Taylor Guitars 414-KCE

'99 solid koa back and sides, ebony fingerfboard, solid spruce top, cut away, Fishman Prefix system, neck bound in black

This may be the best sounding acoustic I've ever played. It has a complex timbre that only fine instruments can produce. It also records very well.

This guitar was set up well at the factory. 1/8 turn of the truss rod and the action was excellent and still remains that way. (incredibly low action for an acoustic) Workmanship is flawless. Taylor has it down to a science. Thanks, Bob.

So far so good. I use an humidifier as per taylor instructions. The top is thin so I won't take chances. The thin top probably is the reason it sounds so good. This is the kind of instrument luthiers do not like to see mass produced.

Never needed it. Probably good as they seem to be a top notch organization.

Been playing 26 years. Own more guitars than I should. Acoustics don't get better than this, just more ornate. This is truely a professional grade instrument at a reasonable price. This particular guitar will rival any brand at any cost(including hand made one offs, I've played those before). There are many manufacturers producing excellent guitars, you just have to find the right guitar for you. I feel fortunate it found me.

This guitar cannot be replaced.

I own a 1997 414kce. Satin finish. Fishman prefix. Spruce top. Koa back and sides. A plain jane type guitar. No frills

I play alot of country music with a little finger style thrown in. Considered trading for an 814bce. Could not do it because my guitar sounds as good to me. It does have a brighter sound than the 814bce but that ain't bad. Will sustain for ever. I have a 60 watt Crate acoustic amp and a zoom acoustic 504 for effects. Mostly I play unplugged.

Started playing with it as soon as I got home. I bang around on it 7 to 8 hours a week. Never made any adjustments to it. Action is light with no buzing. The finish is great.

It would stand up to live playing and has. Never been worked on. It DOES vibrate when played and nothing has come loose yet

Never used it

I've been playing for 16 years. If stolen I would buy another Taylor since it would be hard to replace the 400 series koa. The 814bce would look good then.

Great for the price range. Engleman gloss spruce top, satin koa back and sides, ebony fingerboard. No fancy inlay work here, this is basically no frills. The engleman spuce top seems to be a good grade, no imperfections that are too noticeable. The koa isn't flamed, but still has some figure to it. Again, in this price range we aren't expecting AAA grade wood here - but it blows the quality of most other brands out of the water in this price category.

I worked in a guitar store and bought it right out of the box, never played. It sounded great, except i noticed one thing after having it home for about a week - there was a slight "rumble" when playing around the fifth fret, bar chords or capoed. It wasn't a really big deal, but i just plunked down over a grand for a new guitar and i wanted it to sound up to its full potential. Plus, I was afraid that this sound was a warning sign and i didn't want it to progress worse. SO, I called up Taylor and they were happy to repair it. However, it did take awhile - aout 3-4 weeks. But that isn't unreasonable considering it took UPS 1 week to get it there and another week to get it back... Anyway it turns out that the bridge was slightly loose. They fixed it and now it sounds better than ever, I haven't had any problems since. The x14 series are intended more for fingerstyle play, which i do sometimes, but i mostly use this guitar for a rhythm. I love the sound, it compares up the the top of the line taylor models. Definitely worth it to restring with the elixirs it comes with, it just doesn't sound quite the same with other brands. On another note, the tone of this guitar is quite different when compared the the mahogany models - particularly the 314, which my friend purchased after playing mine. His guitar sounds more deep and woody (for a Taylor), while mine is more bright and defined. Probably due to the properties of the wood.

Again, the aformentioned bridge problem... but other than that, only one other thing i noticed - the fingerboard has some of the black worn off around the first three frets. It was that way when purchased. It doesn't look bad, but it doesn't look as good as some of the other ebony I have seen on other Taylors. Other than that, this guitar is constructed top notch!

Hmm I have had no problems and I have gigged several times with it. But all Taylors are on the delicate side, I don't think they would hold up as much as some other makes. But as with anything, if you take care of it properly, it's not a problem. Keep humidified if you need to but NOT TOO MUCH. Watering your guitar is a good way to ruin it, too.

