A solid Sitka spruce top paired with solid Indian rosewood back and sides drives that extra volume of air. Indian rosewood contributes the complex overtone structure and long sustain rosewood is known for — a full low end, scooped mids, and highs that ring rather than snap. Spruce is the workhorse top wood for a reason too: its high stiffness-to-weight ratio translates to real headroom and dynamic range, so the 717e stays articulate whether fingerpicked quietly or driven hard on stage. Rosewood gives the tone its depth and shimmer; spruce keeps that depth from turning muddy under a hard right hand.
Underneath, Fanned V-Class bracing does the structural work that lets the rosewood-and-spruce pairing behave this way. Instead of a straight X pattern, the V-Class braces angle outward from the center, splitting the top into two working sections that improve sustain and intonation without sacrificing volume. The added Tonal Rout frees up more of the soundboard's outer perimeter to vibrate, layering in extra resonance and projection on top of what V-Class already delivers. The net result is a longer, cleaner note decay and truer pitch up the neck than a traditionally braced dreadnought offers.
Up the neck, a Standard Carve profile fills the hand comfortably without adding bulk, and the 1-3/4-inch nut width and 25-1/2-inch scale length give players coming from Martin-style dreadnoughts a familiar reach. Plugged in, an L.R. Baggs Element VTC pickup system translates the guitar's actual acoustic voice into a plugged-in tone instead of a generic piezo quack, with onboard volume, tone, and a built-in tuner for stage use.
Appointments keep pace with the tone. The Sunburst finish moves from a warm amber center out to a darker edge that plays up the deep-body silhouette, and the Firestripe pickguard adds a streak of vintage color. It ships in a British Cocoa Bronco Taylor Deluxe hard shell case, built to protect a deep-body dreadnought on the road.
Every Gold Label 717e that comes through The Acoustic Shoppe ships under the Dread-Not Guarantee — a 30-day in-home trial and a full year to trade it in for 90% credit toward anything else in the store, standard on every instrument $1,000 and up — backed by a full 23-Point Professional Inspection and a free humidity monitoring kit before it ever leaves our shop. Browse the rest of the Gold Label series or the full Taylor Guitars lineup to see where the 717e fits alongside its siblings.
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.
