12 fret guitar Grand Concert body

[Mandotim]

Hi all. I’m looking at an ad for a 12-fret Taylor here in the UK, and thinking about travelling to try the guitar. The pictures show a label that just says Grand Concert Mahogany, with no model number. The top looks suspiciously like cedar. There is a nice abalone rosette, and ivoroid binding on the front, back and neck. It has a cutaway and ES2 electrics, and the bracing looks earlier than the V-class. Does anyone here know what I’m looking at? It doesn’t appear to fit the regular Taylor series, but it’s available at a nice price. I’d like to know a little more about where it sits in th/e Taylor lineup so I can negotiate if necessary.

[Mandotim]

I’ve managed to see some of the serial number; looks like the guitar was made in El Cajon in 2011.

[jpmist]

If memory serves the first very early Taylor 12 frets were basically a toe in the water for the manufacturer so they didn't really have a name consistent with how they name models now as it was a one-off. It might have even been called "Taylor 12 Fret"

I was looking into these that far back and am pretty sure it would have been all solid woods. Now that I checked I used to own one! A 2015 model - how time flies. It had a cutaway, abalone rosette and a slothead, likely a spruce top rosewood b&s.

Yikes, look what i found in my guitar folder on my laptop! The 12th Fret Guitar shop archived the 2010 model on their web site. This could be yours. . .

https://www.12fret.com/instruments/taylor-12-fret/nggallery/slideshow

[Mandotim]

Yikes, look what i found in my guitar folder on my laptop! The 12th Fret Guitar shop archived the 2010 model on their web site. This could be yours. . .

Very similar looking, but the one I’m interested in is a non-cutaway. Thanks for the info, it’s very helpful. I think I’m going to have to play it….

[PaulWood]

I own a 2010 12-fret short-scale custom, which has the designation 'Custom TF'. It was completed on 5 March 2010 and was the 112th completed that day, according to the serial number. It boasts an Engelmann Spruce top, Indian rosewood back & sides, mahogany neck, ebony fretboard, peghead & bridge and a rosewood bevelled armrest. It has a venetian cutaway and the ES-NC system.
It is a beautiful guitar, the only thing I would change is the ES-NC system. NC stands for 'no controls', which means (apart from there being no controls on the guitar!) that the battery holder is within the guitar body, accessible through the sound-hole - so, no fast battery change!
I bought this guitar in 2018 from the original owner, a collector who displayed it but played it little. At that time, the spec was costed (by Taylor) at $6.6k in the U.S. In the UK, with various import duties etc, this would have equated to £6.6k.
The guitar has never been gigged.
I'm considering 'thinning my herd' as a result of accelerating arthritis, so if anybody in the UK is interested, PM me and I'll be glad to discuss it further.

[Frettingflyer]

Maybe a predecessor to the 522? My 522ce 12 fret is all Mahogany but I am not sure the year right now, maybe 2016?

[Mandotim]

Oh dear, too late….a very nice 2014 818e First Edition followed me home…..