The Taylor Academy 10 dreadnought acoustic was designed to offer enough immediate gratification to encourage new players to keep playing. To do so, the playing experience was Taylor’s priority. The guitar should be easy to hold and play with a comfortable and lightweight body. It should be easy to strum and fret with a rewarding sound. Of course, it also needs to be durable, minimal and not overly intimidating for a novice to play and care for. Best of all, the Academy 10 covers a broad range of music preferences, letting beginning guitarists explore their favorite sounds. The Academy 10 features a classic dreadnought body shape, in part because it makes strumming and flatpicking easy. Taylor borrowed the slightly smaller footprint of its famous Big Baby Taylor for comfort, but opted for a body depth that’s three-quarters of an inch deeper to give the guitar a fuller voice with more low-end response. The wood pairing is a solid spruce top with layered sapele back and sides. Genuine African ebony is used for the fingerboard and bridge, just as with all other Taylor models. The Academy 10 is also equipped with Taylor's ES-B system, which incorporates piezo design elements from the flagship Taylor ES2 system. Powered by a 9V battery, its onboard preamp includes a built-in digital chromatic tuner, an LED display for tuning and low battery indication, as well as a tone-sculpting 3-band EQ.