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Hello and welcome to my Taylor 114ce review.
Table of Contents
- Guitar Tone
- Guitar Materials
- Electronics
- Videos
- Guitar Playability
- Who this Guitar is Most Suited to
- Value for Money
- More Info and Where to Buy
- FAQs
This review will look at Taylor 114ce in terms of:
- The Tone;
- The Playability;
- The Materials the 114ce is made from;
- Who the 114ce is best suited to;
- The 114ce’s value-for-money
I’ll also provide video of the 114ce in action so that you can get an appreciation of the tone for yourself and some user reviews so you can read about other people’s opinions.
O.k. let’s get right into it.
Guitar Tone
The 114ce is part of the Taylor’s 100 series of acoustic guitars. These guitars have laminate Sapele back and sides. This makes them slightly warmer in tone compared to their older brothers in the 200 series.
When comparing the 114ce side-by-side with the 214ce I could definitely notice the difference. In comparison to the 214ce, the 114ce was a warmer sound with less overtones. It was more mid-rangey and had trebles that were less shimmery and less pronounced lows than the 214ce.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. This might be the sound that you prefer. I often prefer a warmer more-subtle tone. And the 114ce isn’t by any means super-warm or super mid-rangey. It still has a solid sitka spruce top (a mahogany top would make it more-so).
On a scale of 1-10 (with 1 being the warmest and 10 being the brightest) I’d say that the 114ce would be around a 5. The 214ce would be around a 7.
Also because it’s the Grand Auditorium shape, it brings in a nice balanced tone and a good middle ground between responding to a light touch (loud enough even if you play lightly) but also being quite loud if you really strum it hard.
Guitar Materials
- Shape: Grand Auditorium
- Top: Solid Sitka Spruce
- Back & Sides: Laminate Sapele
- Bracing: Forward shifted scalloped X Bracing
- Bridge: Ebony
- Saddle: Tusq
- Nut: Nubone
Electronics
The 114ce is fitted with Taylor’s Expression System 2 electronics. This is an acoustic-electric model guitar.
Videos
Check out the videos below to get an idea of the sound for yourself.
The next video compares the 114ce to the 214ce
Can you pick the difference? Which one do you prefer? Feel free to leave a comment at the end of this post.
Guitar Playability
The 114ce plays rather nicely. All Taylor’s, even their lower end models tend to play fairly similarly. And, in my opinion, well.
Action
The action felt pretty good as it was. I’m fussy and like my action quite low, so I might have played with it to adjust it down a little bit if I bought it but it was pretty good overall.
Nut Width & Neck Profile
The 114ce has a 1 11/16″ (43mm) nut width. This is standard and felt nice. I like the feel of Taylor’s necks and this was no exception.
Fretboard (Fingerboard)
The fretboard is made from ebony as is the case with all Taylor’s. This is my favorite fretboard wood so I was definitely happy with this aspect.
Scale Length
It has a 25 1/2″ (648mm) scale length. This is a full scale-length. Scale length effects the tension (a shorter scale length has less tension). The tension felt like what you would expect from a full scale-length. For me it was easy enough to fret but you if you have hand issues or if you are a beginner, then you might want to consider a guitar with a shorter scale length.
Who this Guitar is Most Suited to
This guitar is most suited to anyone who:
- Is someone who tends to play a bit of everything – fingerstyle, strumming and flat-picking. The Grand Auditorium body shape is a great all-rounder for this
- Is an intermediate to advanced level player: Wouldn’t be bad for a beginner at all – but there are better options for a beginner.
- Likes the tone of the guitar
Value for Money
It’s an acoustic-electric guitar with a cutaway, it feels nice to play and the tone is pretty good. For a guitar that costs less than $1,000 you could do a lot worse than the 114ce.
If I was looking for a new guitar in that budget range, the 114ce would be on my short-list, for sure.
More Info and Where to Buy
Disclosure: Links may be affiliate links, meaning I get a commission if you make a purchase through my links, at no extra cost to you.
If you are interested in learning more about the 114ce or want to research prices and availability, check out:
Thanks for reading and I hope this review has helped you to learn more about the 114ce.
FAQs
The Taylor 114 is generally considered a good guitar, especially for players looking for a high-quality acoustic guitar in a more affordable price range.
The Taylor 114ce features a solid Sitka spruce top and layered walnut back and sides. However, it’s important to note that the “ce” in the model name indicates that it has a cutaway and electronics (specifically Taylor’s ES2 electronics), which are often features desired by players who want to amplify their acoustic guitar.
I like the sound of both the 114 and the 214, but I think you just sold me on the 114. It sounds quite nice, and would be easier to budget. Personally I have not played in many years due to a shoulder injury, and will consider myself a re-beginning player?
Thank you for the comparison. You played the same music on both guitars whereas other comparison videos I have seen a different selection would be played on each guitar.How do compare sounds when they didn’t play comparable music? Again thanks for the comparison.
Francis
I recently purchased the 114e so no cutaway and with walnut back and sides from L&M and am absolutely thrilled with the sound, action & playability. I really like that it sounds so much bigger than a grand auditorium. One thing I’ve noticed about the entry level guitars from Taylor is that the slightly arched back with no braces seems to help them sound much bigger than they are..👍.
I have many other guitars, including Martin and Yamaha this one is surprisingly becoming my favorite 😍
I played every guitar of the Grand Auditorium is size that I could find between $500-$1500. The Taylor 114 CE suited me better than any of them. I upped the anti and tried some $2000 guitars. There is no doubt that the higher cost instruments had fancier wood, finer trim and hardware but as for just plain old playability, sound and build quality the 114 CE was a good as any of them. IMO this is by far the best bang for your buck in the Grand Auditorium guitar range.
I wanted an Auditorium size guitar that I could take along in my travels and use with a portable amp. I tried several brands in the $1K price range. Most were more “showy” than the “Plain-Jane” Taylor 114CE but none sounded as good. I normally play a Martin so the warmer sound of the 114CE vs the 214CE appealed to me. It is well balanced and has a very nice action.