Never content to rest on their laurels, Taylor Guitars has introduced their own bracing, known as “V-Class” bracing. For more than a century, guitar makers have used an X-brace pattern in acoustic guitar design and building. Andy Powers, Taylor’s master guitar designer, discovered a new way to brace their guitars, not only improving overall sonic performance, but also allowing them to start down a fresh new path of structural design. The new V-Class bracing design has seen its way into four V-Class guitars for 2018, with Taylor planning to continue to grow and expand the V-Class platform in the years to come.

Three of the new Taylor V-Class Models

Three of this year's models featuring V-Class bracing.

What Is V-Class Bracing

V-Class bracing dispenses with the X-shaped bracing that has been used throughout the past century of acoustic guitar design and switches to a V-shape. In switching to a V-shape, Andy discovered significant improvements. The V-Class bracing architecture orchestrates top movement in a different way than X-bracing, resulting in more independent control of stiffness and flexibility. In X-braced design, you typically have to strike a compromise between the two, so that one comes at the expense of the other. The new V-Class bracing allows more independent control of stiffness and flexibility, resulting in increased sustain and volume, rather than just one or the other.

Taylor's Andy Powers working on V-Class bracing

As a byproduct of this new design, Andy found a variety of improvements related to things like intonation, harmonics, better “boom”, “ripening” and “decay” from notes, and a more consistent response up and down the neck.

V-Class Bracing in Action

The new V-Class design will see a limited rollout in 2018, finding its way into four distinct models, all in the Grand Auditorium shape. In addition to the V-Class bracing within the guitar, each guitar will feature a new back label and a black graphite nut, helping to distinguish them visually from non-V-Class bracing models.

Taylor V-Class Bracing Acoustic Guitar label signed by Andy Powers

The four models featuring V-Class bracing are PS14ce V-Class Grand Auditorium, 914ce V-Class Grand Auditorium, Koa Series K24ce V-Class Grand Auditorium and finally the Builder’s Edition K14ce V-Class Grand Auditorium.

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