Taylor

V-CLASS BRACING is now a 12-string thing at Taylor. Lead designer Andy Powers has applied his lauded V-Class bracing system to four 12-fret 12-string Grand Concert cutaway acoustic/electrics: the 352ce, 362ce, 552ce and 562ce. On review here are the blackwood-and-mahogany 362ce and the mahogany-and-cedar 552ce.

While playing a 12-string can literally be twice as awesome as a six-string, the flip side is that 12-string instruments come with a few minor annoyances, including endless tuning and string-breakage issues, and often have large bodies, which make playing less comfortable. Taylor has addressed those issues by applying V-Class bracing to its smallest body size, the Grand Concert, as well as employing other innovations, such as a double-mounted string-anchoring system.