Academy Series Academy 12e Grand Concert Acoustic-Electric Guitar Natural. Over the past four-plus decades there’s a resounding theme from Taylor Guitars: passion for improving the guitar-playing experience. As a company that’s passionate about exposing more players to the pleasures of making music, Taylor isn’t content to see people throw in the towel before they have a chance to get their groove on. The Academy Series, which includes the Academy 12e Grand Concert, represents Taylor’s effort to support the development of the entry-level guitar player. Taylor believes that in many respects a player who is just beginning deserves the best-playing guitar. Most newcomers to the instrument — and parents buying for their kids — are understandably reluctant to pony up for a more expensive, “nice” brand of guitar without knowing whether the interest will last. So the approach tends to be: start with an inexpensive, “good-enough” guitar, and if things progress, upgrade to something better. But all too often this ends in hand-wringing frustration, where would-be music-makers walk away from the instrument blaming themselves for not having enough musical talent or physical dexterity, when, in fact, the real culprit all along was the guitar. The Playing Experience Academy Series guitars, like this Academy 12e Grand Concert, are designed to offer enough immediate gratification to encourage a new player to keep playing. To do so, the playing experience was Taylor’s priority: ? Easy to hold and play: The body is comfortable and lightweight, and easy to strum and fret ? Rewarding sound: Yields a good sound easily in the hands of a newer player ? Not too precious: Durable, minimal, so it's not intimidating for a novice to play and care for ? Broad appeal: Covers a broad range of music preferences Function and Form The Academy Series Grand Concert is intended as a fingerstyle guitar with the added benefit of a more compact body size for extra playing comfort. The wood pai...