700 Series 2014 712ce Grand Concert Acoustic-Electric Guitar

The rosewood/spruce 712ce features a compact Grand Concert body and short-scale 24-7/8" neck for a physically comfortable playing experience. The short-scale design will appeal to players looking to ease the stress on their fretting hands, and the slightly slinkier feel of the strings makes bending easier. A warm Vintage Sunburst top and neck, ivoroid binding and rosette, and ivoroid Heritage Diamond fretboard inlays evoke a classic vibe.

Grand Concert
Taylor's 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" 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.

Indian Rosewood
The 712ce features one of the most popular and traditional guitar woods of all time, rosewood, which takes the basic sonic thumbprint of mahogany (which has a strong midrange) and expands it in both directions. Rosewood sounds deeper in the low end and brighter on the top end (one might describe the treble notes as zesty, sparkly or sizzly, with more articulation). If you look at its frequency range visually, rosewood would appear to be more scooped in the middle, yielding less midrange bloom than mahogany. Like mahogany, rosewood's vintage heritage has helped firmly establish its acoustic legacy. It's a great sound in part because we know that sound. In some music circles in which preserving the traditional sound helps bring a sense of authenticity to the music - certain strains of Americana, for example - rosewood has an iconic status. Also like mahogany, rosewood is a versatile tonewood, which has contributed to its popularity. One can fingerpick it, strum it and flatpick it. It's very consistent, so players can usually rely on it to deliver.

If you like a guitar with fuller low end and brighter treble (bluegrassers, for instance), rosewood will do the trick. Its high-end sizzle and clear articulation will benefit players with "dark hands".

Forward Shifted bracing with Relief Rout
The 712ce's bracing shifts the X forward (closer to the soundhole) and incorporates Taylor's patented relief rout, a tone-enhancing voicing technique in which a groove is carved along the inside edges of the top. This groove is similar in function to the re-curve on a violin - it "loosens up" the edges of the top, generating extra flexibility without sacrificing structural integrity. These refinements enable more of the top to vibrate, enhancing the tone.