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Rating And Reviews: Taylor 214ce Guitar

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"Best Guitar for the Price" submitted April 25, 2012

By William Howell in Eustis, FL
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Musical Background: I've been playing electric, acustic and bass guitar for thirty years. Jam at home and write country music.
Music Style: Country, Blues.
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Overall: Whether you play through an amplifier or not, the sound of this guitar is amazing. The strings that come with the guitar are a little heavy for my picking style so I went with lighter ones. The preamp is perfect for amplifiers that don't have an equalizer or treble and base settings. I would definitely recommend this to someone looking to spend around $1000.00 for a guitar.
10 of 10 people (100%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"Taylor 214CE Black" submitted November 13, 2012

By Nick W in Richmond, VA
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Music Style: Rock, Reggae. Hip-Hop, Alternative, Trip-Hop, Picking, Folk
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Overall: This guitar sounds amazing! I have been playing for about 3 years & I recently decided to purchase an 'entry higher level' guitar. With that in mind it's hard to not find a better guitar for the value. A good friend who is also a guitar shop employee told me that in his opinion this guitar is one of the best values for the money. The difference between this & some high end Martins or Taylors is minuscule while the price difference is anything but. I spent weeks checking different stores & trying out many different guitars & yes; I did seem to find others that I SLIGHTLY preferred but when I would then look at the price it was no comparison between a $1,000 & $3,000. The 214 is an amazing value. I ordered it in black which looks incredibly clean (though not always easy to keep it that way) as black tends to show more dirt & fingerprints. In my mind that's just more of an incentive to keep this baby polished & shining. Which when it is; the black just shines beautifully. I can easily see myself in the finish when freshly polished. The clean white trim also gives it good contrast, though I did wish the fretboard had a white inlay which would really bring this guitar to life. My taylor arrived perfectly set up. I know this because I actually took it to be set up professionally. After about 3 minutes they said that they didn't need to do a single thing & everything was spot on. That's the Taylor quality. Even after being shipped it was still perfectly set up. I found the strings it came with to be a bit heavy and hard. I replaced them with some lighter ones and it now suites my style & preference perfectly. The neck is pretty slim and your hand tends to tire easily when playing many barre chords at first but that goes away. I find the slim neck to be more relaxing but that's just preference. It makes 'shredding' easier. The action on this guitar absolutely perfect & the strings NEVER go out of tune. Even with new strings they stretch & go flat all still in tune. The sound is BEAUTIFUL. It's less 'boomy' due to being a cutaway & you can really hear the mids and highs. When plugged into an amp this guitar still sounds amazing though I've always preferred the sound of an unplugged acoustic more. The only issue I have with this guitar is something when plugged in an amp I feel that it is a bit too 'twangy' on the high end. You can mess with the 3 tone knobs that it has to alter this but I usually just end up using some pedals to cut it out. Though I tend to think it is the pickups which have been fitted to the guitar. Which I do plan on replacing sometime in the near future. Don't be fooled though, that is probably just my personal opinion and everyone has a different taste. But no one could say that this guitar doesn't sound beautiful plugged in or unplugged. But REALLY unplugged. Like I said I always prefer acoustics unplugged. In the end. I couldn't be happier with my purchase. I feel that after weeks of looking I couldn't have bought a more beautiful, better playing, or better sounding guitar. Not for such a steal at least. This is one of those instruments you just never want to put down & I've already had quite a few long, tired days from being up too late playing this guitar. As always zZounds is AWESOME as always. I ordered my guitar and by the third day it was on my doorstep. Gotta love zZounds.
17 of 18 people (94.44%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"Awesome Guitar" submitted April 5, 2012

By Dana s in San Antonio, TX
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Musical Background: 20 years on the guitar
Music Style: Rock
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Overall: The thing plays and sounds amazing. I play things I would have never played on other guitars. Its one of those instruments you pick up and don't want to put down.
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"Zzounds rocks!!" submitted August 26, 2012

By Matt L in Gilford, NH
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Musical Background: Guitar 20 years, professional
Music Style: Cover music of all kinds- rock, blues, heavy,acoustic, pop
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Overall: This is my 3rd purchase from zZounds, and just like my last 2 this was a success. My Taylor 214ce shipped on time and needed no setup. Pay as you play made it possible for me to get into a great product and not miss a beat!
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"What a beaut" submitted June 5, 2012

By a customer from gmail.com
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Music Style: Indie Rock, Folk Rock, The Wild Northern
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Overall: Gorgeous body, incredible tone, a real showstopper and a great buy for the money. Got it just in time for work to start on a new album and the producer, who also sells Taylor's from his shop, was shocked that it was the 214 series that we were getting such quality tone out of.
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"My two cents..." submitted July 4, 2012

