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Taylor's SolidBody Custom

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The Custom is the most expensive of Taylor's SolidBody line, and it seems to embody just about everything the series represents.

Design and construction

Appearing to be a sort of downsized Taylor T5 (the famed acoustic/electric hybrid guitar), it's the only one of the line with a rounded (Venetian) cutaway as opposed to the pointed (Florentine) design on the other two models. Taylor is genuinely unsure which it prefers - hence the duality. For the record, here at MusicRadar we prefer the look of the Custom's outline. There are currently no finish or features options for any of the guitars in the series, although some may be introduced in the future.

The body contouring is remarkably complex. The main structure is shaped from three pieces of sapele. It's cut on CNC and internally, heavily chambered - only the area under the pickups and bridge is left solid. The back is curved subtly in both planes and there's a rib-cage contour. The top, a thin, three-piece walnut burl-faced laminate is inset into the main body. There's a contrasting purfling strip around the edge of the top that gives the outline a slightly smaller line and allows a slight chamfer in the cutaway and a larger chamfer for forearm comfort. Again, the top is slightly curved, although it is far from having a traditional arched top.

In playing position the guitar looks much thinner than it is. Maximum depth is approximately 46mm in the body centre although the rim, on the bass side is nearer 30mm. But it's also tapered from bottom to top: 45mm by the bass strap button, around 35mm by the neck joint.

The neck is more standard Taylor fare: one-piece sapele for the main part and the headstock is joined with Taylor's finger-cut joint just visible under the brown colour applied to the neck back, body back and sides. By design it's very similar to the T5's neck, which is pretty similar to Taylor's standard acoustic necks - always renowned for their electric-like playability. The dimensions are quite mainstream (42.8mm at the nut, 53mm at the 12th; in depth we have 20.7mm at the first fret,
22.3mm at the 12th) and the neck- to-body joint, Taylor's T-Lock, is not only tight-fitting but very stable, and all achieved with just a single Allen key bolt.

The fingerboard is ebony and is bound with a black plastic strip and a thin 'micro purfling' contrasting line. The inlays are quite classy, but not overblown, split diamond mother-of-pearl. Fretting is immaculate from a medium wire. The radius, for an electric, is quite flat at Taylor's standard 15inches (381mm); more classic brands use a smaller. More contemporary brands do use a flatter radius, so it certainly gives the Custom a more modern and less vintage feel.

The scale length is 632mm (24.9inch), the same as the T5, a little longer than Gibson's nominal 628mm (24.75inch). The neck profile is again typically mainstream and very Taylor: a medium 'C' profile.

The back-angled headstock also sticks with safe Taylor territory. Here it's ebony faced with the same binding/purfling as the fingerboard. Only the rather generic-looking, big button tuners let it down. They feel a little spongy in use, although we rarely used them; this is one very stable guitar.