Taylor was great with fixing my guitar for free in a fairly reasonable amount of time. They send newsletters to all their customers as well.

The Koa series is getting harder to find... A good guitar for the price, as is any 300 or 400 series. I would get another one IN A HEARTBEAT but I might get a regular 414 for a change, it might sound a bit better for rhythm playing. But then again, every guitar is different!!

1999 Grand Auditorium with cutaway. Factory installed Fishman Matrix pickup and preamp. Sitica Spruce top with Koa sides and two piece back. The top has a gloss finish and the back and sides are satin. Chrome Grover tuners and hardware. Ebony fingerboard with pearl dots. Ebony bridge and pins. Traditional Taylor pick guard. Since it is 1999 model, the guitar has the traditional neck as opposed to the "New Neck" design. I am giving this catagory a rating of seven. I think this is a high rating for a premium acoustic guitar without deluxe features such as: highly figured back and sides, detailed abalone or pearl inlays, full gloss finish, gold hardware, etc.

I play contempary christian praise and worship (Darrell Evans, Matt Redman, Passion, Vineyard, Steven Curtis Chapman). I lead worship every week with the Taylor. The guitar is perfect for the strong rythem style that I play. The sound is very full with a great bottom end and clear highs. The EQ on the Fisham preamp is very sensitive. It lets you shape the tone of the guitar at the source of the sound as opposed to doing it at the soundboard. I play a lot of open chords and every string rings through clear. Finger picking is a delite on this guitar. The only thing I have against the sound is that the tone is dull on the A string at the 8th fret. Taylor said that each guitar is unique and that is common to have a dead spot on the neck. The 714's have a common dead spot on the low E at the 3rd fret. Other than that, I love the tone of this guitar.

I played an Ovation before I bought the Taylor. Night and day difference. I remember the Ovation would sting my ears with highs and have little bass response. It always sound processed, never like wood. It didn't matter what I would play through, (amps, effetcs, PA) I could not get a decent sound. If you are reading this with the intent to replace a current guitar for better sound, and are on a budget, go to Taylor dealer and play one. I played this one for weeks at the store before I bought to make sure it was the guitar for me. I talked my brother into purchasing a 614ce last December because of how happy I am with the tone of this guitar. My father is looking a buying a Gallery Series.

I play through a Boss effects processor to get the right reverb, EQ, delay, chorus sound that I want. Not much effects, but just enough to get over the harsh sound of running flat through the PA. I run Boss dirrectly through the PA system's mointors and house speakers.

I have played dozens and dozens of Taylors. I love this 414-KCE. At first, I was dissappointed that I had not bought a more expensive 614 or 814 for the look that they have. How many people applaud the look over the sound. If they applaud the look, they are applauding Bob Taylor's team. If they like the sound, I feel like that is a part of me.

I bought the guitar new with a major flaw in it. The guitar had been hit by another guitar by a store patron. It had a large (1 1/2 inch) crack on the upper bout just above the fingerboard that went through the finish and wood. Because of this the gutar was another $500.00 off the sale price. The dealer had put some type of apoxy on the top to keep the crack from splitting any further. The sound was still solid and the rest of the guitar was set up perfect from the factory. I will not subtract from this catagory due the fact the it was done at the dealer.

The top is bookmatched, two piece, solid spruce. It has some, "bearclaw curl", to it. The back and sides are slightly figured koa. Of course there are guitars with much more appealing back and sides, but you have to pay for it. Bob Taylor has said that appearance of the wood has nothing to do with the tone.

I play live with this guitar every week. It can handle being played for long periods of time. It can handle hits by missed placed music and mic stands during practice. It can handle my 18 month old son wanting to strum it when daddy isn't looking. It is durable! It is reliable! Try playing with a laminate guitar, live, every day and see how it holds up.

I have dealt with Taylor, a lot. The dealer promised me that he would fix the crack back to "Factory New". Yeah right. After taking it to him twice, and him not being able to even start it because he hadn't been able to get a hold of the repair department at Taylor, I was fed up. I think he was unsure how to do it and didn't want to start something he may not be able to finish.

