David R.

You'll be hard pressed to find an all-around great 12-string acoustic-electric guitar at ANY price.

Many guitars pass through the hands of a guitar player over the years. Most are 're-homed' after a while. The Taylor 856ce is a definite "Keeper." This is the highest compliment a guitarist can pay to an instrument.

Having owned and played many 12-string guitars in my life, I must say that the Taylor 856ce is a truly extraordinary instrument in a line of categorically excellent 12-string guitars. It is, quite literally, among the best of the best. For a lover of 12-string acoustic-electric guitars who can afford it, this 856ce is absolutely top-of-the-line in all imaginable ways.

Guitars are one of the most popular instruments sold in the world. This is for a lot of good reasons. Playing one in a basic way is not difficult to learn, they are generally light and portable and they are available in the range of prices including ones that are quite inexpensive when it comes to professionally manufactured musical instruments.

The most popular guitars, at any price point, are those with 6 strings. 12 string guitars, though less commonplace, have many avid fans both as listeners as well as players. In the pantheon of available 12 string acoustic-electric guitars, the company founded and still run by Bob Taylor in El Cajon California that bears his name, manufactures some of the best in the world.

Each model, from the most basic to the most elegant, is carefully designed and assembled by hand and each individual instrument is worth having and playing. This review discusses some of the detail of Taylor's flag ship 12 string acoustic-electric guitar, the 856ce. This long-sought ideal melding of the luthier's craft and the 12-string guitar player's high-end desires and needs are perfectly met in this flagship model 856ce.

Design, Construction and Appearance

The 856ce is in a size developed by Taylor called the Grand Symphony. It is a bit smaller and easier to hold than a full size Jumbo model with a significantly narrower waist' the narrowed area in the mid-body of the guitar. The "ce" designation tells us that the body is shaped in the Venetian Cutaway design that allows for easier access to the highest frets (those closest to the body of the guitar.)

The materials used in the construction of this guitar are all top quality. The top is Sitka Spruce, the sides and back solid Indian Rosewood, the neck Tropical Mahogany and the fingerboard is ebony with beautiful mother-of-pearl inlays. The binding, commonly some variety of white or black plastic on less impressive instruments, is Curly Maple.

When it comes to the finish, Taylor has come up with a gloss top, back, and sides that provides maximum durability and resistance to cold-checking. This ultraviolet-cured finish is also more environmentally friendly than traditional lacquer finishes. Notably, this finish does nothing to impair or impede the sound of the guitar as high-gloss finishes can sometimes do.

Every detail is superb from the gold closed tuners and mother-of-pearl topped bridge pins to the richly adorned abalone rosette. It is simply a beautiful guitar and is available with the natural tone Sitka Spruce top or, by special order, with the top in either Western Red Cedar or Engelmann Spruce and alternative top finishes in either tobacco or sunburst tones.

Sheer beauty and artful construction notwithstanding, the most important functional attributes of any guitar are its sound and actual playability.
The sound generated with either flat or finger picking, with or without amplification, is simply incredible. It is rich and robust with near-perfect response from all three (bass, mid-range and treble) sound ranges. Unlike many 12-string guitars, it manages to lose the jingle-jangle-sound of many of them. Instead, each and every string generates sound with a piano-like clarity and definition.

All Taylor 12-strings, including the most basic are easy to play. Although, on the 856ce, the width of the neck at the nut (the narrowest part of the neck, closest to the headstock and tuners) is 1- 7/8" wide it is imminently playable without uncomfortable effort. The neck diameter is narrow and easy to get your hand around, the neck is clear and straight, the frets clean and smooth, the sound/finger board smoothly finished ebony and the strings as close as possible to the fret board.

Like most consumer products, guitars do not really have any specific intrinsic' value. They are worth' whatever a buyer is willing to pay for it.
The pricing of guitars is a bit like cars. There are three prices. 1) The guitar equivalent of an automobile's MSRP, 2) the advertised "Best Price" and 3) the price for which it actually is sold. The dealer generally takes the price from #1 to #2. As is the case with most cars, the actual selling price (#3) is arrived at through a process of negotiation.

