Details

Beautiful. Musical. Simple.

What started as a fun side project for Taylor Guitars cofounder Bob Taylor and two other tone- and gear-obsessed Taylor guitar nerds grew into Circa 74, an all-new, 2-in-1 acoustic/vocal amplifier designed to help musicians sound their best in any environment.

The idea: Build a great-sounding acoustic guitar amp you can also sing through. The guiding design thoughts: Make it compatible with a wide range of acoustic guitar pickups and playing environments. Make it practical and easy to use, without over-engineering it with too many controls or effects. Make the cabinet from an acoustic guitar tonewood to bring an extra-warm, smooth sonic character to the amplified tone. Give it the elegant aesthetic appeal of a finely crafted piece of furniture. And add Bluetooth connectivity to stream music and play or sing along. 

Working on the project reminded Bob of the creative, freewheeling spirit of a startup, like the earliest days of Taylor Guitars, circa '74 - which gave birth to the name. 

Ultimately, the group's labor of love produced an amp that serves up an ear-pleasing range of acoustic sounds and brings out the very best in musicians looking to be heard. 

Sound

The Circa 74 amp was designed to dial down the high-end harshness found in many acoustic amps and product a warm, analog musical character. The sound is smooth, yet without sacrificing articulation. One important material choice was to build a mahogany cabinet for the amp, leveraging Taylor's tonewood voicing expertise to contribute to the amp's smooth sound palette and room-filling sound. 

Looks

The warm sonic characteristics are matched visually by the mahogany cabinet, with clean lines and rich wood texture reminiscent of mid-century modern furniture design. The aesthetic is enhanced by the modern-retro fabric grill cloth and an equally gorgeous wood stand designed to complement the amp. 

Design Highlights

Two input channels for acoustic guitar and vocals: The amp features convenient 1/4-inch and XLR (mic) inputs, each with independent channel level, volume and EQ controls that let you play and sing at the same time and mix acoustic guitar and vocals on the fly.

Compatible with all major pickups and vocal mics: The amp was designed and tested with an array of acoustic pickups to offer broad appeal. Taylor's user guide includes helpful pre-sets for pickups from Fishman, Baggs, K&K and Taylor's Expression System, plus microphones from Shure, Electro-Voice and Telefunken.

Power + projection: The Class-D solid-state amp delivers 150 watts of rich sound through a 10-inch full-range speaker - perfect for cafés, outdoor weddings or house concerts. And the tone never gets harsh as you turn up the volume. 

Three-band EQ and reverb: Easily shape your sound to fit your playing environment. It's a perfect performance tool for singer-songwriters, solo players, and guitar/vocal duos, whether playing at home, in small indoor venues, or even larger outdoor spaces. The only built-in effect is reverb, which adds to the ease of use. 

Additional inputs/outputs: 1/8-inch auxiliary line-level input (boards, effects, modelers, etc.), 1/8-inch headphone out, 1/4-inch line out, XLR direct out.

Bluetooth connectivity: Play along, sing along, or just listen to your favorite tunes.

Mahogany amp stand included: The stylish furniture-quality stand that gets your amp off the floor and your audience engaged. The surface is slightly angled for optimal projection with routed footholds that secure the amp.