Taylor’s American Dream AD27 Delivers All the Tone Without the Frills

The American Dream is alive, well, and living near San Diego, at least if you’ve been dreaming of an affordable American-made, all-solid-wood Taylor guitar. Launched in the midst of the pandemic, Taylor says its new American Dream series was “born from adversity”—an effort to make an affordable guitar available in a year that’s been a nightmare for so many. Starting at $1,399 street, the new Dream’s price sits in between Taylor’s 200 and 300 series.

The line consists of two models. I tested the AD27, which has the somewhat uncommon combination of a mahogany top and sapele back and sides. Its sibling, the AD17, combines a spruce top with ovangkol back and sides. Both American Dream models have Taylor’s Grand Pacific body shape, and other sizes and shapes are planned for the line. The review model was purely acoustic but is available with Expression System 2 electronics for an additional $200.