The 322e 12 Fret Grand Concert produces a robust voice thanks in part to the V-Class bracing and tonewoods chosen by Taylor. Dynamic players love the clarity and responsiveness to fast picking runs or a light fingerstyle touch. Taylor’s 12-fret necks feature the slightly shorter 24-7/8-inch scale length of the Grand Concert and a repositioned bridge that sits closer to the center of the lower bout. The result is a slinkier hand feel that makes it easier to form chords and bend strings, and tonally, surprising power, warmth, and sustain for the smaller body.
The blackwood back and sides produce a strong midrange focus with a splash of top-end shimmer, while the mahogany top helps even out the tonal response. Other distinctive features include a shaded edgeburst top, an all-satin finish, Gemstone fretboard inlays in Italian acrylic, and Taylor’s Expression System 2 pickup.
How V-Class Works
A new platform to solve an age-old problem. While traditional X-bracing has stood the test of time for over 100 years, it creates an inherent trade-off between two key elements of an acoustic guitar's sound: volume and sustain. A guitar's top (the soundboard) contributes to both. Volume comes from the flexibility of the top while sustain comes from stiffness. The trade-off is that when you make something stiffer, you reduce its flexibility and vice versa. With an X-braced guitar top, increasing one comes at the expense of the other. V-Class bracing changes that. Now an acoustic guitar top can be both stiff and flexible in ways that produce more volume and sustain. And as it turns out, this innovative bracing design also improves the intonation of the guitar. Discover how Taylor broke away from tradition and reinvented what the acoustic guitar can do.
More Volume
V-Class guitar bracing controls the top's flexibility, creating a more orderly rocking motion across both sides of the top. The controlled flexing movement produces greater volume.
Longer Sustain
V-Class bracing maintains stiffness along the middle of the guitar, in the direction of the strings. That rigidity keeps the strings in motion, producing notes that resonate longer before fading out.
Better Intonation
V-Class bracing makes the top more in tune with the vibrating strings. This eliminates much of the interference that causes some notes to wear and sound slightly out of tune. As a result, notes and chords played anywhere on the neck are more consistent and in tune with each other.
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