Taylor Master Guitar Designer Andy Powers conceived the Builder's Edition to combine Old World aesthetic qualities with the latest Taylor innovations. The Builder's Edition is essentially Powers' "Director's Cut" edition with additional playing features and a distinct visual aesthetic. As with all Taylor guitars, sustainability is a huge priority when selecting tonewoods for each instrument, and the Builder's Edition 324ce is no exception.
The Builder's Edition 324ce utilizes a practice once common in traditional instrument building: sourcing from a local region. Wood from the urban forest is an overlooked natural resource. These trees make up the green infrastructure of municipal areas around the country. As part of the cycle of life, trees are planted, maintained and some are eventually removed from urban areas for a variety of reasons. With this concept in mind, Powers consulted with a local arborist to assess whether there were any guitar-worthy species. He was thrilled to discover a species of ash that is prevalent in Southern California and has appealing acoustic properties. This Urban Ash, as Taylor calls it, is used for the back and sides on this Builder's Edition 324ce. Combined with a mahogany top, Silent Satin finish and a tobacco sunburst, this guitar looks and sounds absolutely amazing.
The Builder's Edition 324ce also features premium performance features, such as a beveled cutaway, beveled armrest, chamfered body edges, Curve Wing bridge, Gotoh 510 tuners and Silent Satin finish. The 324ce includes a deluxe hard shell case made by Taylor for optimal fit and protection.
“While this guitar has a voice all its own, it’s designed as a musical collaborator to whatever the musician brings to the guitar,” Powers elaborates. “That could be anywhere between a gentle whisper and a roar. This guitar is ready for whatever a musician brings to the strings."
Together with Taylor’s custom-designed “professional audio”-grade preamp, this system produces exceptional amplified tone and responsiveness. On stage through a PA, plugged into your favorite acoustic amplifier, or direct into recording software, the Expression System 2 faithfully conveys the voice of your Taylor guitar. The Taylor Expression System 2 operates through a proprietary 9-volt battery compartment and easy-to-use volume, and active bass and treble controls.
Guitars with V-Class bracing are easier to tune; the pitch sounds purer and more solid, and electronic tuners can more easily locate notes for quick, precise tuning. Other benefits: harmonics ring more uniformly down the neck, notes are louder with more projection and sustain, and notes are more consistent, i.e., upper register notes don't get choked out or swallowed. Fewer "sour" sonic qualities exist with chords; a more agreeable relationship is created between notes as they ripen, bloom and decay.
The Builder's Edition 324ce utilizes a practice once common in traditional instrument building: sourcing from a local region. Wood from the urban forest is an overlooked natural resource. These trees make up the green infrastructure of municipal areas around the country. As part of the cycle of life, trees are planted, maintained and some are eventually removed from urban areas for a variety of reasons. With this concept in mind, Powers consulted with a local arborist to assess whether there were any guitar-worthy species. He was thrilled to discover a species of ash that is prevalent in Southern California and has appealing acoustic properties. This Urban Ash, as Taylor calls it, is used for the back and sides on this Builder's Edition 324ce. Combined with a mahogany top, Silent Satin finish and a tobacco sunburst, this guitar looks and sounds absolutely amazing.
The Builder's Edition 324ce also features premium performance features, such as a beveled cutaway, beveled armrest, chamfered body edges, Curve Wing bridge, Gotoh 510 tuners and Silent Satin finish. The 324ce includes a deluxe hard shell case made by Taylor for optimal fit and protection.
Body Shape
A Taylor original, the Grand Auditorium helped establish the Taylor acoustic sound. The popular body style makes for a versatile guitar that yields ample volume in response to light fingerpicking, and reacts to medium strumming and flatpicking with a clear, balanced sound across the tonal spectrum. If you want a great all-purpose guitar, the GA is an excellent choice.Tonewood Pairing
The pairing of a hardwood mahogany top with ash back and sides, plus Taylor's V-Class voicing, translate into an exceptionally versatile guitar. Powers especially likes the hardwood top for live performance environments. “With its naturally smoothing compression effect, that hardwood top is a real benefit, especially the way V-Class and the ES2 pickup work,” he says. Sonically, Urban Ash blends elements of mahogany, koa and blackwood, emphasizing a focused, fundamental-strong voice that will respond well to virtually any type of player.“While this guitar has a voice all its own, it’s designed as a musical collaborator to whatever the musician brings to the guitar,” Powers elaborates. “That could be anywhere between a gentle whisper and a roar. This guitar is ready for whatever a musician brings to the strings."
