Updated 10/6/2021

We’ve made it through the holiday season, and hopefully many of you are getting to know your new Taylor guitars or recommitting to playing for the new year. Here at Taylor Guitars, we’re looking ahead to another year full of musical innovation, as well as a new company outlook with the recent announcement that Taylor is now 100% employee-owned. We’re thrilled to move forward into this new era, and we can’t wait to show you what we have in store for the future.

Here’s what’s new at the start of 2021.

New Taylor GT Acoustic Guitars

We launched the GT (Grand Theater) acoustic guitar body shape in the fall of 2020 with two debut models: the GT Urban Ash and its ES2-equipped counterpart (GTe Urban Ash). Our reduced-scale body shape combines the comfort of a compact frame with a slinky feel thanks to a shorter scale length (24-1/8”), plus a neck width (1-23/32”) that hits the sweet spot between easier chord formations and ample string spacing for fingerstyle players. Tonally, the GT has a bold voice all its own, with a punchy midrange and crisp trebles over a warm, surprisingly powerful bass range boosted by our new C-Class bracing.

The player reaction to the GT Urban Ash was overwhelmingly positive, and guitarists across the spectrum of styles, genres and skill levels praised its portability, playability and musical clarity. For 2021, we’ve expanded on this new family of guitars with two new Taylor GT models: the GT 811e and the GT K21e.

GT 811e: Rosewood + Spruce Top

The GT 811e slides neatly into place in our flagship 800 Series, matching its siblings with solid East Indian rosewood back and sides with a Sitka spruce top. Rosewood’s characteristically warm, balanced sound delivers a slightly scooped midrange between a rich low end and chiming highs, leaving room for vocals and other instruments in the sonic mix. Appointments include maple binding with rosewood top trim, a single-ring abalone rosette, Element peghead and fretboard inlays in mother-of-pearl, and a 4.5-mil gloss-finish body. It ships with ES2 electronics in our AeroCase, whose sturdy frame offers full protection at a fraction of the weight of a traditional acoustic guitar case.

GT K21e: Hawaiian Koa + Koa Top

The next new entry in the GT family is the all-Hawaiian-koa GT K21e acoustic guitar, a model whose visual beauty is matched by its vibrant tonal character. Koa’s sonic response features a tight, focused midrange with woody lows and a pristine treble range, similar to mahogany but with an extra dose of warmth and sonic sweetness that adds pleasing sparkle across the frequency range. The GT K21e features some of the Koa Series’ most attractive aesthetic details, including binding, rosette, and peghead and fretboard inlays all in maple. Finishing touches include ultra-precise Gotoh Mini 510 tuning machines (in Antique Gold) with a 21:1 gear ratio and a full-gloss body with a subtle edgeburst treatment. This model also ships with the ES2 pickup and preamp along with our AeroCase.

The American Dream Lives On

Most of us were happy to say goodbye to 2020, but we’re also excited to carry parts of it into the future. That’s the case with our American Dream Series, which was conceived to bring pro-quality, all-solid-wood guitars to working musicians at an unbeatable price for their musical quality. The result was a trio of guitars with our Grand Pacific round-shoulder dreadnought body shape, whose naturally seasoned tone was a perfect match with the American Dream’s pared-back aesthetics and traditional vibe. The Series boasts the AD17 and its visually striking cousin, the AD17 Blacktop, both made with solid African ovangkol backs and sides with spruce tops. The sapele/mahogany AD27 rounds out the power trio, adding the unique musical flavor of a hardwood top.

All three of these Grand Pacific models have become permanent additions to the Taylor line.

The First American Dream Grand Concert Guitar

In the second half of this year, we launched a new addition to the American Dream Series: the AD22e, a Grand Concert model made with solid sapele back and sides and a mahogany top, matching the AD27e. The AD22e maintains the performance-focused design and aesthetic of its Series counterparts while offering players a fresh experience within the American Dream family. The more compact Grand Concert body delivers a bold midrange character with sparkling trebles, making it a great guitar for fingerstyle players on the hunt for a more affordable solid-wood, U.S.-made instrument. As in the Grand Pacific models from the Series, V-Class bracing helps the AD22e produce louder volume, longer-lasting sustain and a more in-tune, musical sound all the way down the neck. Add in the chamfered edges for a more intimate playing experience and you have a comfortable, rich-sounding guitar that’s up to virtually any musical task.

New Presentation Series Guitar

Seated at the very top of the Taylor line, the Presentation Series has always been home to unique sonic possibilities and striking tonewood options. That remains the case this year with the new PS14ce, a Grand Auditorium acoustic-electric guitar made with back and sides of Honduran rosewood. That particular strain of rosewood is venerated for its resonance and clarity, and with V-Class bracing under the soundboard, this model takes on the full scope of Honduran rosewood’s musical personality. The PS14ce is outfitted with a sinker redwood top, sourced from fallen logs submerged in California riverbeds. Sinker tends to deliver a warm, highly touch-sensitive character with a very high volume ceiling—sort of like cedar turned up to 11. Like all Presentation Series guitars, this one is appointed to inspire with a striking 4-piece Simons back wedge, a new California Vine inlay suite in paua (including a pickguard inlay), an ebony backstrap and binding trimmed with paua, a radius-style ebony armrest for supreme playing comfort, a single-ring paua/shell rosette, Gotoh 510 tuners in Antique Gold, and a gloss-finish body with an edgeburst pattern for the back and sides. It ships with ES2 electronics in a deluxe hardshell guitar case.

More TaylorWare Accessories than Ever

We also spent a good chunk of 2020 behind the scenes working on new accessories to help guitar players get the most out of their instruments. In addition to our updated range of Taylor apparel, you’ll also find a range of new products in the TaylorWare store, including our sound-shifting DarkTone guitar picks, premium leather guitar straps and vegan leather guitar straps, genuine West African ebony guitar slides, guitar polish and other guitar care products, bar stools, wallets and more.

Perhaps our biggest addition to the TaylorWare lineup is the TaylorSense guitar health monitoring system, which officially launches in 2021 for both Apple and Android devices. TaylorSense consists of a sensor box that installs easily to your Taylor guitar’s 9-volt battery compartment, which connects to the TaylorSense app on your phone via low-energy Bluetooth. Sending real-time information on humidity, temperature and physical impacts, TaylorSense is the best way to stay on top of your guitar’s health and ensure it remains free of damage wherever you take it.

You’ll find TaylorSense and the rest of our guitar accessories in the TaylorWare store as well as at authorized Taylor dealers.

Stay tuned to the Taylor blog for more product updates and special news from Taylor in 2021!