Taylor 217e-BLK Plus

The Taylor 217e-BLK Plus Grand Pacific electroacoustic guitar represents Taylor's take on the Dreadnought Round-Shoulder design.

The front of the guitar is made of solid spruce, while the back and sides are made of laminated big-leaf maple. Heat treating the spruce top (torefaction process) gives the wood greater stability. The acoustic qualities of the guitar are raised to a higher level by the new asymmetrical C-Class ribbing.

The maple neck is glued to an ebony fingerboard fitted with twenty frets. Tuning stability is guaranteed by the NuBone zero fret string attachment in the ebony headstock and Taylor Satin Black mechanics. The stylish look of the instrument is accentuated by a gloss black finish on the body and neck and traditional elements in the form of a black pickguard, white body binding and ebony veneer on the headstock adorned with the Taylor logo.

The sound pickup is handled by the Taylor Expression System 2. This is a completely unique pickup method that takes the possibilities of realistic sound reproduction to unprecedented proportions. Three specially designed independent piezoelectric pickups located behind the fingerboard are used for pickups. Unlike conventional pickups, they do not sense the up and down movement of the board, but the natural back and forth vibration of the grasshopper seat. This makes the sound much more natural, colourful, pleasing and responsive to the dynamics of the playing. The new preamp also makes the signal 25% stronger. Of course, feedback is eliminated and the volume, bass and treble can be adjusted.

The guitar comes in a durable soft case (Aerocase).

The American company Taylor is famous for producing acoustic guitars that are very well crafted and offer a superior sound. The 200 series instruments are manufactured in the Tecate, Mexico factory, but this does not detract from the quality. Tecate is only a few dozen kilometres away from EL Cajon in California, so production is properly controlled.