The Taylor 856ce has a Factory List Price (which no informed guitar buyer EVER pays and no dealer who is serious about selling the instrument EVER charges) of $4,258. Then, the manufacturer controls what is referred to as the MAP (Minimum Advertised Price.) This is the lowest amount any authorized retailer is permitted to publicly display as the "Lowest" or "Best" price. In the case of this 856ce, that is currently $3,149. Finally, and most importantly, there is the price that the buyer actually negotiates with the dealer.

In my case, with a few phone calls to various dealers giving each successive one the opportunity to best the lowest price I had been quoted (privately, over the phone) by the one before it, I wound up paying $2,600. With UPS shipping and custom hard case included. This is about 61% of the Factory List Price and $549. Less than the MAP. Assertively shopping for the best possible price for a guitar is standard smart-buying practice.

The Taylor 856ce is an exceptional instrument and one with a hefty price tag. None-the-less, an hour spent making a few phone calls can save a great deal of money even on the best.
If you have the chops, the desire and the funds you'll be hard pressed to find an all-around great 12-string acoustic-electric guitar at ANY price.

I passed the point of having all the guitars I needed' some years back and after 50-60 of them passed through my hands, I settled on a basic stable of five of them:
These included two Taylors (856ce 12-string and the 814ceDeluxe), a Gibson J45 Standard, and an older parlor guitar that lived in my office for about 20 years before I retired 4 years ago, a nice solid Cedar Top Art & Lutherie AMI. All but the AMI are Acoustic-Electrics. The fifth is a Fender Stratocster (MIM) for those times that call for electric blues or good old rock n roll!

Seems like that ought to do any reasonable person but, as unreasonable as it admittedly is, I went scouting around for another small (Travel size) guitar straight acoustic. I shopped high and low and decided to chance a Brand I had never played, the travel size acoustic from Zager. While it is the last instrument listed on their information (and the least expensive), after doing some research the results of which were, admittedly, mixed, I decided to give it a try. Here is a summary of my experience with this Zager travel guitar after 3 weeks or so:

The Build:
The first thing I do with a new guitar is carefully examine the build. It is really hard to get good sound out of an instrument that has not been carefully crafted. In this area, I find no fault or flaws.
Both inside, where the bracing is secure, even and completely set and clean (no glue spots), and outside, where the gloss finish is even and smoothly applied, the fingerboard and frets smooth, the tuning machines are nice, tight Grovers and the attractive headstock nice and even, the finishing items (black plastic binding, a lovely Abalone rosette. The construction of the top, back and sides are all of solid mahogany.
All-in-all, it is beautiful and carefully built little acoustic guitar.

The Feel:
I like having one or two small guitars around for noodling around while I am on the couch to travelling with I am almost never without one. "Travel", unlike most Dreadnaughts or Orchestra guitars, are not standard in size. This is neither the smallest nor the largest guitar of this type that I have played and feels just right.
As advertised, the guitar arrived set-up for easy play especially on the lower frets (those closest to the nut and headstock.) As a matter of personal preference, I had the bridge adjusted just a tad to bring the higher frets and strings above them just a bit closer together.

And, perhaps most importantly,
The Sound:
A small acoustic guitar, by definition, produces a smaller sound. But, smaller' does not mean less rich or melodic. Even on the first day out of the box, the sweetness of the instrument and its rather remarkable sustain were obvious. I was surprised in a good way!
I am, primarily, a finger-picker but revert to my old-style flat-picking from time to time. The Zager came delivered with a custom flat-pick that is thinner that what I am accustomed to, but worked very nicely on this little-brother guitar,
No buzz up or down the neck and the Grover tuners really minimize the few seconds it takes to check the tuning before playing.

This is a sweet sounding, nicely built and very carefully built small guitar. Just perfect for tossing into the included HS case (that has a built-in Hygrometer) and into the back seat of the car. I have played it into a decent mic and although it is not identical to the sound produced by a guitar with built-in electronics, it is entirely satisfactory and not a critical word was to be heard when I played it with a group of hyper-critical guitar-playing friends.

Mostly, though, I enjoy it as a very personal, sweet sounding and easy to play small guitar and, at the price it sells for directly from Zager, it is a worthwhile purchase and, in comparison with other, better-known and considerably more expensive national brands, it is a good value.

For me, this is not another of the many guitars that have passed through my hands for a try and then have been rehomed.'
This Zager is a keeper.