All the Beauty of Hawaiian Koa, Ready to Play and Plug In
Hawaiian koa is one of those tonewoods that stops people in their tracks — the shimmering grain, the warm golden figure, the way the color shifts depending on how the light hits it. But with the Taylor K24ce, looks are almost secondary to what's actually going on sonically. This is an all-solid koa guitar, top to back to sides, paired with Taylor's V-Class bracing and the Expression System 2 pickup — a setup that makes just as much sense on a stage as it does in a living room.
The Grand Auditorium body shape is Taylor's flagship for a reason. It's wide enough to give you full, satisfying projection for strumming, but balanced and responsive enough to handle fingerpicking without getting muddy. The Venetian cutaway opens up the upper register without compromising the body's resonance. Whether you're tracking an acoustic part in the studio or performing live, the K24ce is genuinely versatile without being a jack-of-all-trades compromise.
One thing worth knowing about koa: it tends to start on the brighter side and gets richer and more complex as it's played in. If you're used to a spruce-top guitar, the K24ce has its own personality — a focused midrange, crisp articulation, and a natural bloom after the attack. Players who live with koa guitars often find them deeply rewarding long-term instruments.
All-Solid Koa Body and V-Class Bracing
The K24ce uses solid Hawaiian koa on the top, back, and sides. Taylor is explicit about this across their lineup — solid tonewoods are always called out because they behave differently than laminate both tonally and over time. Solid koa's natural resonance opens up and deepens with age and play, giving you a guitar that genuinely improves the more you use it.
Inside, Taylor's V-Class bracing does something X-bracing has always struggled with: it balances flexibility and stiffness simultaneously rather than forcing a trade-off between them. The result is more volume, longer sustain, and improved intonation across the entire fretboard — notes sound more in tune with each other, which makes chords ring with a cohesion that players notice right away.
Neck Feel and Appointments
The neck is tropical mahogany with a Standard Carve profile and a 25-1/2" scale length. At the nut, you're looking at a standard 1-3/4" width (a 1-11/16" option is available from Taylor for an additional charge). The fretboard is West African Crelicam Ebony — smooth, dense, and responsive — dressed with Taylor's distinctive maple Spring Vine inlay that nods to koa's Hawaiian roots. Maple binding and top trim complete the wood-forward look.
The nut and saddle are black graphite and Micarta respectively, and the guitar ships with gold tuning machines. No pickguard — keeping the koa top clean and unobstructed makes total sense on an instrument this visually striking.
Expression System 2 Electronics
Taylor's Expression System 2 places three individually calibrated sensors behind the saddle rather than inside the body. This behind-the-saddle placement captures the guitar's natural acoustic resonance more directly, translating what the instrument actually sounds like — not a processed version of it — to your amplifier or PA. It's a pickup system that rewards a light touch and responds dynamically to how hard you play, which suits the K24ce's acoustic character well.
Product Features:
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Body Shape: Grand Auditorium with Venetian cutaway
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Top Wood: Solid Hawaiian Koa
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Back & Sides: Solid Hawaiian Koa
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Bracing: V-Class with Relief Rout
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Neck: Tropical Mahogany, Standard Carve profile, 25-1/2" scale length
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Nut Width: 1-3/4" (standard); 1-11/16" available at additional charge
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Fretboard: West African Crelicam Ebony with maple Spring Vine inlay
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Electronics: Taylor Expression System 2 (ES2), behind-the-saddle design
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Nut & Saddle: Black Graphite nut, Micarta saddle
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Binding: Maple body binding and top trim
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Tuners: Gold tuning machines
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Finish: Shaded Edgeburst
Brand: Taylor Guitars
Model: K24ce
SKU: K24CE
Condition: New
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