I called Taylor after the second time and got through with no problem. They convinced me to send it back to them to do the repair. I sent it to them and heard from the day they recieved it. They told me that it would take seven to ten days to repair the guitar and then ship it back. I got that call on a Tuesday. On Friday of the same week I got a call saying it was finished and ready to be shipped. Three days! They stripped the original gloss finish in the flawed area, sanded the wood, repaired the crack, refinished and buffed the top back to like new condition. They even reglued a brace that was loose. When I got I back I was amazed at the job that was done. It was flawless. The large, nasty, crack was invisible. The sound was tighter than ever. Customer service, on the phone, was fast and friendly.

I have been playing for seven years. I own the Taylor, an Ovation, and semi-hollowbody 60's Silvertone. I have also owned an American Deluxe Plus Tele, and a Peavey Wolfgang stop tail. I have owned Fender and Marshall amps.

I will give this guitar to my son one day. I could never see myself trading or selling it. I have never been so thrilled with an instrument. I will being adding to my very small Taylor collection sometime in the future. I would love to have a Koa or Walnut 12-string. Taylor's are the finest guitars made, hands down. If you have ever played a Taylor you know what I'm talking about. Very nice!

If you ever decide that a Taylor is for you, go to: Mass Street Music in Lawerance, KS. That's where my brother bought his 614ce and where my dad is going to purchase his Taylor from. I think the guys name to talk to is Chris. I wish I would have bought mine from them. They are the best guitar dealer I have ever worked with.

Grand Auditorium style guitar with cutaway. All solid woods. Spruce top with koa back and sides, mahogany neck. Unsure of the year of manufacture, but I would guess 1997. Satin finish. Pinless bridge. Fishman Prefix under-bridge pickup with side-mounted controls.

Quite possibly the best tone I've heard in a guitar at this price range; competes quite well with guitars that cost quite a bit more. In many ways, this is the classic small-body guitar sound: balanced, bright, clear, with excellent note separation. Very resonant and woody. Not a high-volume guitar, but well-suited to fingerpicking and solo voice accompaniment. Records very well, and is almost always the guitar I select when recording.

My 414 is from the is from the era when 400 series guitars were satin finished all over (I think the 400 series now have gloss tops). I'm not a huge fan of satin finish, and it makes what is a pretty plain guitar even plainer. With tone this good, I hate to pick nits over the finish... but there you have it.

Otherwise, the fit and finish are quite good. Both the top and headstock overlay have some imperfection in the wood, which doesn't detract at all from the tone, and doesn't do much harm to the looks either. I'd prefer that to paying $500 more for top grade wood. The koa back and sides are really remarkably nice koa for a guitar at this price point. Overall, this guitar is simple and understated; most of the effort has gone into making it sound good, and it *does* sound good.

Action is also good, quite low (which is how I like it), without buzzing. The neck is on the wide side, offering very comfotable string spacing for fingerstyle play.

I don't play gigs, so I can't say how well this guitar will survive the road. It does feel a little delicate, but I imagine it would do just fine at coffehouses and such, where is probably where it belongs.

No contact with Taylor yet.

I own a lot of guitars (and I'm slowly but surely trying to write reviews of all of them!). This isn't the prettiest, or the most versatile. But when I want pure, sweet, clean tone, this is the one I pick up. Each time I pick it up, I find myself saying, "wow, I forgot how good this sounds." I've played the Taylor x14 line all the way up to the 914-- and I have to say, the more expensive models look prettier, but they don't really sound better. In that way, the plain little 414 is quite a bargain.

