Taylor's rosewood laminate 200 Series models, of which the Taylor 214CE is part of, hone in on the fundamentals of a great guitar-playing experience to give you clea... Learn more...
3 People Rated: 4.5 out of 5
(In most cases, a product is unavailable because it has been discontinued by its manufacturer.)
Taylor 214CE Grand Auditorium Cutaway Acoustic-Electric Guitar with Gig Bag
The Taylor 214CE Grand Auditorium offers great quality for a great value. With the Taylor ES-T system on board, the 214CE will sound great plugged in too.
30 People rated this product:
Rate and Review This Product
The Taylor 214CE Grand Auditorium features a Solid Sitka spruce top with an Indian rosewood back and sides. If your playing style demands strong dynamic response and beefy presence, this is the wood for you. Known for clarity, punch, and bite, this is a wood that produces very few overtones and can sound thin on its own. The Taylor 214CE Grand Auditorium's handsome soundhole rosette is inlaid with Cocobolo, and the body is bound and finished with an even gloss.
214CE Neck
With a familiar 25.5-inch scale length and adjustable truss rod, the neck on the Taylor 214CE Grand Auditorium combines tropical American mahogany with an Indian rosewood fretboard, inlaid with Pearloid dots. The rosewood bridge and Tusq nut and saddle also play an important tonal role, contributing gobs of clarity and sustain to the already magnificent tonal range of the 214CE Grand Auditorium.
Wired Up
You will not find a higher quality acoustic-electric guitar under $1,000 than the Taylor 214CE Grand Auditorium, and the included electronics only further that truth. Taylor's ES-T system is built on the very same technology that you'll find on their highest end instruments.
Features:
- Solid Sitka spruce top
- Indian rosewood back and sides
- Cocobolo-inlaid soundhole
- American mahogany neck with indian rosewood fretboard
- Pearloid dot inlays
- Tusq nut and saddle
- ES-T electronic system with volume, bass cut/boost, treble cut/boost, and phase switch
About Taylor
Since 1974, Taylor has been making some of the best guitars on the market, played by some of the world's best performers. The 214CE is a solid mid-priced guitar in Taylor's lineup and one of their most popular guitars. The 314CE is a step up in price from the 214CE; it costs more, has the same electronics and solid Sitka spruce top, but has more intricate detail work and African mahogany sides and back instead of Indian rosewood. The 114CE is a step down in price; it costs less, has the same Sitka spruce top and electronics, but the sides and back are made of a sapele laminate instead of solid Indian rosewood.
zZounds is an authorized dealer of
Taylor products.
Type/Shape: 6-String Grand Auditorium
Back & Sides: Indian Rosewood Laminate
Top: Sitka Spruce
Soundhole Rosette: Plastic
Neck: Sapele
Fretboard: Ebony
Fretboard Inlay: Pearloid Dots
Headstock Overlay: Indian Rosewood
Binding: White Plastic
Bridge: Ebony
Nut & Saddle: Tusq
Tuning Machines: Enclosed, Die-Cast Chrome Plated
Strings: Elixir Light Gauge Strings with NANOWEB Coating
What Our Customers Are Saying About zZounds
"zZounds price matching policy let me buy the gear I wanted, at the price I wanted, from the vendor I wanted. Outstanding." - customer on May 6th, 2012
zZounds has verified that this customer bought this product from us.
"Don't waste your time on anything else, there is nothing better under 1k, guaranteed."
Sound:
This guitar sounds fantastic; really. From gentle finger picking to full on strumming it's all there. I have always been an Ovation man, and this is not really better than the Ovation Elite that I returned to get this; it is just different; the highs are very well defined and shimmering; the mid range is clear and the bass is evenly distributed; there is no boominess at all, very impressive tone for a guitar made with laminate wood on the back and sides. I got this unit from Zzounds yesterday and I couldn't put it down for about three hours; I woke up this morning and the first thing I did was opened the case and play a few blues licks at low volume, wow man, I'm still in acoustic heaven; the tone is so sweet, I am very well pleased with the sound of this guitar, it is my first Taylor, and it will not be my last for sure; I should have gotten this from the start. The reason for the 9 rating on this category is because it doesn't have the snappiness that the Ovation has, but again, it is just a different animal.
