Taylor’s acclaimed merging of acoustic and electric guitars continues to evolve with the T5z-12, a thinline 12-string with five-way pickup selector that accesses a combination of humbuckers and a “body sensor” pickup.

In hand, the T5z-12 is light and balanced, with sapele back and sides, mahogany top and neck, and a 247/8″ ebony fretboard. Befitting its acoustic and electric tendencies, the neck has a comfy carve for both pickin’ and strummin’ as well as rock, blues, jazz, and country work. The electronics take a starring role, as you get a bridge humbucker under the lipstick cover, and a neck humbucker hidden under the fretboard’s upper frets. The magnetic body-sensor pickup completes the tone package.

On the upper bout, Taylor provides master Volume and active tone knobs, so you can not only cut Treble and Bass (as with passive pickups), but actually boost them. On the top side you’ll find the five-way; Position 1 is the hidden neck pickup with the body sensor, Position 2 is the hidden pickup by itself, and 3 is the bridge. Positions 4 and 5 activate both in parallel (their signals go to the output separately) or series (neck signal into the bridge before output). Coupled with the active EQ, there are a lot of sounds to explore.

For practical uses, the T5z-12 is great for all manner of Byrds, Beatles, folk-rock, and fingerpicking, but just as importantly, its humbucker can seriously rock through a regular guitar amp. Again, Taylor is seriously pushing the envelope with these six- and 12-string hybrids, making them well worth a test drive.

This article originally appeared in VG’s February 2024 issue. All copyrights are by the author and Vintage Guitar magazine. Unauthorized replication or use is strictly prohibited.