Taylor 324CE |Grand Auditorium Acoustic Gtr| Pickup | Case | Edgeburst

The 324ce blends an adaptable sound with rich tonal character and a pleasing, comfortable feel. This Grand Auditorium acoustic-electric boasts solid Tasmanian blackwood back and sides along with a mahogany top, resulting in a bold midrange response with a warm low end and strong focus on the fundamental note, offering workhorse utility that's especially strong in recording scenarios. You'll hear incredible volume and sustain from the V-Class bracing inside, and with the slender Taylor Neck and Venetian cutaway, you'll feel comfortable no matter what style of music you play. Topped off with a dark edgeburst finish, this model ships with ES2 electronics and a hardshell case. 

Grand Auditorium
Body Length: 20" / Body Width: 16" / Body Depth: 4 5/8"

Taylor's signature shape embodies the ultimate all-purpose acoustic.

An original Bob Taylor design introduced in 1994

Full in the lower register, present in the midrange, and sparkling on the treble strings

Our most popular shape and a good place to begin your search

Our most popular and versatile body shape, the mid-size Grand Auditorium arrived in 1994 bearing refined proportions that fell between a Dreadnought and Grand Concert. While the bigger Dreadnought was traditionally considered a flatpicker’s guitar and the smaller Grand Concert catered to fingerstylists, the GA was designed to deliver on both fronts. The shape produced an original acoustic voice that was big enough to handle medium-strength picking and strumming, yet with impressive balance across the tonal spectrum, especially in the midrange, producing clear, well-defined notes that suited both strumming and fingerstyle playing. The GA’s overall presence tracks well with other instruments both in a studio mix and on stage, and singer-songwriters have embraced its utility both for composing and traveling with one guitar. Many people want a single guitar that can cover a variety of styles, which is why the GA continues to be our bestselling shape. If you want a great all-purpose guitar, the multi-dimensional GA won’t let you down.  

Blackwood’s tone profile resembles that of koa or mahogany in its midrange focus — a little dry and clear yet also warm — with an added splash of top-end shimmer and richness found in rosewood. Its musicality suits a variety of body sizes and musical styles. 

The Taylor Expression System® 2 (ES2) is a revolutionary pickup design that delivers the latest in Taylor’s ongoing innovation in acoustic guitar amplification. The heart of the Expression System 2 is Taylor’s patented behind-the-saddle pickup, which features three uniquely positioned and individually calibrated pickup sensors. The location of the sensors enables a more dynamic range of acoustic sound to be captured than ever before. Together with Taylor’s custom-designed “professional audio”-grade preamp, this system produces exceptional amplified tone and responsiveness. On stage through a PA, plugged into your favorite acoustic amplifier, or direct into recording software, the Expression System 2 faithfully conveys the voice of your Taylor guitar. 

Behind the ES2 Design: Rethinking the Piezo Pickup
For decades, piezo-electric transducers have been positioned under the saddle of a guitar based on the long-held belief that the string and top vibration cause the saddle to “bounce” up and down. But Taylor’s electronics team, led by developer David Hosler, discovered that the vertical movement is actually heavily restricted, and that the saddle gets “locked down” due to the string tension’s downward pressure. That’s why a traditional under-saddle pickup with piezo-electric crystals often responds with a sound often characterized as thin, brittle, brash or synthetic, especially with more aggressive playing.

The saddle’s natural range of movement as the guitar is being played is actually back and forth like a pendulum. That revelation led Taylor’s design team to relocate the crystals from under the saddle to behind it. The new positioning enables the crystals to respond more naturally to the guitar’s energy as it is transferred through the saddle. Three pickup sensors are installed behind the saddle, through the bridge, with three tiny Allen screws that calibrate the position of the sensors in relation to the saddle.

Like the original Expression System, the ES2 features the same volume and tone control knobs. The preamp is similar but with a slightly different gain structure. As a result it will be about 25 percent hotter, which is more in line with other pickups. This makes it plug-and-play friendly both for artists and live sound mixers. 

V-Class-Brace
Inside every Taylor guitar is a refined voicing framework that helps shape its musical personality.

Bracing is the internal architecture, featuring an arrangement of wooden struts, that strengthens the top and back of an acoustic guitar, creating a strategic balance between stiffness and flexibility. This helps translate the air movement produced by the vibrating guitar strings and soundboard into volume, sustain and other musical properties. The nuances of each bracing pattern help “voice” a guitar, working in concert with its body dimensions and tonewoods to flavor its sound.

In our ongoing drive to refine the tone of our guitars, our bracing designs have steadily evolved over time. Led by Taylor master guitar designer Andy Powers, our latest innovative bracing designs offer a rich and diverse musical palette for players to explore. Below are several types of soundboard bracing offered with our guitar line. (Note: Bracing patterns shown have been simplified to highlight the basic form.)

V-Class™ Bracing

Our patented V-Class bracing is a revolutionary new pattern — a new sonic engine — that marks a major shift away from traditional steel-string bracing patterns. By allowing the soundboard to flex naturally while maintaining rigidity along the center (in the direction of the strings), V-Class helps enhance the volume and sustain. It also creates a more orderly response from the soundboard. Up and down the fretboard, notes are full, true and consistent, with more harmonic agreement. It represents an entirely new design platform that can be adapted to different body styles in different ways to infuse each with a unique sonic personality.