Taylor Academy 22e, Walnut

Grand Concert Body: The small-body Grand Concert debuted in 1984 to meet the needs of a new wave of adventurous acoustic fingerstyle players. In contrast to the traditionally darker, boomier voices of bigger body styles like dreadnoughts and jumbos, the GC’s compact size and tapered waist kept the overtones in check. It was also more comfortable to play while sitting down, and the guitar’s slightly wider neck gave players more room for complex fingerings. The GC’s smaller sonic footprint also fit cleanly in a mix with other instruments when tracking in the studio and with a band on stage, making it a useful tool for professional session and side players. Taylor's current generation of GC models continues to accommodate fingerstylists with finger-friendly traits like a shorter 24 7/8-inch scale length, which makes fretting easier and adds a slightly slinkier feel on the strings due to the lighter string tension. If you feel more comfortable with a small body or favor controlled overtones, a Grand Concert is a great option.

The smallest of Taylor’s full-size body shapes. Its compact dimensions make for a physically comfortable guitar with an intimate feel and sound. The smaller footprint keeps the overtones in check, contributing to a focused, articulate sound that’s well-suited for recording and stage work.

Grand Concert Specifications: 19 1/2" / Body Width: 15" / Body Depth: 4 3/8"

Layered Walnut Body Wood: Taylor's layered wood construction features three wood layers: a middle core of poplar with a thinner layer on each side. Layered walnut’s rich brown hues lend a pleasing aesthetic warmth to the guitars that showcase it.

Sound: Taylor uses layered woods for the back and sides of some of Taylor's guitars for their blend of sound quality, durability, and affordability. Layered wood construction also enables Taylor to preserve tonewood resources. Although layered wood guitars won’t yield quite the same level of tonal complexity as an all-solid guitar, all are paired with a solid wood top to produce a rich, responsive voice that will continue to improve with time and extended play. Layered walnut provides a strong backbone for Taylor's 100 Series, adding subtle touches of high-end sparkle together with midrange presence. An outer layer of walnut is overlaid onto a poplar core (with a layer of sapele on the other side). The layering process also allows Taylor to bend an arch into the back for extra strength and produces a durable that travels well.

Walnut Top Wood: Though better known and more widely used as a back and side wood, walnut also offers a distinctive musical flavor as a soundboard wood. Its physical density and stiffness are akin to Hawaiian koa, generating a similar natural compression effect when used as a top wood that results in a smooth, balanced attack. Players will notice crisp trebles and a woody, warm low-end response that matures and grows richer with time and playing. Walnut generates a bit more presence in the midrange than koa, providing some of mahogany’s dryness and focus in the center of the tonal spectrum balanced by a touch of overtonal texture similar to rosewood.

Origin: USA

Goes Well With: Players who like a balanced, woody acoustic sound that offers treble clarity and definition along with warmth and depth.

ES-B™ Acoustic Electronics: This version of Taylor's ES-B electronics incorporates Taylor’s Expression System® 2 piezo design elements and features a multifunctional onboard preamp with a built-in digital chromatic tuner and active tone-shaping EQ control. The preamp/tuner unit features an LED display for tuning and low battery indication, along with a Volume control and 3-band EQ. The preamp/tuner is powered by a 9v battery. With an alkaline battery, battery life expectancy when using the preamp only is over 500 hours, and when using the tuner is over 50 hours. Plugging in the guitar will activate the battery. A low battery indicator on the LED display (located on the preamp circuit board) will light up when the battery reaches 4.5 volts.