Review: Taylor Guitars 352ce and 362ce 12-String Acoustic-Electrics

Most 12-string acoustic guitars made over the last 100 years have predominantly featured large body sizes, from the Stella models of the Twenties favored by Lead Belly through the Martin dreadnought 12-strings popularized during the Sixties folk boom to Guild’s jumbo models played by rockers during the Seventies and beyond. 

In more recent times, Taylor has reigned as the leading manufacturer of 12-string acoustics, and they now offer a wider variety of 12-string models than anyone else. The incredible popularity of Taylor’s 12-string guitars has allowed them to develop new designs that redefine previous notions of what a 12-string guitar should and could be.

The new 352ce and 362ce models are perfect examples of Taylor’s bold new vision for 12-string design. Both models feature Grand Concert body sizes—Taylor’s smallest—along with necks that meet the body at the 12th fret and 24 7/8-inch scale lengths. The smaller size provides maximum playing comfort, but the designs were carefully refined and tuned to deliver the clear, powerful voice and character that distinguishes a 12-string from other flattop acoustics.

FEATURES
With the exception of body materials, finish and list price, the Taylor 352ce and 362ce essentially offer identical features. The 352ce has a gloss natural-finish Sitka spruce top, sapele back and sides and neck, back and sides finished with medium brown stain. The 362ce has a satin shaded edge burst-finish tropical mahogany top and stained Tasmanian blackwood back and sides, with the top and neck finished with medium brown stain.

Both guitars have satin finishes. Both models have a compact Grand Concert body that measures 15 inches wide and 4 3/8 inches deep and feature a rounded Venetian cutaway. The neck is tropical mahogany with a West African ebony fingerboard decorated with small diamond inlays, 18 medium frets and a moderately shallow,