Taylor Guitars | Next Generation Grand Auditorium
Fender Highways Series Event Featuring Julia Rizik
Join us at Chicago Music Exchange on Thursday, November 30, for a special Fender event introducing the new Highway Series guitars and featuring Fender artist Julia Rizik in CME’s Lincoln Avenue showroom!
In addition to a demonstration of the new series, guests will receive Fender-branded swag. Guests will also be invited to record themselves playing a Highway Series guitar to enter an exclusive raffle!
The Next Evolution of Taylor’s Flagship Body Style is Now Available at CME!
In 1994, Taylor Guitars introduced the Grand Auditorium, designed to be the most versatile acoustic guitar body shape in the Taylor lineup! Offering a full bass, strong midrange presence, and an open top end, it balanced the entire tonal spectrum to become the player’s choice across all playing styles.
Now for 2026, Taylor has brought the Grand Auditorium shape back into the spotlight with the next generation of their flagship body style! With tweaks that enhance each guitar’s richness, playability, and on-stage performance, these guitars prove that the time is now to capture the Taylor Guitar for YOU at Chicago Music Exchange!
Brace Yourself for a Richer Tone!
Each Next Generation Grand Auditorium features Taylor’s new Scalloped V-Class bracing! By making the bracing lighter in strategic spots, the top moves more freely, resulting in a warmer voice that makes chords bloom with harmonic richness. This is without sacrificing the expanded projection power that made Taylor’s V-Class bracing popular when it was first introduced in 2018.
Easier Action Adjustments, Now at Your Fingertips!
Taylor has long been about player-friendly innovations, and the Action Control Neck is the next step in their musical development! First, the long-tenon neck joint strengthens the heel and maximizes the contact between neck and body for maximum warmth and sustain. The neck also features a shimless action control, with a single bolt in the soundhole controlling the action of the guitar. This allows for on-the-fly adjustments to the string height. You don’t even have to remove the strings to dial in your most comfortable action!
Plug In, Play, Sound Great!
Designed to deliver a consistent plug-and-play acoustic tone in any setting, and to offer up the same level of versatility for all players no matter their style, the new Claria Pickup System was developed with extensive input from touring artists and live sound engineers! Claria unlocks a vast array of powerful acoustic tones with a volume, tone, and mid contour knob within the soundhole. The mid contour knob completely changes the guitar’s signal, going from lo-fi warmth to the ultimate in acoustic punch with a simple turn!
Taylor Guitars built themselves into an acoustic guitar juggernaut by finding thoughtful ways to push the envelope forward, and by listening to players who wanted more from the pre-existing acoustic guitar options. The Next Generation of Grand Auditoriums are launching Taylor into their newest iteration of innovation, all in the name of giving players their absolute best! To be among the first players to get your hands on the Next Generation of Grand Auditoriums from Taylor Guitars, call us today at
SHOP TAYLOR GUITARS
Related Posts
Fender American Vintage II
Inspired by the essence of authentic craftsmanship from the Golden Age of electric guitar design, the new Fender American Vintage II series draws on over 75 years of innovation to bring today’s players the essence of Fender craftsmanship and tone. Featuring period-correct bodies, necks, and hardware, plus premium finishes and specially voiced pickups for each year, the American Vintage II series highlights a dozen instruments from benchmark years when certain models came together—all of which have since been recognized by players, collectors, and historians as pinnacles of Fender instrument production.
Read more
Boutique Guitar Showcase | 2023 - TC
Mark your calendars! Just as we did in 2020-2022, Chicago Music Exchange will proudly host the Boutique Guitar Showcase enTour 2023! Admirers of boutique guitar craftsmanship and fine lutherie, alike, from all across the Midwest are invited to attend the in-person showcase on Saturday, October 21, from 12-4 PM, featuring over 40 incredibly unique instruments all thoughtfully curated by Jamie Gale from boutique builders around the globe.
Read more
Antelope Audio Interface Free Plugin Offer
As part of Chicago Music Exchange's ongoing partnership with Antelope Audio, we’ve partnered up to offer CME’s six-string devotees three FREE quintessential guitar effects plugins—including the Memory Cat Brigade Bucket Brigade Delay, the BBD Chorus Bucket Brigade Chorus, in addition to Antelope’s Reel-to-Reel tape saturation—with the purchase of any Antelope Audio Zen Q or Zen Go bus-powered recording interfaces!
Read more