Taylor Guitars 414-CE L10

USA made in 2005. Fall limited edition with Sitka spruce top and indian rosewood back and sides. Venetian cutaway with Taylor Expression System.

I needed an acoustic electric, and my friend recommended that I try out Taylor's ES guitars. He is a pround owner of a Morgan acoustic that I also like very much. The store I went to had a complete line of Taylor guitars from the 100 to the 900 series, and I tried them all. I had previously also tried Martin's, Gibson's and other brands. What sold me on the Taylor was the beautful tones from the Expression System. Tried it through the store's Fender acoustic amp and a Yamaha PA system and I was sold. I have to say that I like indian rosewood because of it's tonal sustain. My options was between the 700 to 900 series until I tried the 414 L10. It also has the indian rosewood, but is not gloss finished. Instead the back and sides have a satin finish that I think gives this guitar even more sustain. I actually timed a G-cord on it. I hit the G-cord only once and you could actually hear the guitar tone for 15 seconds.
It's tone, balance, and playability is hard to beat. But again, selection of a guitar's depend on the tone you're searching for. This guitar is bright but is is also very balanced. That is, you can hear all the strings very clearly. If you play alot with just your fingers, the sound just seems to pup out from this guitar - very nice indeed.

Perfect from the factory. Very low action with no buzz. Came with Elixir 0.12 gage strings. To make it a little more playable without loosing to much tone I changed to Elixir 0.11, and it still sound's great without any buzz.

The craftmanship is perfect. Being a 400 series guitar, the wood grade in cosmetic quality is not the same as in the higher series. But this is just for the looks anyway. The tonal quality is still there. I am an artist that don't like to much flash and glitter anyway. Even having gold tuners is something I never liked.

Have not yet had to deal with them. They have been in business long enough so I hope they take customer service seriously.

I've been playing for 25 years and other favorite equipment I own includes a 1954 re-issue Fender Stratocaster and a DR.Z MAZ-38 senior tube amp. My next purshase is most probable the Taylor's K4 Preamp and Equalizer. This little box is handmade for the pickup system on the Taylor line. I had hoped it was not to expensive, but it is. Well that's another purchase I have to explain to my wife.