ACOUSTIC/ELECTRIC WITH ALL SOLID WOODS. KOA BACK AND SIDES, SITKA SPRUCE TOP, EBONY FRETBOARD AND BRIDGE, TUSQ SADDLE AND NUT, HONDURAS MAHOGANY NECK. THIS MODEL INCORPORATES A CUT-AWAY, NOT SHARP BUT ROUNDED. ALL BOUND IN BLACK PLASTIC WITH 3 RING BLACK AND WHITE ROSETTE. SIMPLE YET HAS VINTAGE LOOK. ELECTRONICS ARE FISHMAN PREFIX SYSTEM WITH EQ AND CONTOURING FOR FEEDBACK CONTROL. BATTERY IS ACCESSED THRU SIDE WITH FLIP PANEL. GROVER TUNERS. HARDSHELL ABS PLASTIC CASE. THE ONLY REASON I GAVE IT A 9 IS BECAUSE IT DOES NOT HAVE AN INTERNAL MIC, OTHER THAN THAT, IT HAS ALL I NEED.

I PLAY CHRISTIAN MUSIC AT THE HOUSE AND TRY (NOT VERY WELL) A LITTLE STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN. THIS GUITAR IS THE PERFECT SHAPE. IT'S A GRAND AUDITORIUM. THE SOUND IS THAT OF A DREADNOUGHT BUT WITHOUT THE BOOMING BASS. LOTS OF TREBLE RING. THE POWER IS EXCELLENT AND PLAYABILITY IS SECOND TO NONE! I MOSTLY STRUM AND IT'S CLEAR ALL THE WAY UP/DOWN THE REGISTERS. HARMONICS ARE PERFECT! THERE IS NOTHING ABOUT THE SOUND I DO NOT LIKE. SOUND IS GETTING BETTER MONTH BY MONTH. A PERFECT 10

SATIN FINISH ALL THE WAY AROUND. I LIKE THIS BECAUSE IT SHOWS OFF THE KOA WOOD AND ALL IT'S HUES EXCELLENTLY. THERE ARE NO FLAWS AND THE TOP IS TURNING A NICE PUMPKIN ORANGE EVEN THOUGH IT'S ONLY 8 MONTHS OLD. THE ACTION WAS A LITTLE HIGH (PERSONAL PREFERENCE)SO I SHAVED THE SADDLE AND MADE IT EVEN BETTER. THESE TAYLOR ACTIONS CANNOT BE BEAT, PERIOD! THIS GUITAR IS SO BEAUTIFUL TO LOOK AT THAT I KEEP A PICTURE OF IT AT THE OFFICE. MAYBE I'M CRAZY BUT I LOVE THIS GUITAR. I WILL NEVER SELL IT. THEY ONLY MADE 392 OF THEM!!!!!

THIS GUITAR WAS MADE ON 10/03/97. ONLY 8 MONTHS OLD. NO HUMIDITY PROBLEMS OR ANYTHING GOING WRONG. I'M A BIG SRV FAN AND IT JUST SO HAPPENS THIS GUITAR WAS MADE ON HIS BIRTHDAY. WHAT A BONUS!!!!!! I DO NOT FORESEE ANY PROBLEMS AS LONG AS I KEEP IT PROPERLY HUMIDIFIED.

TAYLOR REALLY KNOWS WHAT TRUE CUSTOMER SERVICE IS ALL ABOUT. THEY ARE ALWAYS HELPFUL AND WILLING TO GET THE INFORMATION TO YOU IN A QUICK AND TIMELY MANNER. LIFETIME LIMITED WARRANTY TO ORIGINAL OWNER ONLY.

IF YOU DO ALOT OF RESEARCH AND DO NOT RUSH YOUR PURCHASE YOU WILL BE SATISFIED WITH A QUALITY PRODUCT. THIS ONE WAS AND I LOVE IT. TRY BUYING A SOLID WOOD ACOUSTIC/ELECTRIC WITH THIS MUCH QUALITY SOUND FOR UNDER $ 1000.00. YOU CAN'T FIND ONE. THERE ARE ALOT OF GREAT MANUFACTURES OUT THERE, BUT DOLLAR FOR DOLLAR, TAYLOR IS THE WAY TO GO. I WOULD BUY ANOTHER 414-KCE IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO IT. THIS WAS THE BEST MUSICAL PURCHASE I HAVE EVER MADE.