Feature:
I might sound like a snob, but starting with the cardboard box, this guitar is quality all around, no doubt; the box was staple closed from the factory, and imprinted with the logo and the "Taylor Quality Guitars" lettering; I was a bit disappointed to see the words: "Made in Mexico" on the box (as well as on the inside of the guitar on the neck block); but after doing some research on the Taylor website, I discovered that they have a plant on the Mexican border, in the city of Tecate; I have been there many times (that's where beer "Tecate" comes from) and the town has become a "maquiladora" center, most trans-national companies have plants there as well as in Tijuana; the Taylor factory is under the direct supervision of the managing staff at the El Cajon plant; and they use the same machines and quality control in both factories; if it wasn't for those "made in Mexico" labels, I would not have known or seen any differences from the American made units; the quality is really top notch, even better than the Korean Ovations I was dealing with. The packaging was just excellent, even the plastic (yeah, plastic, not foam) molds used to hold the guitar case inside the box had the "Robert Taylor" signature engraved on them, very nice detail.
The case is made of hard foam covered in a very nice gold/tan colored fabric, similar to ballistic denier; it has a very nice handle and back-straps to turn it into a backpack; with an additional exterior pocket for accessories, the zipper is plastic but very thick and seems to be high quality, the tabs have a para-cord puller attached to each one of them; the name and the slogan of the company are nicely embroidered on the exterior; again, all very nice, the case retails for 149 dollars at Taylor.com.
The guitar came with the warranty card and some tech sheets regarding relative humidity, which Taylor talks about a lot (watch their videos on their site, they will blow your mind), nothing else was included, nothing else is needed.
The strings are Elixir nanoweb light gauge, which is fine, they are not my favorite but they do the job nicely; every string was perfectly smooth, no rust or grime anywhere like I usually see; later on I will try Martin SP strings and see how it sounds. The frets are all polished and smooth, the neck is perfect, and the bridge is at the perfect level with the fretboard, the action is low in stock form, but a little higher than what I like, so I adjusted the truss rod and it is now lower and without any buzz.
This guitar doesn't use the Expression System, it uses the ES-T, which is very similar, but it only has the transducer under the pick up, with six elements, one for each string, similar to the Ovations.
The controls for the pickup are three small round buttons located on the front of the upper bout. I haven't tried the guitar plugged in yet, but I have no doubts it will perform fine.
The reason for the 9 in this category is the lack of an integrated tuner, which I have grown to be used to, on the other side, the lack of plastic plates on the side of the guitar adds to the beauty and simplicity of the instrument, it is really gorgeous to look at; the 9 volt battery is located inside a slide-out box at the bottom of the body; the electronics include a phase switch (for feedback) located inside the sound hole on the board.
The top of the guitar is spruce, the back and sides are rosewood laminate (there are no braces on the back, kind of cool), and the neck is mahogany; the fretboard is real ebony (striped) as well as the bridge; not rosewood stained black like the Ovations.
By the way, the back and sides are finished on satin, and the top in gloss, very nice.
Ease of Use:
Nothing hard about using this guitar, fret a note or chord and pick or strum it, then experience acoustic nirvana.
Anything related to care and maintenance is in the Taylor website; in fact they have a lot of videos of the factory and the manufacturing process, all their high tech machinery, like lasers, CNC, electrostatic painting, etc. Their videos about humidity are just awesome; every acoustic guitar player or owner should see what low humidity can do, it is all documented there, very nice, what a great company, I'm impressed.
Quality:
Ok, I started by getting a Hohner, that had a cracked neck block, I sent that one back and got an Ovation 1778TX5 elite black, I loved it, but then it developed a weird stain around the bridge, I sent it back, I got a replacement with some really bad blemishes on the neck, I sent it back, I got another replacement which had a warped neck and it was unplayable; four guitars later I decided to just spend the money and get this Taylor; I should have done that from the start but I really like the Ovation's neck, it's awesome.
This guitar is perfectly finished all around, there is not a single defect anywhere and I am completely satisfied with this purchase, even being made in Tecate, this is a Taylor through and through, like I said before, if it had a "USA Made" sticker on it, I would believe it, is that good.
