Taylor 150ce

A 12-string guitar is a genuinely different instrument to play, not just a 6-string with extra strings added on. Each of the four lower courses pairs a standard string with a string tuned an octave higher, and each of the two treble courses pairs unison strings, so a single strummed chord rings out as a chorused, doubled wall of sound rather than a single clean note per string. That effect is what a 12-string is for — layered rhythm tracks, open-tuned recording work, the specific chime a 6-string simply cannot produce — but it also means more string tension and a wider fretboard, which is historically where budget 12-strings have gotten uncomfortable to play. The 150ce addresses that directly with a wider 1-7/8-inch nut, noticeably wider than the 100 Series' 6-string models, giving six extra strings room to breathe under a fretting hand without crowding chord shapes into an unplayable pile.

That wider nut sits on a slender-profile Neo-Tropical Mahogany neck, a deliberate pairing: the added width goes toward string spacing rather than neck depth, so the 150ce doesn't fight a player's hand the way a wide-and-thick 12-string neck can. A solid torrefied spruce top, roasted under controlled heat before it's ever braced to drive out excess moisture and cellulose sugars, sits over layered sapele back and sides on the standard Dreadnought body — the same tonewood pairing and C-Class Bracing platform as the rest of the 100 Series, giving the 150ce a controlled, articulate low end rather than letting twelve strings' worth of overtones collapse into mud. The Venetian cutaway carved into the lower bout is a detail plenty of budget 12-strings skip entirely, and it matters here specifically because a doubled-string chord voicing benefits from being playable higher up the neck, not just in open position.

Where the 150ce differs most from its 100 Series siblings, the 114ce and 117e, is obviously string count, but the build underneath is identical: the same torrefied spruce top, the same layered sapele back and sides, and the same C-Class Bracing platform, just adapted to a wider nut and a Dreadnought body sized to handle the extra tension and volume twelve strings demand. A player who's decided they want the specific 12-string texture doesn't have a comparable option elsewhere in the 100 Series — the 114ce and 117e are both standard 6-strings — so the choice to buy a 150ce is really a choice about the instrument's purpose (layering, open tunings, that chorused chime) rather than a comparison of build quality against its siblings.

Every Taylor that leaves The Acoustic Shoppe completes the same full 23-Point Professional Inspection our in-house techs run on every instrument we sell, regardless of price point or series tier — a genuine pre-sale quality check, not a routine setup. At $899, the 150ce sits under our $1,000 Dread-Not Guarantee threshold, so it doesn't carry the full guarantee package (the 30-day in-home trial, 1-year 90% trade-in credit, and free humidity monitoring kit reserved for instruments at $1,000 and up), but it still ships only after that complete inspection has cleared — a step that matters even more on a 12-string, where the extra tension across the top and neck makes a proper setup less optional than it is on a standard 6-string.

For the rest of the line, see our Taylor 100 Series collection, and for the complete range of Taylor models we carry, visit our Taylor Guitars collection.

The Acoustic Shoppe is an Authorized Taylor Premier Dealer and Gold Label Advantage Dealer. Every instrument ships after a full 23-point professional inspection by our in-house repair tech. As a nine-time consecutive NAMM Top 100 Dealer, we handle warranty concerns directly on your behalf.