Comparing Taylor’s Gold Label Lineup: Which guitar is for you?
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Back in January 2025, Taylor’s Gold Label Collection was a bolt from the blue that shook up the perception of America’s most innovative guitar brand. Breaking with 50 years of Taylor sonic and visual ethos, the Gold Label Collection guitars were designed by Andy Powers to represent “a different flavour altogether” for the brand.
“It’s equally good, equally interesting, but probably speaks to a different musician, or a different use case” the man himself told us ahead of the launch. “And so this will be interesting to watch expand. There’s a lot that we can do with this coming in the future.”
Ten months on and Powers and his team have made very good on that prediction – after launching with four 800 Series models, the range has since expanded to offer 22 different combinations of wood, body shape, trim level and finish.
But such a rapid expansion of a concept can be a little dizzying for even the most dedicated of Taylor enthusiasts. With new Gold Label guitars coming thick and fast, how can you be sure you’ve picked the right one for you? Well, don’t fret, because Guitar.com is here to guide you through the most important stuff you’ll need to know…
The Body Shape
When the Gold Label Collection debuted, it also brought a new body shape to the Taylor recipe, the Super Auditorium. Adapted from the legendary Grand Auditorium body shape that has been a Taylor mainstay for decades, the Super Auditorium is a little longer and a little wider. This gives the Gold Label guitars more low-end power and an open, round response than a traditional Taylor.
But the Super Auditorium wasn’t alone for long in the Gold Label stakes – it was soon joined by a bigger brother… and boy is it big. The Gold Label Grand Pacific body shape is an evolution of the Grand Pacific design that Andy Powers created back in 2019. The Gold Label version keeps the handsome slope-shouldered dreadnought dimensions of the original, but makes things deeper in the body – 3/8-inch in practice. That means this is deeper even than a Martin dread or a Gibson Jumbo.
In sonic terms, that means you get a guitar that has the powerful acoustic projection and rich low-end warmth that you’d expect from a classic old-school dreadnought guitar.
The Wood Choice
The Gold Label Collection currently inhabits four different Taylor series levels, which determine the various woods used in their construction. As well as impacting the price of the guitar in question, these wood choices also impact the guitar’s overall sound – and so whatever you’re looking to spend, it’s important to know what you’re working with.
The most affordable guitars in the current range are the 500 Series models, and these guitars pair a top of torrefied spruce – where the wood has been cooked in an oven to get a jump on the way a guitar’s woods will naturally dry out over time – and mahogany.
This is, of course, an absolutely classic acoustic guitar combination, and as such offers a rich, earthy midrange character with a clear, woody response, powerful projection and hints of seasoned, aged-in sweetness right out of the box thanks to that torrefied top.
Moving up into the 700 and 800 Series models, we find another classic pairing in the shape of torrefied Sitka spruce and rosewood on the back and sides. On the 700 Series you’ll find Indian rosewood, while the 800 Series sports Honduran rosewood, giving subtle sonic differences. Both offer a blooming, harmonically rich tone with inspiring old-school sonic character when paired with spruce, though you may notice a little more midrange punch from the 800’s Honduran back and sides .
All of the above are available in either body type, but if you want something a little different (though still very classically Taylor) you can enjoy the Koa Series Super Auditorium, which offers a Hawaiian koa back and sides to add a rich midrange character to the Gold Label recipe.
All Gold Label guitars sport mahogany necks, West African Ebony fretboard and Honduran rosewood bridges, bringing some of the finest sustainable tonewoods on earth together in spectacular fashion.
The Looks
The first strum is with the eyes, someone probably once said – and there’s no doubt that the visuals of the Gold Label Collection are as striking as they are appealing. If you want your Gold Label guitar to look as classic and timeless as it sounds, every one of the guitars in the range is offered in the classic gloss natural finish – with a player-friendly satin-finished neck – but there are more eye-catching options to be found here.
The Gold Label Collection has debuted a new amber sunburst option that manages the rare feat of looking both very current and very classic at the same time – something that’s further enhanced by the option of either a cream or firestripe pickguard.
Want to really stand out however, and you can opt for the stunning Blacktop option for all 500 and 700 Series guitars. This painted top option really emphasises the visual inspiration that Powers took from guitars and banjos of the 1920s and 30s, but with all the usual Taylor charm, cleanness and precision.
Another more subtle visual delineation between the guitars are the inlays and peghead motif – the 500 and 700 Series guitars sport the new “Crest” inlays, while the 800 Series boasts the more elaborate mother-of-pearl “Continental” designs.
More In Common
While there’s a great degree of choice already in the Gold Label Collection, there are some killer features that are ever present throughout the range. For starters, all Gold Label guitars sport Powers’ latest guitar design innovation: the Action Control Neck. This patented design features a long-tenon joint that extends deeper into the body, enhancing the wood coupling to boost the low-end resonance. It also enables you to make quick, precise string height adjustments with a turn of a bolt through the soundhole – you don’t even need to remove the strings to do this, let alone the neck.
Another common feature of the Collection is the latest evolution of Taylor’s revolutionary V-Class architecture. The Gold Label guitars sport a fan-like arrangement of braces in the soundboard’s lower bout, giving the models a warmer, more resonant, more powerful sound than would be possible otherwise. Another common factor is the LR Baggs Element VTC pickup system that ensures you sound great plugged in, too.
There are no bad choices in the Gold Label Collection – each instrument is made with that remarkable blend of precision and care that makes Taylor guitars a lifetime companion. Now you know exactly which flavour is right for you, there’s nothing stopping you from making a Gold Label guitar your new favourite instrument.
Find out more about the Gold Label Collection at taylorguitars.com
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
