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Heat Wave: Summer NAMM Limited Edition Guitars

Summer NAMM 2019 took place July 18-20 in Nashville, Tennessee, and the Taylor team was there to share a new round of guitar offerings, including limited edition guitars. This year, we lined up a fresh assortment of Grand Concert guitars featuring V-Class bracing, a new Builder’s Edition K24ce guitar, and updates to the 100 Series, 12-strings, and more, but each NAMM Show also gives us a chance to be creative with exclusive models built just for the show. These guitars might showcase a new design feature or highlight a particularly gorgeous set of tonewoods. Here are the two exclusive models we showed off in Nashville this year—be sure to check with your local dealer regarding availability.

714ce LTD

Back/Sides: Indian rosewood
Top: Sinker redwood

Features: Grand Auditorium shape, V-Class bracing, koa binding, Douglas fir 3-ring rosette and top trim, abalone Reflections inlays, gloss finish, nickel tuners, black graphite nut, ebony fretboard, Venetian cutaway, ES2 electronics

Indian rosewood is a superstar tonewood, versatile in its musical applications and possessed of warm, rich sonic qualities that make it one of the all-time best woods for backs and sides of acoustic guitars.

But it’s not every day that we get to pair Indian rosewood with something as special as sinker redwood. Sometimes described as sounding like cedar on steroids, sinker redwood’s origin story is as compelling as its tone. The logs for these tops have been submerged in California rivers for decades, collecting minerals and silt that alter its visual character and its sonic profile. The result is beautiful striping and a warm, powerful acoustic sound, as touch-sensitive and responsive in the low end as cedar, with the clarity and volume that you’d expect from spruce. Rosewood is also a particularly good match with V-Class bracing, supporting the tonewood’s natural bloom and overtonal complexity.

The natural overtones of Indian rosewood, paired with redwood’s uniquely musical sound, makes this limited edition Grand Auditorium a musical combination as rare and alluring as the materials that comprise it. Artfully detailed with abalone inlays and koa body binding, this 714ce LTD is a sight and sound to behold.

414ce LTD

Back/Sides: Ovangkol
Top: Western red cedar

Features: Grand Auditorium body shape, V-Class bracing, black binding, ebony fishbone rosette, Small Diamond inlays in Italian acrylic, full-gloss body with a shaded edgeburst back and sides, nickel tuners, black graphite nut, faux tortoiseshell pickguard, Venetian cutaway, ES2 electronics

Players have always been drawn to our 400 Series guitars for the clean, workmanlike design and versatile tone that makes them a favorite for touring and recording musicians. Part of that sonic mix is African ovangkol, a wood that produces articulate, sparkling acoustic tones—we usually pair it with Sitka spruce for the right blend of clarity and balance.

This summer, we were inspired to change up the design a bit, swapping a Western red cedar top on our popular Grand Auditorium 414ce. The result is a guitar that’s darker in both sound and aesthetics. Cedar’s response is typically softer and warmer than spruce, and while it has a slightly lower volume ceiling, it’s incredibly sensitive to a soft touch, making it an excellent choice for fingerstyle guitarists who love to get creative with the dynamics of their playing. Visually, one distinctive upgrade is a hand-sprayed shaded edgeburst treatment on the back and sides, which complements cedar’s earthier hue.