With an innovative compensated saddle design that’s unique to the Taylor T512-C2 Koa 12 String acoustic electric guitar, we “level” the fundamental and octave strings for a smooth, even attack. It’s a feature you won’t find on any other electric acoustics with 12 strings on the guitars, and one that will change your expectations.

The T5 is Taylor’s first entry into the electric guitar market. Its incredible versatility and ability to go from screaming electric to strumming acoustic earned it an immediate place in the arsenal of thousands of guitar players—and enough votes by dealers to earn the Music & Sound Awards “Electric Guitar of the Year.”

The Taylor T5 12-string electric guitar proved to be a real head-turner at NAMM. The 12-string version of Taylor's chameleon-like, award-winning T5, the T512 is equipped with T5 electronics, which makes it sound equally great through a P.A. system or a guitar amp.

It starts with a fully-hollow thinline body to generate your acoustic tones. Pickups include the Taylor Body Sensor system, a hidden neck pickup and the "Lipstick" style bridge pickup.

The "5" comes from the 5-position switch and five distinct starting points for your tone. You can select the Body Sensor with the neck pickup, neck pickup alone, bridge pickup alone, neck and bridge in parallel or neck and bridge in series. You can then use the active tone controls to cut or boost bass and treble to find your signature tone.

Connect to an acoustic or electric amp — or grab an A/B box and hook up to both — and hear the T5 come alive. Dial in Position 1 and feel your acoustic roots. Switch over to Position 5 through the electric amp and become an electric guitar god.

Hit the positions in-between and go from jazzy to clean electric to ’50s hollowbody twang. Spend an hour with the T5 and who knows where you’ll go. Tones are selected via the easy access 5-way switch located on the side of the Taylor T5.

T5 CMR air-coil rear pickup - this is the pickup you can see coming through the top near the bridge of the guitar. When played through an electric amp, this pickup can go from Tele-like sounds to Gretsch-like to full-blown humbucker.

T5 Dynamic neck pickup - buried in the neck joint, this pickup can sound warm and woody or fat and rowdy.

T5 Dynamic body sensor - inspired by the research on the Expression System, the T5 body sensors are overwound to produce the sparkling highs and shimmer for the most acoustic-like switch position.

T5 Preamp and EQ - the preamp was designed to deliver a wide range of tones in every switch position. Controls include: Volume, Bass and Treble. The tone controls are best described as Resonance (bass) and Detail (treble).

Stylized f-holes command the eye and enhance the resonance of the T5 body chamber, allowing the top to breathe and capture the dynamics of a player's performance.

Is it an Acoustic or and Electric? …Well, actually it's both!