Taylor 618e Grand Orchestra Acoustic-Electric Guitar, Antique Blonde

Description

This is Taylor’s reimagined maple/spruce Grand Orchestra, now voiced with V-Class bracing and updated with new aesthetic appointments. Maple’s sonic transparency allows the expressive nuances of the individual player to come through. V-Class architecture is the perfect sonic engine to harness the body’s large air capacity. The result is incredible touch sensitivity and impeccable intonation with a deeper, powerful sound. 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. It’s also great 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 guitar’s top is the primary filter and distributor of vibrating string energy through the guitar, which means it has a huge impact on its sound. Sitka spruce is the most prevalent guitar top wood of the modern era. It blends stiffness and elasticity in just the right proportions which translates into broad dynamic range with crisp articulation. 600 Series guitars feature a special seasoning process for the spruce top called torrefaction, a method of roasting the wood to produce an aged tonal character with greater acoustic resonance and responsiveness.

Traditionally known for having a focused tone with a fast note decay that cuts through a mix, Taylor’s maple (back and sides) guitars have been voiced to produce greater warmth, complexity, volume, sustain and responsiveness, while retaining maple’s naturally clear, linear qualities. The clarity of the high end is still there, but the bottom end has been extended. The result is a more multi-dimensional sound that gives players the kind of musical versatility of other classic tonewoods, making Taylor’s maple models a compelling choice as a primary guitar, not just a stage guitar. Their maple guitars are voiced to be very reflective of the player’s technique, so a player with a dynamic playing style or someone who likes to vary their picking attack will appreciate how easily those playing nuances come through in the tonal response.

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.

SPECIFICATIONS

• Body type: Taylor Grand Orchestra
• Cutaway: Beveled Cutaway
• Top wood: Solid Sitka Spruce
• Back & sides: Solid Big Leaf Maple
• Bracing pattern: Taylor V-Class Bracing with Relief Rout
• Body finish: Gloss
• Orientation: Right-Handed

Neck

• Neck shape: Standard Taylor Profile
• Nut width: 1-3/4″ (44.5 mm)
• Fingerboard: Genuine West African Ebony
• Neck wood: Hard Rock Maple
• Scale length: 25-1/2″
• Number of frets: 20
• Neck finish: Satin

Electronics

• Pickup/preamp: Expression System 2 Professional Audio-Grade
• Brand: Taylor
• Configuration: Behind-the-Saddle Transducer with Adjustable Sensors
• Preamp EQ: Volume, Active Bass and Treble
• Feedback filter: Onboard Phase Switch
• Tuner: None

Other

• Headstock overlay: Genuine West African Ebony
• Tuning machines: Taylor Nickel Tuners
• Bridge: Genuine West African Ebony
• Saddle & nut: Micarta “Wave” Saddle; Teflon-Infused Graphite Nut
• Number of strings: 6
• Special features: “Mission” inlay made of celluloid/shell, grained ivoroid/mother-of-pearl
• Case: Taylor Deluxe Hard Shell Case
• Accessories: None
• Country of origin: USA
• Actual weight: 5.0 lbs.