Electronics
Taylor's ES2 is a revolutionary pickup design that delivers the latest in Taylor’s ongoing innovation in acoustic guitar amplification. The heart of the Expression System 2 is Taylor’s patented behind-the-saddle pickup, which features three uniquely positioned and individually calibrated pickup sensors. Because the pickup doesn't sit under the saddle, the bottom of the saddle comes in full contact with the bridge, allowing all the nuance of the guitar's tone to come through clearly whether playing acoustically or plugged-in. The location of the sensors enables a more dynamic range of acoustic sound to be captured than ever before while playing plugged-in.Together with Taylor’s custom-designed “professional audio”-grade preamp, this system produces exceptional amplified tone and responsiveness. On stage through a PA, plugged into your favorite acoustic amplifier, or direct into recording software, the Expression System 2 faithfully conveys the voice of your Taylor guitar. The Taylor Expression System 2 operates through a proprietary 9-volt battery compartment and easy-to-use volume, and active bass and treble controls.
V-Class Bracing
Taylor's V-Class bracing is a fundamental innovation in acoustic guitar design. It marks an important evolution beyond traditional X-bracing, introducing an entirely new platform for acoustic performance. It is essentially a "sonic engine" that optimizes the response of an acoustic guitar in three key ways: by boosting volume, sustain, and by largely resolving the intonation (in-tune-ness) issues that have long plagued acoustic guitars. V-Class bracing creates purer, more orderly notes that don't cancel each other out or sound "off". They have clearer, more consistent response, and the whole fretboard is brought into greater sonic alignment for a more musical playing/listening experience.Guitars with V-Class bracing are easier to tune; the pitch sounds purer and more solid, and electronic tuners can more easily locate notes for quick, precise tuning. Other benefits: harmonics ring more uniformly down the neck, notes are louder with more projection and sustain, and notes are more consistent, i.e., upper register notes don't get choked out or swallowed. Fewer "sour" sonic qualities exist with chords; a more agreeable relationship is created between notes as they ripen, bloom and decay.
Specifications
Body
- Body type: Taylor Grand Auditorium
- Cutaway: Beveled Cutaway
- Top wood: Solid Tropical Mahogany
- Back & sides: Urban Ash
- Bracing pattern: Taylor V-Class Bracing with Relief Rout
- Body finish: Silent Satin Finish
- Orientation: Right-Handed
- Neck shape: Standard Taylor Profile
- Nut width: 1-3/4" (44.5 mm)
- Fingerboard: Genuine West African Ebony
- Neck wood: Tropical Mahogany
- Scale length: 25-1/2"
- Number of frets: 20
- Neck finish: Satin
- Pickup/preamp: Expression System 2 Professional Audio-Grade
- Brand: Taylor
- Configuration: Behind-the-Saddle Transducer with Adjustable Sensors
- Preamp EQ: Volume, Active Bass and Treble
- Feedback filter: Onboard Phase Switch
- Tuner: None
- Headstock overlay: Genuine West African Ebony
- Tuning machines: Gotoh 21:1 Gold Tuners
- Bridge: Genuine West African Ebony
- Saddle & nut: Micarta "Wave" Saddle; Teflon-Infused Graphite Nut
- Number of strings: 6
- Special features: Beveled armrest, chamfered body edges, Curve Wing bridge, Gotoh 510 tuners, Silent Satin finish
- Case: Taylor Deluxe Hardshell Case
- Accessories: None
- Country of origin: USA
WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including Lead, which is known to the State of California to cause cancer, and to cause birth defects or other reproductive harm. For more information go to www.P65Warnings.ca.gov.