I had been looking a long time for a 12 string. I tried offerings from Seagull, Guild, Martin, Rainsong, and pretty much everything from Takamine. Finally, I had settled on the Takamine EF381SC, then went back the next day to buy it, but it was gone. Went to another store and picked up a Taylor 355CE, and the sound just blew me away. There was no comparison to anything else I had tried in this price range. The Martin came close in sound comparison, but didn't have the features I was looking for (acoustic-electric, cutaway), and neither did the Guilds. The Takamine had the features, but not the sound; not even close.

This guitar is very comfortable for a 12 string Jumbo body. The neck is extremely playable all the way past the 12th fret, with nice low action. Possibly the most playable 12 string I've ever laid my hands on. The tuners are standard Taylors and they keep tune no problem. This guitar has all the features I want. One of my friends remarked, "Even the case is impressive."

But the sound, oh my, the sound is spectacular! When a guitar sounds this good, you really don't care about plastic binding or satin finish, or anything else really. With the onboard electronics, it also sounds great plugged in, though I do prefer it unplugged (have not mic'd it yet). The nice thing about the Taylor electronics is that there are three simple pots - bass, treble, volume - mounted flush to the guitar's body, as opposed to a larger plastic insert with a bunch of sliders and controls. Of course, this doesn't allow for an onboard tuner, but aesthetically it looks much better.

In short, this an incredible sounding instrument that will be with me a long time. I'd buy another without hesitation if this one were lost or stolen. And if it were stolen I'd hunt down the guy that took it.

I have been playing 12-string acoustic for over 30 years. I was happy with the Washburn 12-string that I owned for many, many years. Last September my son wanted to start playing guitar. While he was in his lesson, I strolled into the acoustic guitar room of a local music store. My first mistake was picking up, for the first time a Taylor Jumbo 12-string that was hanging on the wall. Until then I was not very familiar with Taylor Guitars.

I sat down and strummed my first chord. It was like playing an orchestra. The full, live sound was amazing. Even though I was playing a jumbo body, I was very surprised how comfortable it was to play. The action was superb.

Months passed and I received my Taylor 355CE as a birthday gift from my wife.

I have now owned this marvelous instrument for over six months and I must say that my love for playing has soared. As an accomplished woodworker I scrutinized the Taylor workmanship, finish, and quality. All are exceptional. What made me a full fan was reading through Taylor’s history on their web site.

I played other 12-strings for comparison, Martin, Gibson, Breedlove, Ovation and Washburn. The Martin was the only guitar that came close to the Taylor. But I never got over the first chord I strummed on the Taylor Jumbo. For me the sound was more satisfying on the Jumbo and the Jumbo CE than on the Taylor Grand Auditorium. I would by this guitar again with out hesitation.

I found this guitar while at Guitar Center specifically shopping for an early 60's golden era Guild 12 string. Side by side, the new Taylor kicked its butt in every catagory except "Vintage Cool". I bought the Taylor and haven't looked back since. This guitar is all pros and no cons. Simply put, it does everything right. The "Professor" known to many guitar collectors as an industry expert on vintage instruments is a very good friend of mine and questioned my judgement. He played my 355 for several hours before declaring it the "best 12 string I've ever played." Given what's in his collection, that's quite a compliment.

I have many guitars in the house but had not bought a new one for a very long time until I got a Martin JC16GTE for my daughter for Christmas. This enthused me to buy a new one for myself. Martin don't do a 12-string with electronics and cutaway so I went for the Taylor. This turned out to be a great decision. The guitar plays beautifully and sounds great - acoustic or amplified. Get yourself one if you haven't already!