Taylor Guitars 514-CE

Taylor 514-CE. Made in California. Made in 2007. Solid Western Cedar Top, Solid Tropical (American) Mahogany back & sides. Built-in Taylor Expression pickup system with treble/bass/volume control. Single cutaway. Ivoroid nut & saddle. Bought new, included a DVD.

The sound of this guitar is phenomenal. I give it a 9 only because it suffers a bit from lack of volume, but a big part of that is the wood construct, especially the cedar top. It's definitely a softer guitar. Other than that, the sound quality on this guitar is great - great tone all the way up the fretboard. The expression system works well. It eats batteries, but they do last longer than the previous incarnation of the fishman pickup system (a bandmate had this version and my batteries lasted twice as long). Anyway, the sound is rich and true.

Flawless construction. I could not find a flaw on this guitar anywhere. The bookmatching is so well done, if you didn't know where to look for the joint or know where it was supposed to be you'd have a hell of a time finding it. I give this a 9 only because I'm not particulary fond of Taylor's bridge pin setup - you definitely have to work at it a little bit to get the ball set properly, or you'll be pulling the pin constantly.

I use this guitar live every gig. Does go out of tune slightly depending on the weather and indoor conditions but it goes out in concert, where the whole guitar is still in tune with itself. Gold hardware seems to be holding up pretty well after a year to finger sweat. I would definitely use this guitar without a backup (I do most of the time now). No winter checking, cracking or warping. Not nearly as sensitive to humidity as I thought it might end up being.

Haven't had to deal with Taylor so far but a guy in my band was missing the truss rod plate after misplacing it, and they sent another one free of charge. That's good CS.

Overall I'd give this guitar a 9. It's a little tough hearing yourself without punching the volume up some with an amp/pedal in a band situation; with that cedar top it's just a soft sound, and it doesn't really respond at all to being hammered on. I own a Rickenbacker & an Epiphone archtop as well. My favorite feature of this guitar is the true tone. Least favorite feature is lack of volume. If it were stolen or lost I would definitely buy it again, with the caveat that I'd probably also buy a 612 (spruce top, maple back & sides) for playing live in the band. I tried this guitar against a lot of other guitars, and selected it for purity of tone. It's phenomenal sitting at the house or in an intimate setting. I've been playing for a long time and it's the best guitar I've ever owned.

2002 model. Grand Auditorium with Tropical mahogany back and sides with Western Red Cedar top rosewood binding and headstock overlay with a koa rosette. Gold Grover tuners, Full gloss UV finish. The factory installed Fishman Prefix Blender has been replaced with an L.R. Baggs Element Onboard that uses the same hole and screw holes as the Fishman system.

Fits my playing style as well as anyting I've played. I am a figerstyle player and this guitar is ideal. Great woody tone that has a rich resonant low end and clear trebles. The mid is well balanced. With light PB strings and a Fossilized Walrus Ivory (FWI) saddle and bone bridge this guitar sounds tremendous and playes even etter. A decent strummer but it truely shines when put through it's paces with fingerstyle playing.

Fit and finish are pure Taylor. What else can be said of a gutar that plays as wonderfula as this straight from the factory. I hardly ever adjust anything.

For as long as I've owned this guitar it has no issues that can be noticed. Cosmetic issues such as dings ot withstanding. Vewry solidly built and like anyting else, extremely reliable when handled properly and kumiodified whwn not being used.

Taylor customer service is rated at the best or near best very consistently. I've never had a call into them where they couldn;t answer the question. Servioe is prompt and everything is well taken care of.

Overall, my rating for this guitar is a startling 7 out of 10. A great guitar that plays as great as it sounds. If lost or stolen would I rebuy it? probably so.

