Enter to Win a $8000 PA System!

Taylor Academy 12e Nylon-string Acoustic-electric Guitar - Natural

6-string Acoustic-electric Nylon-string Guitar with Lutz Spruce Top, Layered Sapele Back and Sides, Hard Rock Maple Neck, and Ebony Fingerboard - Natural
Building your custom Guitar Gallery
Limited-time Offer! - 8 Days Left
Lowest price in 90 days
$100.00 Off While Supplies Last!
Purchase this item at Sweetwater, and get $100.00 off while supplies last! The price shown reflects your savings.
Details
$799.00
Instant Savings: $100.00 (11%) Was: $899.00

Or pay $133.16 for 6 months with Easy Pay

See all payment options
Find it used on Sweetwater's Gear Exchange
listed for
$650.00
In Stock!

(Hurry, limited quantity available)

Add to Cart
Notify me about deals

Ask An Expert

Our expertly trained Sales Engineers are ready to help!

What is a Sales Engineer?

Most Popular Accessories & Related Items

Taylor Academy 12e Nylon-string Acoustic-electric Guitar - Natural
In Stock!
$799.00
Add to Cart
Add to list
Back to navigation

This article was Written By

Our Product Research Team

Get to know them!

Taylor Craftsmanship Meets Empowered Learning

The Taylor Academy series is the perfect choice for beginners and pros alike who seek Taylor quality on a budget and advantageous features. The Academy 12e-N features a slim neck, ample string spacing, and a radiused fingerboard for maximum comfort. The tapered waist of Taylor’s signature Grand Concert body creates a more comfortable classical guitar with wonderful articulation for fingerpicking. Other key features include a resonant lutz spruce top, ebony fingerboard, maple neck, and ES-N electronics. The Academy series is built not just for the extra mile but also for the long haul — grab yours from Sweetwater today!

Comfort now, not later

The Academy series not only boasts legendary Taylor quality, but it is also packed with subtle perks for an enhanced playing experience. Helpful touches include the built-in armrest, which softens the contact point between your arm and the guitar for more relaxed playing, and a 1.875-inch nut for a more relaxed string feel. These bold touches connect your fingertips to the music and will keep you playing on.

Premium picks for outstanding sound

Premium tone requires excellent wood, and that’s why the Academy 12e-N features a lutz spruce top specially selected to enhance nylon strings and fingerstyle dynamics. Lutz spruce’s light weight and tonal qualities help notes ring true with balance and sustain. The Academy 12e-N also features a sturdy maple neck, an ebony fingerboard, and layered sapele back and sides. Together, these tonewoods deliver value that looks, sounds, and feels incredible.

Plug-in anytime

The onboard Taylor ES-N electronics let you plug the Academy 12e-N in at a moment’s notice. The ES-N system is specifically designed for nylon string guitars, so you get a natural and warm amplified sound.

Taylor Academy 12e-N Acoustic-electric Guitar Features:

  • Nylon-string 12e model with special tonewoods and electronics built for classical guitar
  • Grand Concert body shape’s slim articulate profile is perfect for fingerstyle
  • Lutz Sitka spruce top specifically selected to highlight nylon strings and fingerstyle dynamics
  • Layered sapele back and sides sculpt sound with depth and dimension
  • Hard-rock maple neck with a radiused ebony fingerboard and a slim profile is easy to play
  • 1.875-inch nut width provides ample string spacing and a softer string feel
  • Nubone nut and micarta saddle enhance vibrational transfer from string to body
  • Taylor ES-N electronics deliver natural-sounding amplified tone

Why Buy Your Guitar from Sweetwater?

See how Sweetwater goes to great lengths to give you the very best online guitar buying experience. From our online Guitar Gallery that allows you to see and select the exact instrument you want to our 55-point Inspection process and our in-house guitar techs, we take the guesswork out of buying your next guitar online.

Additional Media

Warranty Info

Sweetwater's FREE 2-Year Total Confidence Coverage Warranty

Extra peace of mind at no extra cost.

  • Save money with FREE parts and labor
  • Get back to making music with the industry's fastest turnaround time
  • Fix it the first time with our award-winning, factory-certified Service Department
Learn More about Total Confidence Coverage

Free 2-year Warranty

Sweetwater's 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ Warranty gives you extra peace of mind at no extra cost.

Learn More about Total Confidence Coverage
Tools Icon

Save money with free parts & labor!

Fast Icon

Get back to making music with the industry's fastest turnaround time.

Award Icon

Fix it the first time with our award-winning, factory-certified Service Department.

Back to navigation

Tech Specs

  • String Type: Nylon
  • Number of Strings: 6
  • Body Shape: Academy 12eN Grand Concert
  • Left-/Right-handed: Right-handed
  • Color: Natural
  • Finish: Varnish
  • Top Wood: Lutz Spruce
  • Back & Sides Wood: Layered Sapele
  • Binding: Black
  • Neck Shape: Slim
  • Radius: 20"
  • Fingerboard Material: West African Crelicam Ebony
  • Fingerboard Inlay: Dots
  • Number of Frets: 17
  • Scale Length: 25.5"
  • Tuning Machines: Classical Nickel
  • Bridge Material: Ebony
  • Nut/Saddle Material: Nubone/Micarta
  • Nut Width: 1.875"
  • Electronics: ES-B
  • Strings: Pro Arte Carbon Hard Tension
  • Case/Gig Bag: Gig Bag
  • Manufacturer Part Number: CA01035016904811000

What Makes Our Sales Engineers Great?

