One of Taylor's most notable and famous instruments gets a commemoration upgrade to celebrate 50 years of Taylor doing things any other way.
Taylor Guitars commends its 50th commemoration this year. Presently one of the world's biggest guitar creators, the organization has come quite far from starting points as the youthful upstart upset the laid out acoustic guitar market strength of Gibson and Martin, harking back to the 1980s.
To stamp this achievement Taylor has delivered an assortment of guitars that encapsulate the brand's heading into the following 50 years. From the functioning player's American Dream to the show grade enjoyments of the top end, the whole stratigraphy is all around addressed. One guitar was specifically compelling to me, be that as it may - the 314ce LTD.
Taylor's 314ce model has been one of the organization's hits - for some players it was likely their most memorable contact with the brand and its ubiquity across the many years originates from the super-agreeable stupendous hall body size and the blend of a Sitka tidy top and sapele back and sides. They feel and sound perfect in front of an audience and in the studio. What's not to cherish?
What Is Torrefied Spruce?
According to a tasteful perspective this is a lot of an Andy Powers-period guitar. The delicate sunburst on the sapele back and sides and the dim soundboard are obvious.
A piece of that soundboard's variety comes from the torrefaction cycle it has gone through. In the most natural sounding way for Powers it is "prepared like a biscuit" to pervade it with the kind of apparent brilliance players have generally expected from a played-in, old guitar.
There are other visual contacts that hoist this instrument over the standard - a firestripe pickguard, gold Taylor-marked tuners and some unobtrusive Italian acrylic trims on the fretboard and headstock all pop pleasantly, as does the unadulterated white and Crelicam midnight body purfling.
Talking about dark, Taylor's spearheading work in feasible woods has assisted with guaranteeing the nature of their stock and this is promptly obvious in the delicately figured fingerboard and headstock facade.
I have lost count of the quantity of Taylor 14s I've played over the course of the years yet every one has felt agreeable against the body. As I have generally expected from Taylor, the neck is a quickly inviting piece of Neo-Tropical mahogany with a marginally raised focus. As expected it includes a matte completion which diverges from the reflexive body.
The trademark sound of a Taylor 314ce is warm and locking in. Taylor was perhaps the earliest organization to investigate the pleasures of African sapele as a tonewood and those recognizable, wonderful stripes make me grin.
A Sitka tidy soundboard is consistently welcome around here however the voice of a Taylor guitar has changed decisively since the change from the customary X-support to the beginning of the V-Class Propping design. Add the roasted top and we ought to be in for some good times!
How Does the Taylor 314CE Ltd Sound?
My most memorable exploratory plays surely satisfy starting hopes. The high pitches specifically are plush and itemized. There is a slight sizzle of hints yet the voice holds the major lucidity normal for a sapele Taylor guitar.
Moving into the bass register is edifying. More modest bodied guitars with a 25.5" scale length can sound somewhat close on occasion - an inclination that can be exacerbated by the frequently metallic transient of a Sitka tidy top. What I view as here, be that as it may, is a polar inverse; the bass is velvet smooth while staying articulate. It's punchy as well - snarling against my chest as I play.
Is it the V-class supporting? Is it the torrefaction of the top? Something exceptionally cool is happening here. There is a quickness to this guitar that makes it an extremely persuading finger-style instrument.
Responsiveness has turned into a popular expression in the acoustic guitar world throughout the course of recent years. While many interpret it as meaning volume and headroom, the genuine signs of a responsive guitar are how much sound you get from the lightest assaults and how rapidly the guitar acclimates to changes in elements.
As far as profit from speculation for your underlying assault this guitar truly is satisfyingly responsive. It might not have the headroom of a battleship however it is even more adjusted as a result of it.
The guitar's dynamic reach is persuading as well. Murmur calm sections hold the variety and tone of the instrument without sounding feeble and you can dive in without it flatulating out excessively fast. One of the delights of a little body guitar is the promptness you get from the diminished soundboard surface region. This can frequently cause a more modest instrument to appear to be stronger and this guitar occupies a room with exposed fingers.
There is a scratchplate here all things considered so adding a medium pick to procedures seems like great habits. To my joy the guitar takes off like a little rocket. It's an engaged, percussive sound that possesses a perfect balance in the EQ range which implies it ought to sit well in any blend in with least change required.
It is intriguing to see the distinctions between the instruments Taylor delivered to praise their 25th commemoration and the set-up of new guitars that mark the organization's 50 years. Gone is the impractical utilization of Brazilian Rosewood, the Fishman prefix mix gadgets and the x-propped Sitka soundboards.
Rather we have cautiously managed woods, a progressive restrictive propping plan and own-image gadgets - which by the way work really hard of interpreting this guitar's acoustic voice into a strong intensified sound. By and by the more modest body makes its mark by presenting more noteworthy criticism opposition than you'd track down in a bigger guitar. Decent!
Fittingly, Taylor is restricting quantities of this model to just 1974 guitars to praise their 50th birthday celebration. While completely justifiable, this appears to be a pity as the 314ce LTD is one of the most moving and melodic Taylor guitars I have at any point played.
It sings, it murmurs and it is an amazing illustration of the best of North American production line guitar making. It's been an extraordinary initial 50 years for Taylor Guitars, here's to some more!
Taylor 314CE Alternatives
One more upstart in the acoustic guitar world, however a later passage is Chinese organization Eastman, who will make you a wonderful and correspondingly contemporary inclination AC522CE for $1,689/£1,769.
The legacy brands have attempted to adjust to the changing requests of the advanced player as well, most prominently Martin with its balanced bodied SC-13E Unique Burst ($1,799/£2,150) while Gibson has the Musician Cutaway Classical Normal ($3,399/£3,199).