2003 514-E purchased used on e-Bay. Mahogany back and sides, cedar top, ebony bridge and fretboard, gold-plated Taylor tuners, koa rosette, Indian rosewood binding on the body and fretboard. When purchased, was in "close-to-new" condition. I was attracted to this model for several reasons: first, when test-driving Taylors, I found myself coming back to this wood combination time and again. I like the crisper, more dry, "stringy" sound and ringing high tones that the mahogany gives, perfectly tempered by the warmness of the cedar top. It doesn't hurt that this combination also looks fabulous--the mahogany is considerably more golden than many stained-finish guitars out there, and the smooth color transition from the cedar to the rosewood binding to the mellow mahogany back and sides is a joy to the eye! The gold tuners complete the look. My other reason for loving this model is that it was a custom-order with the Expressions System but NO cutaway. My impression is, a guitar loses a lot of tone quality when almost half of the treble bout is lost--and I certainly don't spend enough time above the 14th fret to justify a cutaway! Plus, aesthetically, the symmetry of a full body is far better than the look of a cutaway. The gloss finish on this particular instrument is incredible--it looks like it was dipped in glass!

Definitely not a big-sound guitar, but, hey, that's why it has a pickup, right? I am almost exclusively a fingerstyle player with a very light touch, and big, boomy sound is not what I'm after. The guitar is incredibly responsive, and just rings like a bell with no effort from me. Again, the bass side is lighter in weight due to the mahogany, but is greatly balanced for a very lyrical sound--perfect for the music I play (contemporary praise and contemplative music, Celtic/folk/newgrass, a little bit of blues).

Can't speak to how this instrument was set up from the factory, but when she came into my life, the guitar was beautifully set up with a very low action, but no string buzz issues, unless I really dig in a little too heavily. In fact, the neck relief could actually be a bit (maybe .01") higher and still be fantastic. The bridge saddle was badly scored from the treble strings, and there were rust marks on the nut--so my first order of business was to replace these, if only for better looks. Some heavy pick gouges on the pickguard also attest that she was in some brutish hands at some time in the past. I also swapped out the cheap plastic bridgepins for some ebony pins with abalone dots. Overall, the build quality is pure Taylor--absolutely precise, beautifully finished fretwires, no factory flaws anywhere. I can play anywhere on the neck, or use the capo on high frets, and the intonation is absolutely perfect, with the overtones singing like angels. And the gloss finish is like a mirror! I only assign the "9" rating because it was a crime for Taylor to let that guitar go out the factory door with those pathetic plastic bridgepins.

I have no worries about durability. I am mostly a "spare bedroom" player, and even in public venues, I play fingerstyle with a light touch. It's a 2003 model that has held up well in the hands of a more heavy-handed player than myself, so I think I won't be too hard on her!

Seeing as this is a used guitar, I suppose I'm on my own for repairs and maintenance.

I have been "playing" the guitar for over 30 years. My background is primarily classical; I'm an operatic tenor and sing in church, choral, and concert settings. Guitar for me is a way to play a more personal instrument, reflect and meditate, and lower the blood pressure. I am by no means a concert performer, and haven't "gigged" in my life! I do play worship music in church, which is about as adventurous as I will ever be as a performing guitarist. In past years, I've owned some cheap dogs, but have also enjoyed a nice Nippon-Gakki era Yamaha dreadnought and a Martin D18. More recently, I've mostly played classical guitar but have been yearning for a bona fide high-end solid wood steel string guitar--and this one fits the bill. I definitely love the looks and the sound. My one gripe is (and perhaps I just need to adjust to the narrower fretboard relative to a classical guitar) is that the treble E string is very close to the edge of the fretboard and has a tendency to "dive" off the fretboard if I stretch the string a little too much or put a little too much vibrato on. A design flaw? No, I'm just a clumsy player!

This guitar was bought new in 2003 from an online store in the US.
On board Expression system works well.
Ebony fingerboard and bridge with Indian mahogany body.
Dot inlays on neck.
The instrument looks absolutely beautiful with a lovely deep red glow from the body wood.

