Taylor 818e Grand Orchestra Acoustic-Electric Guitar

This is Taylor's reimagined rosewood/spruce Grand Orchestra, now voiced with V-Class bracing and updated with new aesthetic appointments. Rosewood’s rich harmonic overtones, together with the Grand Orchestra body, add up to big, lush, high-fidelity voice. V-Class architecture is the perfect sonic engine to harness the body's large air capacity. A deeper, more powerful sound than ever is the result, while having incredible touch sensitivity and impeccable intonation. New aesthetic elements include a beautiful Antique Blonde shading, "Mission" inlay pattern inspired by the facades of California's Spanish missions, and maple binding accented with koa and ivoroid top trim. Ships in a deluxe "western floral" hardshell case made by Taylor for optimal fit and protection.

Body Shape
The Grand Orchestra is Taylor’s biggest, deepest body shape and delivers the richest, most complex voice. It's incredibly balanced for a big-bodied acoustic guitar. Specially braced to respond to a light touch, the Grand Orchestra is a good fit for players who want the richest, most powerful acoustic voice, for players who like a voluptuous, Jumbo-size guitar, and for solo performers looking for an expansive palette of sonic colors and textures.

Tone Wood Pairing
A Lutz spruce top voiced with Taylor’s V-Class bracing reveals another compelling side of rosewood. This new Builder's Edition 816ce has a rootsy personality, emphasizing a fundamental focus that responds directly to a player's attack, while capturing all of rosewood’s classic richness. The Grand Symphony body, combined with V-Class bracing and a revolutionary soundport cutaway, delivers a powerful voice that has more projection and volume. As with all V-Class braced guitars, the sustain and "in-tune-ness" is enhanced to make the player experience even more enjoyable. The Lutz top powers the volume up a notch, producing a powerful tonal response comparable to older, high-grade Adirondack spruce, giving players a higher volume ceiling, which also shines in an amplified setting. These guitars promise to give back to players everything they put in and then some.

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.