Sweetwater Sales Engineers are a world-class team of experts dedicated to you. Hand selected from across the globe, each brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the world of music gear to provide you with unparalleled service completely free of charge. Friendly relationships, real trust, and the right gear are only a call or a click away!

Back to navigation

Customer Reviews

Write your review
Rated 5/5

Really great nylon guitar

I have played several ovations, Ibanez and Martin guitars, over 40 years! Every one has their own mojo. A producer friend of mine suggested I get a nylon guitar for accenting my recording tracks. I read a bit and decided I wanted to give Taylor a try. Played many - then tried some others, but went right back to the Taylors. They were all good and so bought it online. No issues with that - and I have bought another guitar on SweetWater and they are great. So the guitar is very easy to just pick up and play - very accessible for a variety of sounds and styles even without amplification.

Nylon playing is different than steel strings, but it is inspirational and you will come up with stuff you don't get anywhere else - that's the beauty of guitars. This Taylor gets played a lot. I now mostly write on it because it is so convenient and then I transfer to other guitars as needed for whatever the song needs. Sometimes I just stick with this one - it's that good.
Rated 5/5

best nylon string for thr money

Amazingly well balanced lows and highs. Love this guitar. Neck feels like an regular acoustic guitar, super comfortable to play. I use this for solo shows and with band always sounds great.
Music background: Professional full time musician
Rated 5/5

Best in class and above

I spent about a year or so looking for a good nylon string under $1k and found it.
I had never bought a guitar before playing it. The only references I had were the Academy steel string version I had played in a local shop, and much more expensive nylon Taylors. This nylon string exceeded my expectations, beating out other brands in it's range up to 2x$. The only thing close was a used Kremona not made anymore that sold.
Acoustically this guitar has excellent projection and lively upper mids that sustain, but also solid in the lower notes. Other brands were lacking. Clear and rich upper harmonics that let you hear the texture of your finger technique.
I have the previous version electronics which sound very good and work without a problem unless I leave it turned on the battery dies, duh. I was also on the fence to buy w/out since I was planning on installing my own electronics if needed, but was not disappointed. Good pickup and enough EQ, anything drastic I can shape outboard, mixer/amp/pedal. The newer module looks like what I have seen in other brand guitars.
The space the other reviewer talks about under the fret tangs is less than the width of the tang which I don't feel at all while playing due to the good fretwork/woodwork, and is structurally better left unfilled. This allows for expansion/contraction of the wood, when if filled could push up/out on the frets. Look at any old guitar with cracked clearcoat here.
I generally don't like the feel of binding, especially on acoustics. I feel binding is a shortcut around good fretwork and woodworking, which this guitar has. The beveled edge is also very comfortable.
Rated 3/5

Cheap Components and Sloppy Craftsmanship Ruin a good guitar

This is my first Taylor. I'm disappointed in the craftsmanship and very cheap components.

I don't think this guitar will hold up well.

Taylor missed the mark. First, I don't believe the electronics will hold up very long on this guitar, and for this reason, I'd recommend the less expensive standard version without the pickup. They recently "upgraded" the pickup controls on the side of the guitar. It now includes a 3-band EQ which is nice, however their is a tiny plastic toggle that you slide up and down to turn on and off the tuner. This part feels VERY CHEAP. Like it's about to break at any minute. I don't see this lasting very long. If and when this tiny plastic sliding switch breaks you'll either be left with no ability to use the tuner or if it breaks in the up position, you won't be able to use it electronically as it will be stuck in the tuner mode which mutes the line out.

I have no idea why Taylor approved this design. It boggles my mind.

Secondly, most manufacturers fill the holes under the frets on the side of the fretboard if they don't use binding. All (3) guitars of this model that I have seen in person have large gaps under the frets. Not sure how this will affect the guitar down the road, but it's lazy building at best. A little sawdust and glue (standard practice) would address this. As is, it looks unfinished. Unacceptable for a guitar at this price.

Inside the guitar, and can see gobs and gobs of glue. Poor guitar building.

It is a very comfortable guitar to play. However, I'd recommend the non-electric version. It's only a matter of time before the cheaply made switch breaks.

A few cents more and 15 minutes of time would have made this guitar excellent. I don't understand why Taylor decided to cut corners here.

As one of the nation's top Taylor Guitars dealers, Sweetwater receives regular on-site training from Bob, Andy, and the rest of the Taylor crew. We're also, many of us, Taylor players ourselves, and we're happy to steer you in the right direction once you're ready to make the leap. New to Taylor? Our Find Your Fit guide simplifies Taylor body shapes, woods, and series. Longtime player? Our Taylor Custom Shop, annual limited editions, and in-house mods offer a level of exclusivity you won't find in stores. Whatever your pleasure, Sweetwater's climate-controlled warehouse and 55-point Inspection ensure your Taylor guitar arrives ready to play just as the manufacturer intended.

Close Close $8,000 PA System Giveaway -- input your email address below to enter or click here to learn more.

See giveaway details & rules or check out our past winners!

Success!

Your email, test has been entered to win this giveaway. Good Luck!