TAYLOR

reviewTAYLOR AMERICAN DREAM AD17 BLACKTOP & AD27
89
OCTOBER 2020 GUITARIST
1. A thin finish allows
the timbers’ grain to
show through. Note
the AD17 Blacktop’s
black pickguard, simple
soundhole rosette
and beautifully grained
ovangkol back and sides
2. With its eucalyptus
overlay, simple black
plastic truss rod cover
and enclosed individual
tuners, the headstock
features Taylor’s now
classic outline
3. You can clearly see the
ovangkol’s strong grain
pattern here and also
Taylor’s innovative side-
mounted strap button,
which renders the AD
guitars (especially the ‘e’
models) stage ready
It’s to this end, and with a little direction
from COVID-19, that we see the emergence
of the American Dream series. Just as the
depression of the 1930s and the havoc
wrought by WWII caused the American
guitar factories to amend their product
lines due to materials shortages and
financial hardship in the population, so the
emergence of the Coronavirus has created
similar circumstances. Taylor and Powers
instantly clocked the situation and within
a few short months created the American
Dream. They call it “inventing our way out
of a mess” and, you know what, they may
well have hit the jackpot.
The American Dream currently
comprises three acoustic instruments, each
also available with Taylor’s innovative ES2
Expression System. They’re stripped down
models that remove almost every cosmetic
nicety while leaving the instruments
looking not only purposeful but insanely
attractive. On review we have the AD17
Blacktop and AD27.
The AD17 Blacktop and AD27 are
essentially the same guitar, with solid
ovangkol back and sides, mahogany
neck, eucalyptus fingerboard, bridge and
headstock veneer, and solid spruce top.
The sole difference is the ebony-finished
soundboard of the Blacktop (also with black
rather than tortoise pickguard) whose
perimeter has been masked off to reveal the
top’s edges and lift the guitar’s appearance.
A sapele body with mahogany top is all
that marks out the AD27 as materially
different from the other two, all three models
employing the same neck and fingerboard.
To underline these models’ designed-in
austerity you’ll find no binding anywhere,
the only eye candy being a basic soundhole
rosette, small acrylic dot inlays, the Taylor
headstock logo and black heel cap. But it’s
this very simplicity that makes the ADs so
darned attractive. Visually, we would have
preferred three-on-a-plate plastic-buttoned
tuners over the individual enclosed
machines that are fitted – but that may have
bumped the price a tad too far.
While the instruments are built with
Taylor’s enviable precision, the company is
happy to allow natural timber imperfections
to shine through. Finishes are extremely
thin but not buffed smooth, so sinkage into
the grain is the order of the day. Headstocks
are scarf-jointed and heels added on in
order to sensibly cut costs and not waste
precious timbers. We applaud such moves
as ecologically sound but they also add to
the vibe of these instruments.
Feel & Sounds
With their stocky waist and slope-
shouldered styling the ADs’ Grand Pacific
shape puts us in mind of traditional classical
guitar designs – or perhaps Lowden’s
similarly fulsome outline. Size wise,
at 508mm (20 inches) long, 406.4mm
(16 inches) wide and 117.5mm (4.63 inches)
deep, they’re broadly dreadnought sized so
are great for playing both standing or seated.
The lack of binding means Taylor can slightly
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GIT464.rev_taylor.indd 89 02/09/2020 15:32