Taylor Review: 414CE

History:

Purchase: I tried the Taylor 314,414, 514, 612, 814, Martins and Gibsons but ended up taking the 414CE home. At one store, the Martins I tried were hard to tune. At another store, they were all perfect intonation. I concluded the first store had the Martins out on display for a long time and they probably had been too dry. The Gibsons just didn't cut it. I was in the market to replace a vintage J series Mahogany Gibson that had finally separated along the neck and body joint. NO support from Gibson of any type. I added an Ovation to my collection along the way and absolutely love it's perfect intonation. It's my work horse. Outside and in, it can take it. However, I missed the lows and mids of the Mahogany Gibson. I came across the Taylor line thanks to a friend. At first, I fell for the 514 with the Cedar top. Smooth mids and lows but ultimately too flat even with new strings. Great looker though. I found the 314 a bit too brite in the mids and highs. Ultimately, I ended up switching between the 414 and the 814. For ~$600 more, I could get into the nice rosewood look. The 814 had slightly better smoothness in the lows and mids but it required a good ear to hear the difference. Then I noticed the 814 had a flat top and back. I then noticed the sharpness of the frets as I ran up and down the neck. The guitar had dried out in the store, even in a humidifed room! I picked up a beautiful 610, and found the same thing! I left depressed. A week or two later, I returned to the store and they had just received a 414 ce straight from Taylor. I was still in the case. Mine were the second hands to touch it after the clerk at the store set it up. After playing it a bit, confirming the perfect intonation, balanced bass and mids, I took it home comfortable knowing that it hadn't had a chance to dry out hanging around the store. I picked up a digital humidity meter and a humidifier and added them both to the case immediately. I've been keeping the guitar at around 47% humidity which are the same conditions at the Taylor factory. As your retailer to let you read the information that comes along with the Taylor guitars discussing dry and wet guitars. It will help you pick out the jewel.

What I Like About This Taylor 414CE: The 414 CE seemed to be the best value based upon price, balanced bass, mids and highs and perfect intonation. It was also brand new and just 2 days at the retailer. Tremendous action. Good for finger picking and strumming. The expression system is great on any of the Taylors. I also like the neck spacing at the nut. The Ovation has a narrower neck that is easy to play, but notes have to be hit perfectly if you have big fingers. The Taylor neck is wide enough to minimize this but it makes it hard to jump back and forth from the Ovation to the Taylor.

What I Do NOT Like About The Taylor 414CE: Taylor could have added a gloss finish to the sides and back though ultimately, I may end up liking the semigloss better as it doesn't show the wear as much. The wider neck is great, but one downside is that it is harder to thumb notes up and down the E string.

Taylor 414CE Quality Rating: I've been over the 414CE from top to bottom and front to back. Everything fits perfectly. An expensive guitar but really well built. I won't go in to all of the construction details as you can get this off of the Taylor website. The construction on all of the Taylors and Martins were top notch. I found the biggest quality problem being the result of how the guitars were stored at the store. Most seemed too dry.

Review Summary: It is very hard to go wrong with the 414. The Ovangkol sides and backs were as highly figured as the top of the line Taylor rosewoods with only a slight difference in tone. Of course the 414 doesn't have the beautiful inlays and bindings. Had the 814 been in better condition, I may have picked it up, but I am very pleased with the 414. Be sure to check the condition of ANY guitar you chose before you bring it home. This must be really tough for the retailers because they want to display the guitars, but the guitars don't like it.

Rating of this Taylor product: 5

This Taylor 414CE Acoustic Guitars Review Submitted By: E

Review Date: 2004-03-27