Simply grand
We're no strangers to a good Taylor acoustic guitar around here. With such a colorful legacy, it's hard to not get caught up in all the hubbub when California's finest acoustic guitar makers are at it again. Constantly innovating on structural and sonic levels, there's always reason to pay attention when Taylor Guitars has something new to show. Taylor Guitars is among the premier names in acoustic guitar design and for good reason. You don't get to fifty years without doing something right, after all.
All this talk about Taylor Guitars brings us today to our topic at hand: Taylor's Gold Label Collection series of acoustic guitars. New to 2025, the Taylor Gold Label Collection is a star-studded affair. With new innovations at every turn, the Gold Label Collection has already given Taylor fans plenty to chew on. The guitar in question today we're taking on enters the Gold Label Collection to commemorate one of Taylor's most celebrated body styles, the Grand Pacific. With a new series and a new approach, Taylor's got something sweet in store. Let's talk about it, shall we?
This is the Taylor Guitars Gold Label 717e Grand Pacific.
Shop the Taylor Gold Label 717e
Going for Gold
Introducing the Taylor Guitars Gold Label 717e Grand Pacific
The Taylor Gold Label Collection presents a refreshed frame of reference on several Taylor standbys. Kicking off in early 2025 with a new body style, the Super Auditorium, the Gold Label Collection series has focused in on rethinking established Taylor formulas. Revised body shapes, bracing patterns, and tonewood combinations have been of particular fascination for Taylor and their Gold Label guitars. Each modification has resulted in exciting new routes for players to take in terms of sonics and playability.
Striking boldly into new territory but remaining familiarly Taylor, the Gold Label Collection is definitely a development worth checking out if innovative acoustics are your thing. Today's Gold Label 717e Grand Pacific offers similar modifications to make it stand out among other acoustics. New design elements to inspire new musical directions punctuate this Taylor Gold Label for the ravenous Taylor fans out there. In short, the Grand Pacific has received a real red carpet treatment with the Gold Label Collection. Let's dig in.
Perfectly Pacific
Taylor Guitars Gold Label 717e Grand Pacific Design
Always innovating, Taylor has given us plenty to pour over in this Gold Label Collection acoustic. Sure to please existing Grand Pacific fans as well as attract new ones, this Gold Label Collection Grand Pacific is (spoiler alert) a delight. How about some tonewoods?
Grand Pacific Body
The Taylor Guitars Grand Pacific body style is a definite classic among the brand. Among the newer body shapes introduced to the Taylor family, the Grand Pacific is a round-shoulder dreadnought that pays tribute to some of America's original acoustic guitar designs that founded some of the world's acoustic guitar traditions. The Grand Pacific is a body style that balances established acoustic designs and Taylor ingenuity. Because of this, it serves as an exceptional base off which to build an exciting acoustic model.
Pacific RimThe Grand Pacific is a well-established and popular body style perfect for any kind of player. If you're in the mood for an acoustic that balances the traditions of dreadnought acoustic guitars universally and the innovations of a brand like Taylor, Grand Pacific may be your way to go. Check out a Grand Pacific at any level and you're sure to find something to connect with, should great acoustic guitars be your thing.
But whose thing isn't great acoustic guitars?
This Gold Label Collection model comes together with a torrefied spruce top and Indian rosewood back and sides. Torrefaction, one of the many ways Taylor makes their acoustics shine, is a process where tonewoods are carefully heat-treated to impart some artificial age, resulting in an overall lived-in sonic character that is usually reserved for much older guitars. These tonewoods combine for an exceptional tonal profile off the bat spurred on by a new Gold Label feature: a deeper body depth.
The Taylor Gold Label 717e features a distinctly deeper body depth – marking a full five inches deep at the soundhole. This increased depth makes for a Grand Pacific body with added "lung capacity" to fuel a more bass-driven sonic profile. Resulting in a Grand Pacific body with greater volume and projection off the bat, the deeper body allows space for great bass response, radiant highs, and tonal complexity at each echelon of play. This is bolstered by Taylor's fanned V-Class bracing pattern that balances and focuses the projection of the guitar overall.
"Compared to the Gold Label Super Auditorium, the curves and depth of the Grand Pacific produce even more volume and tonal depth. Its voice is earthy, honest and uncomplicated – like sonic comfort food. A reliable acoustic workhorse – both seasoned and soulful." - Taylor Guitars
Neck, Hardware, and Further Features
Exclusive to the Gold Label Collection, the Gold Label 717e Grand Pacific features a new neck design. Taylor, known for their unique neck assemblies, introduces a new innovation on neck design. The Taylor Action Control neck combines the benefits of a long-tenon neck joint design with close neck angle adjustability. The 717e's long tenon extends deeper into the Grand Pacific body, enhancing the wood coupling and produce greater low-end resonance comparable to more traditional neck designs. Like Taylor's existing neck joint design, this Gold Label's neck is glueless and shimless that allows for quick micro-adjustments without needing to remove either the strings or neck, so those looking to make the playability of their guitar truly their own have every opportunity.
Classic Taylor features like a West African Crelicam ebony fingerboard, TUSQ nut and a set of Taylor nickel tuning machines all align to ensure fluidity and stability while fretting. A Honduran rosewood "Curve Wing" bridge matches at the scale's opposite end with a Micarta saddle to ground strings stably.
Building upon the playability of the Gold Label 717e Grand Pacific, Taylor incorporated L.R. Baggs Element VTC electronics to translate the sounds of the guitar to the stage. Perfect for you performers out there, Taylor once again has your back with a stage-ready guitar. What's more, this model travels with an included Taylor Deluxe hardshell case for security. When was the last time you rolled up on your local open mic? They'd love to have you, you know.
Taylor Guitars Gold Label 717e Grand Pacific Final Thoughts
With this Gold Label Collection entry, we're treated to a fresh Taylor Grand Pacific experience. As a model that just about everyone's given a try (or at least definitely should have), Taylor proves there's still plenty of life to get out of the classic sloped-shoulder model. It's with the Gold Label Collection that we're shown that Taylor still has plenty to say with models both new and established. Today's Gold Label 717e Grand Pacific is a version of a Taylor standby definitely worth checking out for its revised view on body depth and neck assembly, if not for the rest of the guitar's features in general. Texturally complex, structurally innovative, and musically bold, Taylor has certainly hit the nail on the head for this Gold Label Collection entry.