What really impressed me was the detail of finishing on this guitar; the binding (white plastic) is perfect everywhere, there are no defects at all either in the finish or the set up; the action was perfectly set at the factory and I could not find any traces of glue or dust anywhere, not a single piece of dust or grime, traces of paint, or roughness anywhere, wow, now that's quality control speaking. I am extremely satisfied with this kind of quality, I don't feel I wasted a single penny buying this Taylor.
Value:
I really don't think that any guitar currently in production is worth the asking price, and definitely not the retail price; but this is the exception, This Taylor 214ce is worth every penny. It sounds like guitars that are priced twice or even three times as much higher.
What makes this also a great value is the ability to brake the cost in four payments; for the little guy, like me, this gives me the buying power of someone who makes 100 grand a year, awesome. Thank you Zzounds, you guys rock, seriously.
Manufacturer Support:
The 10 rating is definitely for Zzounds, I wish there was a higher rating so I could give it to them, really, they deserve it. In 15 years of doing business online, I have never found the level of customer service this guys provide; through my ordeal of getting defective guitars from Ovation, they never gave me a hard time, they worked with me and paid for all the return shipping costs and sent the replacements quickly; they even gave me discounts.
They answered all my emails in a prompt and courteous manner, and every guy I talked to over the phone was extremely professional and understanding; I'm really blown away by this company and because of this, I will never buy any gear or instruments from anyone else (as long as they have what I'm looking for), I'm serious, I'm a customer until I die, I hope it's not soon so I can keep on playing the 214.
The Wow Factor:
For looks, I don't think anything comes closer to that Ovation 1778Tx Elite; maybe Pam Anderson, but Natural color guitars are just beautiful, and this Taylor is like an Omega Seamaster, it looks expensive and it's flawless.
Overall:
I don't feel the need to replace this 214ce anytime soon, when the time comes, I will definitely look at a 300 series and up Taylors; even though my dream guitar is an Ovation Adamas with a graphite top; but I will never sell or trade this guitar, this is something I can pass on to my grandson.
Style of Music: blues, classical, flamenco, rock, jazz
12 of 12 people
(100%) found this review helpful. Did you?
Thank you. Your vote has been counted. Could you briefly tell us why the review was or was not helpful?
Taylor 214CE Acoustic Customer Review
Sound:
This thing sounds great. My friend has a 1500$ martin and the 214ce runs circles around it.
Feature:
The pickups are good, and there are three adjustable switches for the sound. They finally moved the battery to the bottom of the guitar so it's easy to replace.
Ease of Use:
Action was set low and well. Perfect intonation.
Quality:
Absolutely flawless.
Value:
For the price, it's amazing.
Manufacturer Support:
Haven't needed to deal with them.
The Wow Factor:
Looks sexy with the white trim.
Overall:
I'll never give this up.
27 of 28 people
(96.43%) found this review helpful. Did you?
Mention Reference
Number
MFV-9DCY When You Call.
Toll Free En Español: 800-460-7976 m-f 1AM to
1AM EST
Follow zZounds on:
Customize Search Results for Your Location
A temporary customer reference number is assigned to each customer only while they are shopping on zZounds.com. If you call our customer service department for assistance, this number makes it easier for us to answer any questions you have about products, services or purchases.
You don't have to trade service for savings when you shop at zZounds!
We'll beat any price
Really. It's not a problem for us. In fact, we'll thank you
for the chance to live up to our lowest price guarantee!
It's fast and easy
Just tell us where you saw the lower price - another
website, an email offer, your local store - and we'll send
you our lowest price offer in a matter of hours.
Simply click the Seen it for less? link
Next to the item you want, or give us a
call at 800-zZounds (800-996-8637).
With zZounds you'll never have to worry that you paid too much.
We'll beat any price
Really. It's not a problem for us. In fact, we'll thank you
for the chance to live up to our lowest price guarantee!
It's fast and easy
Just tell us where you saw the lower price - another
website, an email offer, your local store - and we'll send
you our lowest price offer in a matter of hours.
Simply click the Seen it for less? link
Next to the item you want, or give us a
call at 800-zZounds (800-996-8637).
A temporary customer reference number is assigned to each customer only while they are shopping on zZounds.com. If you call our customer service department for assistance, this number makes it easier for us to answer any questions you have about products, services or purchases.
