Taylor is a company synonymous with acoustic and acoustic-electric models that are played by all ages and abilities. In this guide, we’re going to take a closer look at both the Taylor 214CE and the 414CE models and assess the pros and cons of each.
Taylor was founded in 1974 by Bob Taylor. Since then, the company has gone on to become one of the leading guitar manufacturers in the world, producing over 130,000 products per day.
Taylor specialises in acoustic and semi-hollow electric models whilst using a number of patented designs and innovative techniques. These innovations and designs, along with the use of different woods such as Oak and Mahogany, mean that Taylor Guitars are considered to be of excellent quality.
Despite Taylor guitars having product lines that sit at both ends of the pricing scale, the quality is always guaranteed.
| Features: | Taylor 214CE | Taylor 414CE |
|---|---|---|
| Model: | 214ce | 414ce |
| Bracing: | Standard II forward-shifted | V-Class |
| Top: | Sitka Spruce | Sitka Spruce |
| Neck: | Tropical Mahogany | Tropical Mahogany |
Taylor 214CE
The 214CE is one of Taylor’s best-selling guitars that’s in the upper-middle price range. The 214CE works best for an intermediate finger picker and lends itself to a wide variety of music styles, from country, pop, indie pop, to jazz.
214CE’s iridescent tone and articulate voice give the acoustic guitar a character of its own. Many have fallen in love with its bright tone and a specific bell like a chime in the high. The X-bracing inside the 214CE gives the tone a pinch of fresh crispness to the mid-range.
Its Grand Auditorium design is perfect for flat picking and fingerpicking, but not so great for hard strumming. The ES-2 preamp system blends the string and body resonance in perfect harmony, capturing the dynamics and tone of the piece played.
Design
Taylor 214CE has a solid spruce top and is finished with satin. The back and sides of the guitar are made of layered rosewood. Tropical mahogany is used to make the guitar’s neck and 25.5-inch scale.
The tortoise pickguard complements Taylor’s trademark combination of a Nubone nut and its Micarta saddle. The 214CE features Taylor’s signature die-cast tuners, along with the Elixir Phosphor Bronze strings.
Shape
The 214CE is a grand auditorium guitar, giving it a medium body shape that is the most popular guitars that Taylor offers. It places a slight emphasis on midrange frequencies; however, its versatility makes it a good fit for most styles of music.
The Grand Auditorium’s body shape is smaller and easier to handle compared to a larger-bodied instrument like a dreadnought. It has a Venetian cutaway, making accessing frets further down the neck a lot easier.
Sound
Taylor guitars are setup before being shipped, sounding fantastic right out of the box. The intonation, setup, and string action on the 214CE is on point. Like all Taylor acoustics in its class, it is shipped with Elixir Phosphor Bronze Light strings, which complement the guitar and don’t warrant any immediate upgrade.
The 214CE gives excellent individual note definition with a pristine tone. It has a pristine, bell-like chime in the high end with an overall brightness that Taylor acoustic guitars are famous for.
Taylor 414CE
The 414CE is more of a recent release from Taylor, having been brought out in 2018. The 414CE would be considered one of their more versatile models and really caters to the musician who likes to experiment with multiple different playing styles and genres.
The sounds produced by the 414CE are rich, balanced and true. There’re also no notable dominating frequencies or overarching tones, which is a major plus.
The combination of tonewoods used in the 414CE helps deliver a broad, articulate and dynamic range.
If you’re a guitarist who values being able to adapt your sound, then the 414CE may be for you.
Design
The 414CE uses Taylor’s Grand Auditorium shape, which is the company’s most popular outline. The sides and back are made from Ovangkol, while the top is made from Sitka Spruce. The heal and neck are made of Tropical Mahogany and the fretboard is Ebony. The 414CE has 20 frets that are finished perfectly, with smooth edges and even smoother crowns. The position markers are refined mini dots and a Venetian cutaway, giving the user easy access to the higher frets.
Sound
The 414CE has a well-defined midrange, keeping the tone clear and balanced – it sounds like the same guitar whether you’re playing an open chord or higher up on the neck. This also makes it great for fingerstyle players because of its consistency from string to string, ensuring that notes won’t jump out at you from within a chord unless your picking choice has forced them to. It’s also great for single-note lines or for heavy strumming with a pick. The neck is very comfortable too, whether you’re a seasoned acoustic guitarist or someone who normally plays electric. Even the notoriously painful first-position F chord with the annoying barre at the first fret is no bother with this neck because of the height of the carefully hand-shaped nut.
Conclusion
The 214CE line of guitars is great for guitarists looking to get the traditional Taylor look, feel and tone, at a budget-friendly price. The 214CE is a serious guitar, that‘s perfect for gigging, the studio or even living room jams, and with the solid Spruce top will continue to sound better and better over time.
Which One Should You Get?
If you’re just wanting to play at home, then the 214CE would be better. If you’re looking to impress your friends, or you think that the guitar may be sold on sometime in the future or simply want the prestige of owning a solid wood Taylor, then the 414CE may be for you.