Sitka spruce top and rosewood body.

Due to its solid tonewoods and revolutionary in-house V-Class bracing, the Taylor Builder's Edition 717 exhibits excellent vibration characteristics, resulting in an outstandingly voluminous sound. It effortlessly asserts itself in loud environments and guarantees an overwhelmingly authentic performance. Meanwhile, the sound character is formed by the back and sides made of solid Indian rosewood, which knows how to convince with its balanced tone with strong basses and is therefore not without reason installed in numerous high-end guitars. A brilliant sound rich in overtones is provided by the solid top made of tightly-grained Sitka spruce, which is without a doubt the most popular top wood in the field of acoustic guitars. Its absolute premium sound fully unfolds after a certain play-in time and increasingly shows its full glory.

Mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard and 44.4 mm nut width.

Of course, high playability is not ignored. The mahogany neck with its scarf-neck profile fits extremely well in the hand, while the velvety ebony fingerboard is made for quick chord changes and tone sequences and allows the fretting hand to glide effortlessly over all 20 frets. The nut width of 44.4 mm furthermore meets all criteria for powerful strumming and virtuoso fingerpicking, making the instrument a great all-rounder for all playing styles. The guitar part is rounded off by attractive mother-of-pearl fingerboard inlays in the form of filigree arrowheads, which complement the noble Sapele binding, the harmonizing single-ring rosette and last but not least the popular classic Natural Satin finish with its distinct grain and elegant highlights.

Sustainable ebony cultivation in Cameroon

Because ebony's hard, supple texture makes it particularly finger-friendly, it has long been the preferred choice for making fingerboards. Its attractive appearance is also extremely popular for bridges, headstock rests, bridge Pins and Bindings . However, high demand and a thriving black market outstripped stocks, landing ebony on the Red List of Endangered Species in 1994. Moreover, only the jet-black heartwood, which makes up only a fraction of the tree, was used, resulting in a disproportionately large amount of waste in production. To protect the forests, Taylor has thus been working since 2011 with the Crelicam Wood Mill in Yaoundé in Cameroon to promote controlled consumption by processing waste products. Thus, not only black ebony elements are found in Taylor guitars, but also the different coloured, more clearly-grained parts of the tree. This complete recycling is an effective method of preserving stocks and successfully counteracts their dramatic decline and the negative ecological effects that accompany it.

"We need to use the ebony that the forest gives us" - Bob Taylor