Koa Series K24ce Grand Auditorium Acoustic-Electric Guitar

The Koa Series K24ce Grand Auditorium Acoustic-Electric Guitar features Hawaiian koa, a captivatingly beautiful wood matched by a tone that blossoms over time, especially in the midrange. Its voice is bright and focused, with warm overtones that slowly emerge, adding sweetness and depth. Premium all-wood appointments, led by the Island Vine fretboard inlay, celebrate the wood's natural appeal. It also has a Venetian cutaway which gives the guitar soft, round lines, and provides you better access to the higher frets.

Grand Auditorium
Taylor's most popular and versatile body shape, the mid-size Grand Auditorium arrived in 1994 bearing refined proportions that fell between a Dreadnought and Grand Concert. While the bigger Dreadnought was traditionally considered a flatpicker's guitar and the smaller Grand Concert catered to fingerstylists, the GA was designed to deliver on both fronts. The shape produced an original acoustic voice that was big enough to handle medium-strength picking and strumming, yet with impressive balance across the tonal spectrum, especially in the midrange, producing clear, well-defined notes that suited both strumming and fingerstyle playing.

The GA's overall presence tracks well with other instruments both in a studio mix and on stage, and singer-songwriters have embraced its utility both for composing and traveling with one guitar. Many people want a single guitar that can cover a variety of styles, which is why the GA continues to be Taylor's bestselling shape. If you want a great all-purpose guitar, the multi-dimensional GA won't let you down.

Koa
A tropical hardwood, koa's tone blends the midrange of mahogany with the top end of maple. Due to its density, a new koa guitar tends to start out sounding a little bright and tight, somewhat like maple. But the more a koa guitar is played, the more the sound opens up, expanding the midrange and rewarding the player with a richer, sweeter, more resonant tone.

A common mistake is when a bright player buys a koa guitar in part for its visual beauty, finds it to be too bright, and doesn't play it enough to allow the wood to warm up. It goes well with fingerstylists who play more with the pads of their fingers and tend to have a meatier touch. Note: Bright players need to be careful because of koa's existing brightness (one might try experimenting with different pick materials).

Expression System 2
The Taylor Expression System 2 (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 proprietary behind-the-saddle pickup (patent pending), which features three uniquely positioned and individually calibrated pickup sensors. The location of the sensors enables a more dynamic range of acoustic sound to be captured than ever before. 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.

CV Bracing with Taylor Relief Rout
This version incorporates the relief rout and additional refinements, including subtle contouring differences in the scalloping. In general, guitars with CV bracing sound fuller and fatter without giving up articulation. They are also slightly louder. Taylor's patented relief rout is a tone-enhancing voicing technique in which a groove is carved along the inside edges of the top. This groove is similar in function to the re-curve on a violin - it "loosens up" the edges of the top, generating extra flexibility without sacrificing structural integrity. The result is increased bass and volume with a balanced tone.