Taylor Guitars 114ce, Grand Auditorium, Solid Sitka Spruce Top, Sapele Back/Sides, Cutaway, ES-T Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)Not sure if I would buy on online - I would want to hear it first. I bought one of these at my local music store. It has an amazing sound, if you are looking into getting a guitar at around this price (or even a little less). I highly suggest you play one of these and a bunch of others to make up your mind what feels good. The Taylor sound good and will make your playing sound better. It also has great action - making it very easy to play. Often people buy cheap guitars for beginners that are hard to keep in tune and play. This leads to the prospective player loosing interest. Don't do the cycle. Buy a Taylor and if you don't like it, or give up, you can resell it on ebay ;). This isn't solidwood and many people want to move up to solidwood (not composite) however the composite is much better at differing humidity.

Click Here to see more reviews about: Taylor Guitars 114ce, Grand Auditorium, Solid Sitka Spruce Top, Sapele Back/Sides, Cutaway, ES-T

Product Description:
Taylor's 114ce features a cutaway and ES-T pickup enhance Taylor's signature Grand Auditorium body shape, for a versatile instrument with style and substance.

114ce Specs

Loud and robust Sapele Laminate back/sides.
Classic pearloid dot inlays.
ES-T pickup onboard.
The Taylor 100 Series
Tone and playability are hallmarks of Taylor guitars, and you'll find the 100 Series delivers plenty of each. Sporting a solid Sitka spruce top and sapele laminate back and sides, the redesigned 100 Series now features both Dreadnought and Grand Auditorium shapes, along with cutaway and Taylor electronics options. Value, yes. Compromise, no.
Sitka Spruce Top
Sitka Spruce (Picea sitchensis) grows in a coastal "pocket" from Northern California to Alaska. This dense, straight-grained wood has the highest strength and elasticity-to-weight ratio among available tonewoods, an attribute that makes it an ideal material not only for our soundboards, but for our internal bracing, as well. Sitka produces a slightly brighter tone than does Engelmann.
Sapele Laminate Back/Sides
This exceptional, mahogany-like wood grows throughout the tropical rain forests of Nigeria and the Ivory Coast of Africa. Ever since we introduced it in 1998, its legion of fans has grown exponentially. As a tonewood, it's denser and harder than mahogany, so it has a crisper, clearer, brighter, "pop"-ier sound than its more familiar counterpart. Loud and robust, with a lovely ribboned grain, sapele has been used by Spanish guitar makers for many years.
Varnish Finish
A durable varnish finish offers protection, good looks, and a smooth feel to the touch. The spruce top's beauty shines right through.
Grand Auditorium Body Shape
The Grand Auditorium was the first guitar shape designed from scratch by Bob Taylor. It was unveiled to commemorate the company's 20th Anniversary in 1994, and since then it has more than lived up to its promise. Although the GA has the width and depth of a Dreadnought, its narrower waist gives it the appearance of a smaller instrument, adds treble "zing" across the guitar's tonal spectrum, sharpens the definition of individual notes, and also enables it to rest comfortably in the lap. Because we remove mass from the width of the GA's braces, the guitar top moves faster, resulting in a snappy, bell-like tone. The GA, available as a 6- or 12-sting, is designed to be a strong fingerpicking guitar that also can handle medium strumming, and is exceptionally versatile.
Venetian Cutaway
The cutaway allows access to the upper frets. Many players moving to acoustic guitars grew accustomed to the cutaways on their electric guitars. Others simply like the freedom of movement into the upper register that a cutaway allows. Nowadays, cutaways are favored as much for their decorative appeal as for their function. The Venetian cutaway is known for its soft, round lines. The sloping peak of the cutaway will vary depending on the shape of the guitar. Grand Concerts and Grand Auditoriums have a steeper slope, while Dreadnoughts and Jumbos are a bit flatter.
ES-T Pickup
Inspired by Taylor's Expression System technology, the Expression System Transducer, or ES-T, is a single-source, under-saddle transducer with individual elements for each string. (The ES-T was originally called the ES Element, but the name was changed to avoid confusion with another product.) The ES-T has an onboard preamp and the same active controls found on the full Expression System. Featuring a custom-voiced EQ and dynamic response, the system is powered by a 9-volt battery, with a battery life LED power indicator (which is lit when the battery is being used). The pickup also has a Phase switch for feedback control, which is located on the preamp board inside the soundhole.
Chrome-Plate Tuners
Taylor Tuners continue the industry-leading 18:1 gear ratio that they've been using, yet yield even greater precision with the help of a manufacturing process that employs the same gear-cutting machines used by Swiss watchmakers. The more precisely-machined gears virtually eliminate the slight "slop", or slack, typical among tuners, which makes it even easier for Taylor owners to get--and stay--in tune. Taylor Tuners also feature an elegant aesthetic touch, with the Taylor logo cleanly etched on the back.

Get 28% OFF