Taylor Custom Grand Auditorium Brazilian Rosewood w/case 1201226088

Brazilian rosewood is the wood every acoustic player eventually asks about, and the one almost nobody gets to own. It has been restricted under CITES Appendix I since 1992, which means no new supply - every set built today comes from stock harvested before the ban. Taylor makes a limited number of Brazilian rosewood guitars, and they are spoken for quickly.

We hand-selected the wood for this one. It is a AAA-grade Brazilian rosewood set, two-piece back, paired with a premium Adirondack spruce top on a Grand Auditorium body with a Venetian cutaway. That combination is the reason to pay attention: Brazilian gives you the deep, piano-like low end and the glassy, bell-clear top end that made it legendary, and Adirondack spruce - stiffer and more responsive than Sitka - has the headroom to keep up with it. Play it hard and it does not compress. It just gets bigger.

The Grand Auditorium shape keeps all of that usable. It is the most versatile body in the Taylor line: enough low end for a strummer, enough clarity and balance for a fingerstyle player, and a size that stays comfortable through a long session. The Venetian cutaway opens up the upper register, and a beveled armrest takes the hard edge off the lower bout where your forearm sits.

Adirondack performance bracing under the top is voiced to let the Brazilian and Adirondack combination breathe rather than reining it in.

The appointment package on this build is where it moves from a great-sounding guitar to a genuinely special one. Figured Hawaiian koa binding wraps the body, with fiber and paua purfling and an abalone and paua single-ring bound soundhole rosette. Abalone trim runs the top, back and sides, fretboard, and peghead in paua. The fretboard carries the Cindy inlay in paua and mother of pearl, echoed again on the peghead and the bridge, with a paua Taylor logo and a figured Hawaiian koa truss rod cover. It is a lot of detail, and it is all pointed in the same direction.

The mahogany NT neck has a standard carve and a 1-3/4" nut width on a 25-1/2" scale, with an ebony fretboard and bridge. Gloss finish on the body and peghead, satin on the neck, and an aged toner on the top that gives it a lived-in warmth from day one. Gotoh 510 tuners in antique gold, a bone nut, ebony bridge pins with abalone dots, and Taylor's Expression System 2 electronics for when it needs to leave the room. A firestripe pickguard ships loose in the case if you want it, and the guitar comes in its Taylor hardshell case.

Brazilian rosewood guitars do not come back around. When this one is gone, the next one is a different guitar.

HIGHLIGHTS

- AAA Brazilian rosewood back and sides, hand-selected by Tone Shop Guitars
- Premium Adirondack spruce top with Adirondack performance bracing
- Grand Auditorium body with Venetian cutaway and beveled armrest
- Figured Hawaiian koa binding and truss rod cover
- Abalone and paua trim on the top, back and sides, fretboard, and peghead
- Cindy inlays in paua and mother of pearl on the fretboard, peghead, and bridge

SPECIFICATIONS

BODY
Shape: Grand Auditorium
Body Depth: 4-5/8"
Cutaway: Venetian
Back and Sides: Brazilian Rosewood, AAA
Back Configuration: Two-Piece
Top: Adirondack Spruce, Premium
Bracing: Adirondack Performance Bracing
Armrest: Beveled Armrest
Binding: Figured Hawaiian Koa
Backstrap: Matching Binding, Gloss
Purfling: Fiber and Paua
Rosette: Abalone and Paua, Single-Ring Bound Soundhole
Abalone Trim: Top, Back and Sides, Fretboard, and Peghead in Paua

NECK
Neck Wood: Mahogany
Neck Joint: Taylor NT Neck
Neck Profile: Standard Carve
Nut Width: 1-3/4"
Scale Length: 25-1/2"
Fretboard: Ebony
Bridge: Ebony
Fretboard Inlay: Cindy, Paua and Mother of Pearl
Peghead Inlay: Cindy, Paua
Bridge Inlay: Cindy, Paua
Peghead Logo: Taylor, Paua
Peghead Veneer: Ebony
Peghead Type: Standard
Truss Rod Cover: Figured Hawaiian Koa

FINISH
Back and Sides: Gloss
Top: Gloss with Aged Toner
Neck: Satin
Peghead: Gloss

HARDWARE
Tuners: Gotoh 510 Antique Gold
Nut: Bone
Saddle: Micarta
Bridge Pins: Ebony with Abalone Dots
Strap Pin: Black, on Heel
Pickguard: Firestripe, Included Loose in Case
Strings: D'Addario XS Light Gauge

ELECTRONICS
Taylor Expression System 2

MISCELLANEOUS
Series: Taylor Custom
Orientation: Right-Handed
Strings: 6-String
Case: Included

Note: Brazilian rosewood (Dalbergia nigra) is listed under CITES Appendix I. This instrument cannot ship outside the United States.

WHY BUY FROM TONE SHOP GUITARS?

At Tone Shop Guitars, we specialize in hand-selected premium and Custom Shop instruments built for serious players and collectors. Every guitar we bring in is chosen for feel, resonance, visual character, and musical usefulness - not just specs on paper. When you buy from Tone Shop, you're getting an instrument we genuinely believe in.