Taylor Guitars is known for advancing the design of the acoustic guitar, setting a modern course for playability, tone and style. In 2014, the company unveiled a
comprehensive redesign of its flagship rosewood/spruce 800 Series to industry and media accolades, adding to its legacy as one of Taylor’s most popular acoustic guitar offerings. This year Taylor has applied the same forward-thinking vision to its maple 600 Series, connecting maple’s rich musical history with its stable environmental outlook as an important tonewood of the future.
The new 600 Series guitars elicit the best of the inherent tonal properties of maple. In 2014, Master Builder Andy Powers began to experiment with how far bracing, thickness, finish, and new seasoning processes like torrefaction, a wood roasting method, could enhance maple’s tone profile. “I wanted playing a maple guitar to be a more gratifying all-around experience,” he says. “I wanted a tone that was richer, more complex, with longer sustain, without giving up the linearity that I like about maple as a builder.” The result is a warmer, more dynamic, and more responsive instrument with more broadly appealing tonal properties than any maple guitar before it.
The top and back thicknesses have been specially gauged for each body shape. Powers also optimized the bracing for each shape. The backs feature new maple-specific bracing profiles and patterns to enhance the responsiveness.
The newly redesigned 600 Series is available in the 614ce (Grand Auditorium), 616ce (Grand Symphony), 618ce (Grand Orchestra) and 656ce (12-String Grand Symphony).
Taylor Guitars have also announced a new Australian distributor for their brand, Australian Musical Imports.