Taylor

101
APRIL 2022 GUITARIST
TAYLOR AD27E FLAMETOP
4. Taylor’s Expression
System 2 sits behind the
guitar’s bridge, ensuring
an easy plug-in-and-go
onstage personality
5. Designer Andy Powers
recommends the use of
nickel bronze strings to
bring out the best tone
from the AD27e
balance and projection. Taylor tells us that
when they use maple for a guitar’s back and
sides, they voice the instrument to bring
out its warmth, complexity and sustain.
But what about using it as a top wood?
Here, the emphasis is on a “dry, midrange-
centric tone” and promises a voice that,
when combined with the company’s
V-Class bracing, will produce a “rustic,
chunky sound”. To illustrate just how far
Andy Powers will go to squeeze every drop
of his desired tone for the AD27e, the guitar
has been strung with his recommended
type of string – a set of D’Addario Nickel
Bronze 0.012 to 0.053 gauge: “The strings
have a unique response when you put
them on an acoustic guitar – they’re not
dull sounding, but it’s not the same vibrant
presence you expect from a brand-new set
of bronze strings,” he tells us.
Completing the medley of woods present
here, we have maple for the neck and
eucalyptus for the fingerboard and bridge.
Eucalyptus might be a bit of a new age
traveller, too, but it’s another wood that
is in plentiful supply across the globe (so
much so that in some areas it’s regarded as
invasive), is not in any way endangered and
fits Taylor’s ecological aspirations like a
glove. Visually, it’s incredibly similar to the
look of rosewood, whereas tone wise it’s
known for strong mids and trebles with a
balanced bass and so there’s clearly a sonic
picture emerging here with the AD27e.
In the hand, the instrument feels very
good indeed; the satin-finished neck with
its everyman C profile and 44.5mm nut
width lays down the welcome mat before
we’ve even played a note. When we do, we
like what we hear. One thing we always
listen out for with dreadnoughts is the
midrange hump that sometimes happens
around the F and F# on the fourth string.
Playability overall
is very, very good…
There’s a delightful
dryness to the sound;
it’s woody and earthy
5
4
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