The Taylor 812-CE is a single Venetian cutaway Grand Concert acoustic. It's a smaller bodied guitar (just like the 812 except with a cutaway) and ideal for fingerstyle players. It has rosewood back and sides and a . The current model has Taylor Expression System 2 electronics. Other features include maple binding and back strip, rosewood top edge trim, and a rosewood pickguard.

Early models had rosewood fingerboards with snowflake inlays - later models have ebony boards with element inlays. Pickguards have also changed from tortoiseshell plastic to rosewood.