Dreadnought
The original Dreadnought acoustic guitar appeared early in the 20th Century, and its no-frills, no-nonsense shape made it a logical namesake of the huge battleships of that day. Most subsequent Dreadnoughts, including Taylor's, have been derivative of that early design. In 1997, however, Bob Taylor re-designed the Taylor Dreadnought by softening the curves at the top and bottom and generally refining its overall shape. In 2003, gloss-finish Dreadnoughts also underwent bracing refinements that substantially increased their overall volume and bass response, without sacrificing Taylor's signature balance and clarity. Dreadnought six-strings shine as "plectrum" or "rhythm" guitars because they respond well to flatpicking or light-to-heavy strumming.

Grand Auditorium
The Grand Auditorium was the first guitar shape designed from scratch by Bob Taylor. It was unveiled to commemorate the company's 20th Anniversary in 1994, and since then it has more than lived up to its promise. Although the GA has the width and depth of a Dreadnought, its narrower waist gives it the appearance of a smaller instrument, adds treble "zing" across the guitar's tonal spectrum, sharpens the definition of individual notes, and also enables it to rest comfortably in the lap. Because we remove mass from the width of the GA's braces, the guitar top moves faster, resulting in a snappy, bell-like tone. The GA, available as a 6- or 12-sting, is designed to be a strong fingerpicking guitar that also can handle medium strumming, and is exceptionally versatile.

Grand Concert
Because of its smaller size, our Grand Concert traditionally has been a comfortable, "intimate" guitar—something to wrap oneself around. Its clarity, balanced response, scaled-down proportions, and scalloped bracing make it ideal for fingerstyle. Stage performers appreciate its body-friendly size and contours, and those who work in the recording studio love its controlled overtones. In 2000, we re-designed the Grand Concert to bring it more in line with the other Bob Taylor originals, and for 2004, expanded its body depth by a quarter-inch and revoiced it to add volume and bass response (500 Series and up), giving it a tone that belies its size.

Jumbo
Until we revoiced our Dreadnought in 2003 (500 Series and up), the Jumbo shared the Dreadnought's bracing pattern, making the two guitars somewhat similar in tone (the main difference being the extra-deep resonance and volume delivered by the Jumbo's larger sound chamber). The Jumbo's size suits it perfectly for aggressive strumming, but it's capable of sublime subtleties as well. We use the Jumbo for many of our 12-string models because the deep bass tones nicely counterbalance the additional treble strings.

Grand Symphony
The GS is the first original shape from Bob Taylor since he unveiled the Grand Auditorium in 1995. Though you might see similarities to a GA, the GS is unique in both sound and design. Significant changes in its geometry yield a deeper, more piano-like bass. The waist is moved a bit higher, then widened 3/8 of an inch. The result is a reduction in the "pinching" of the waist, which releases more tonal output from the guitar. Finally, the lower bout is expanded, making it feel slightly rounder. They're subtle changes that yield a far-from-subtle change in tone. Complementing the GS's robust bass, volume, and low-end sustain are full, rich mids and clear, balanced highs. The GS is a unique sound and a new dimension in Taylor tone.