and higher, wider waist return ample volume and low-end sustain, in symphony with fuller mids and balanced highs.

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 proprietary behind-the-saddle pickup (patent pending), 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. The preamp is similar but with a slightly different gain structure. As a result it will be about 25 percent hotter, which is more in line with other pickups. This makes it plug-and-play friendly both for artists and live sound mixers.

The Fender Select Stratocaster® Exotic Maple Quilt guitar certainly lives up to its name, with an atypical and highly distinctive wood figure in its quilt maple top. No two instruments are identical, and the swirling, almost marbled quality of the quilt wood figure is highlighted to even more beautiful effect by the guitar’s elegantly cool Iced Tea Burst gloss lacquer finish. An exotic creation indeed, it launches the Fender Select series into 2014 with more style and performance than ever, including a striking “channel-bound” rosewood fingerboard with a compound radius (9.5”-14”). This inlaid fingerboard design imparts an elegant appearance and an amazingly comfortable fretting-hand feel in which both edges are pleasingly rounded, with no side seam between the neck and fingerboard.

Other premium features include a comfortably contoured neck heel on the alder body, birds-eye maple neck with “modern C” profile, 21 medium jumbo frets and “vintage ivory” dot position inlays, three single-coil Fender Select Stratocaster guitar pickups with five-way switching, three-ply parchment pickguard and aged white control knobs, Bi-Flex™ truss rod system, two-point synchronized tremolo bridge with bent steel saddles, deluxe staggered tuners, Micro-Tilt™ neck adjustment and Fender Select headstock medallion. Includes Fender Select tweed case, guitar strap, cable and polishing cloth.