By Eric Totherow in Joliet, IL
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Musical Background: I play guitar in a touring act with the nephew of Tim Reynolds of the Dave Matthews Band.
Music Style: Everything! I love playing non-traditional things on acoustic guitar!
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Overall: Well, I don't 'not' like this guitar. I recently bought the sunburst model 214ce, and it arrived well packaged and slightly earlier than expected- the sunburst color is more impressive and richer in person than in the picture. Very nice. Ok, let's talk playability and sound quality. I will be reviewing from more of an 'on stage' perspective- the guitar arrived with rather high action, and the playability was a little fatiguing. I was a little surprised by this, knowing Taylor's reputation for well set up guitars. This was not a problem, though; it was pretty easy to set up. I just shaved down the saddle and slightly adjusted the truss rod. The sound quality... Hmm, where do I begin. The guitar its self, unplugged, sounds decent. The guitar 'honks' a little bit in the low- mid frequency range, and when plugged in, this frequency is VERY hard to EQ out without inserting a 31 bander in the signal chain, because i don't want to take away any of the good frequencies. Half the problem is the awful awful expression style pickup. It is no wonder so many major label acts rip this stupid pickup out of their guitars and replace them with fishman. Taylor states that 1 in 50 people don't like their expression system. I am definitely that one! Even through a digico pre, the pickup is wispy with minimal 'attack. When I strike an individual string, I want to hear it crack through the mix- this Taylor's pickup is more of a thud surrounded by a whispy gentle welling of the note. I've had this trouble through the entire range of taylors with expression. This is, however, not the guitars fault. Just the yucky pickup. Over all, in my opinion, the guitar looks great, plays nicely after a good set up, and sounds good unplugged. If you're going to play with a band in ever changing environments and venues, pull out that pickup and put in something nicer. That's my two cents! Hope it helps.
11 of 13 people (84.62%) found this review helpful. Did you?
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"AMAZING! " submitted April 5, 2012

By Kyana M in MI, FL
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Musical Background: Jam at home
Music Style: Christian
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Overall: The shipping was quick! The guitar plays beautiful! Its amazing! I absolute love it. By going through this website I saved a few hundred compared to what my friend payed for his. We have the exact same Taylor. I would recommend this to anyone!
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"Rather disappointing" submitted March 21, 2013

By Dave M in Reading, PA
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Overall: Good news first: The guitar sounds great. Now for the bad: This does NOT feel anything like a $1,000 guitar should. The action is horrendously high. The neck is straight so this means adjustments must be made at the nut and/or saddle. I am not a luthier by any means and I don't feel comfortable doing this work myself. This means I now need to spend around $100 out of pocket to have a local tech set the guitar up for me. Unacceptable on a $1,000 guitar. In addition to the high action, the fret work on this guitar is TERRIBLE. Sharp fret ends sticking out the edges of the fretboard on every single fret on both sides of the fretboard. Really, Taylor? I know these aren't "high end" Taylor guitars but for $1,000 I expect a guitar to be perfect out of the box. So now I must decide between taking this guitar to get set up or just returning it and buying something else.
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"Taylor 214CE" submitted August 30, 2012

By Mark S in Jarrell, TX
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Musical Background: 50 yrs experience. Guitar,Bass, Mandolin, Banjo, Dobro. Professional
Music Style: Jazz, Blues, Rock,Flat picking
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Overall: Very nice guitar, I run it through my Genz-BenZ along with the two extension speakers. Pick-up needs replacing. Not a problem wiyh an L.R. Baggs set up. Beautiful finish. Fast neck
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"Well Worth the Wait" submitted June 19, 2012

By Elodie Germain in Winter Park, FL
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Musical Background: I've been playing for almost 4 years; I play the guitar, the piano, and I sing; I do perform but I'm not a professional
Music Style: pop, jazz
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Overall: I've wanted a Taylor guitar for the past 4 years, ever since I seriously started playing the guitar. I had done a little research and I knew what I wanted but I just didn't have enough money saved up to get it. I received my Taylor as a graduation present last month. This guitar is incredible. It's better than anything I could have expected. It's exquisitely built and the sound just echoes all through your body. The case I got with it was a great deal too because it makes it easy to travel with the guitar. I really could not have asked for a better guitar.
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"Taylor 214ce" submitted August 28, 2012

By Lou P in Burlington, IA
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Musical Background: Playing for about 25 years
Music Style: country, blues, christian
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Overall: I've had this guitar for almost a month now and I still play it everyday...the guitar comes setup very well...action is low enough without any fret buzz...I've order some bridge pins to replace the plactic ones though...those could of been alittle better...the tone controls on board are simple and sound good...I can't determine if I like it better unplugged or amped up....this is a low end Taylor but plays better than most Martins...unplugged is has a very warm tone and its really hard to put down...I did buy a hard shell case to better protect it...I would of liked an onboard tuner
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"Taylor 214ce" submitted September 13, 2012

By Freeman M.
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Musical Background: I have played since the late 70s
Music Style: Rock-blues
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Overall: When I received it there was a yellowish discoloration about 1/4 inch wide that ran the entire length of the fretboard. The guitar was nice, but I would save a little more money and buy a better model. My friend has a 414 and it is far superior to the 214. With the fretboard being clearly a "second" I had to send it back. It was no better than many much cheaper guitars I have played. I can't believe Taylor released this with such an obvious flaw.
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"Defective and worthless. What a disappointment." submitted March 26, 2013

By Dave M in Reading, PA
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Overall: Got the guitar and noticed the action was way too high. I took the guitar to a local luthier and was told the neck is twisted to the point where the guitar cannot be set up. I wanted to exchange it for a replacement but now ZZounds doesn't have any more in stock. I'll be returning this guitar and buying something else. This has spoiled the Taylor name for me.
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