Taylor 314CE GASsage.

siraxeman

Finally got one...been a long sought after/desired guitar and I mean for a few years really. Finally the time has come and I picked up an absolute minter off ebay for £930. Plays and sounds as good as it looks..well pleased. Happy days.

richardhomer

The sapele back and sides Taylors are among the best sounding guitars they make. The quality is the same across the range - faultless. Enjoy your guitar!

siraxeman

yeah thanks....I did try in the past the others - even the 814 and 614 and as good as they were none really sounded "better" my cloth ears at all really. Taylors seem to have a nice bright voice and that was clear across every model i've seen. I also played the 114 and 214 and even they was nice but the 314 seemed to be a bit warmer than they...not much so apparently the higher up you go. Certainly diminishing returns in a big way...IMO. This 314 will do me just fine. Maybe somewhere down the line I'll get a less bright and more warm/soft sounding acoustic as well...some Martin perhaps? But this Taylor is great and it can be gigged as well going direct to PA which it will no doubt see some live action because of that.

Tone71

Loverly guitars......good gas

Got mine a year ago and play it daily, bought it new and took the hit but worth every penny.

Enjoy

Misty

Glad you got sorted out, 314ce's are great value all round. I just sold mine to help fund my 814ce as I prefer the rosewood/spruce combo, but I would have kept the 314ce as well if I could afford to, it's a great gigging guitar.

thermionic

The 300 series is where all solid woods start, so I can see why there's diminishing returns after then. Different rather than better, although the cosmetics ramp up (I think my my 310 is very plain, but that ebony board...)

maw4neu

Absolutely fantastic guitars . . . Ive owned mine for nearly 2 years now and it never fails to make me smile . . I have the 414 CE :-).

Congratulations @siraxeman youve bought a great guitar :-) 

Just before I bought my Taylor I had 2 x USA Telecasters and Id decided to sell one of them to part fund the purchase of really good acoustic guitar but I wasnt sure what guitar to buy  . . . I loved the look of the Gibson J45 and the Southern Jumbo and I quite fancied a Martin but Id not really got my hands on either of my 3 favourites so I went to PMT in Manchester and sat down in their Acoustic Guitar Section for the afternoon. The J45's they had on display were poorly set up, the strings were dull and lifeless . . They had a GREAT Southern Jumbo but it was WAY above my budget ( £1000 ) and I didnt really get on with the Martins in my price range . . . So I decided to go through every guitar in the place to find the best guitar for me . . Comfort + Playability + Great Tone being the the benchmarks . . . I ended up with 2 clear winners . . . The Taylor GA7 and the Taylor 414 CE . . . . On the day they were the best that PMT Manchester had . .  . in my opinion I hasten to add . . .  

I went to PMT in Leeds the following day and spent a good couple of hours trying different acoustics. They had an amazing J45 there which was really well setup but over my budget and I was really impressed with a couple of Larrivees and an immaculate secondhand 314 CE. I was almost ready to make a bid at one of the when my wife phoned me to tell me about a Taylor 414 CE for sale she'd seen on Preloved.co.uk  . . .  better still it was only 15 minutes from Leeds . . . I phoned the guy up and drove there . . . It was well worth the drive and I bought it on the spot . . . Its a 2002 build 414 CE with the Fishman EQ but it was, and still is, in absolutely perfect condition. I took it straight to the Manchester Guitar Technician for a full setup and it was every single penny . . Simply put I just love it as it does everything I need it to do and more besides . . . 

John_P

Nice GAS!

I love my 314ce    I spent a month trying every acoustic I could find in yorkshire before buying mine - when you compare one after another the difference in sound from the solid woods was really obvious.  Hope you enjoy it.

Just a tip - if it's got the expression system, watch out for the battery socket - they can rattle a little and some people wrap a piece of paper around the first battery to keep it still but I had one get stuck. A postit note seemed the optimum thickness.

siraxeman

1st battery...? I've not looked yet or plugged it in..there are 2 batteries? Seen on ebay mention of 'slimmer' 9v batteries for Taylors ?? 

One interesting point of note - I have a Tanglewood TW15DLX-O (ovankol) all solid woods and this guitar acoustically (it hasn't got any electrics) sounds pretty damn close to the Taylor - that was around £600 new...so just goes to show how good those all solid wood Tanglewood acoustics are these days...bang for buck is incredible on those! 

John_P

siraxeman said:

1st battery...? I've not looked yet or plugged it in..there are 2 batteries? Seen on ebay mention of 'slimmer' 9v batteries for Taylors ?? 

They go in one after the other - I thought I had dodgy electric when the 1st battery was stuck and i kept changing the outer battery that lasted no time at all -  only when i discovered my foolishness and managed to get it out did everything work perfectly again.  I think expression system sounds fine as well.    Hope you're enjoying it

Misty

The earlier 1st generation Expression System takes two 1.5v AA batteries in a cylindrical battery holder, and in that case the post-it note would be useful. The later 2nd and 3rd gen. systems take a single 9v PP3 in a different shaped holder which is fine. 

siraxeman

yeah mines a 9v Duracell just pulled it out n had a look...all makes sense now with Misty's post.