When strummed lightly or fingerpicked the sound is very bright. But quality starts to deteriorate when played harder. I use it through the PA and sosunds nice and responds well to the expression eq system. The low end leaves much to be desired and does not give a rounded sound as a Martin or a Gibson for example. Playing the high single notes higher up the neck around 12th fret lacks depth and sounds very tinny

The guitar was very poorly set up when delivered. The strings were unusually high from the fingerboard. I had read a great deal about Taylors before purchase and was led to believe that the playing action was legendary. Unfortunately on my model this was not the case. It was also marred by terrible buzzing on most of the lower and higher notes along the top and bottom of the neck. I have speny hundreds of GBP on correcting this and is still not what it should be. It is not an "easy" instrument to play

Unable to deal with shop as it is in US

Very disappointed with this+??1800 GBP instrument

I have a 2004 514 CE with the Expression System electronics. All solid wood guitar- Western Red Cedar top, Tropical American (read Honduras) Mahogany back, sides, and neck, Ebony bridge and fretboard, Rosewood binding on the body, with a tasteful Koa rosette. Gold Taylor tuning machines. The look of this particular guitar is pleasing because the body and neck are both made from Mahogany, unlike others in the Taylor lineup. It's a small thing but I noticed it.

As others have said, this is not a booming guitar, but pundits should keep in mind that Dave Matthews, who has an aggressive, percussive style, plays the Taylor x14 body style (he owns a 714 which has a Cedar top) and if it's good enough for him, well then... I wanted a high-end guitar that was versatile, and I've found that's true with my 514. You can strum pretty hard and it keeps up, yet slower, more careful playing is simply wonderful. The 514's slimmer waist gives it more treble zing; however, this is one of the mellowest wood combinations around, with the Cedar taking some of the harsh brightness off the typical Taylor tone. Chords build and ring out on this guitar, almost like a church bell. Individual notes just sing. It really does sound that good.

Everything about this guitar is very high quality. I even took a flashlight to it a few days ago and inspected the inside of the body-no glue goop or buildup. I even saw the Serial # marked on the lower bout in pencil from the factory! As other reviews have noted, Taylor uses CNC machining to make its guitars, and this allows for great consistency across the models. Everything is glued/screwed down tight. My only complaint is that sometimes when I change strings one of the tuners does not turn as smoothly as the others, but this is a secondary issue. On a high note, you can see some coloration in the Ebony fretboard, which simply gives the guitar more character. Plus the action is just terrific from the factory- it's almost like playing an electric. The 514 has to be among the easiest acoustics to play, period.

I think this guitar will last as long as you properly care for it. That means investing in a Dampit and a Planet Waves Hygrometer and properly humidifying it during the cold winter months. Take care of it, and it will reward you with years of great playability.
Given that many practicing musicians make the 514 CE their go-to guitar, I'm sure it does just fine for gigging. As for myself, it has never left my home. I think the guitar has plenty of heft, but hey, it's not a Guild or anything.

I've never had to bother Taylor with anything so I can't say much. Others have responded that their customer support is great, so take it for what it's worth. Given that I bought it used, I'm pretty sure the unfilled Warranty Card is useless, but one can only hope.

I've been playing for about six years, mostly as a release from stress and such. I'm not that good but I have good tastes so I spent many, many months carefully researching what kind of guitar to get; my wife impressed on me that this would be the only one, a "keeper". I wanted a guitar that was made in the US, solid wood, easy to play, and versatile. I've found all that and more in the 514 CE. The guitars I've owned include Yamaha, Fender, and Tacoma before the journey ended with my 514CE. I simply love it and would replace it in a heartbeat; the honey-colored Cedar top is just beautiful and it looks like no other Taylor in the series, save the 714CE. I played many Martins, Gibsons, and Taylors at my local GC before I decided on the the 514CE. It's so easy to play and it sounds wonderful.

Just bought my 514 C E yesterday. paid $2099 Canadian - western red cedar soundboard with tropical American mahogany b/s. I am so in love with this guitar that I'd like to buy the company, but I now have no money !!!! I plan to do some serious busking this summer in order to pay my 514 CE off!! My guitar looks so good that maybe tomorrow I will start playing it. I just sit and look at my new guitar all night long. It is so warm and mellow. I finger pick and this guitar does all the work. I am very impressed. I would recommend this guitar to anyone that is a serious player. 9 1/2 outtta 10

My style is in the genre of Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, Bruce Cockburn, Neil Young. I absolutley love the sound production and the quality is outstanding. I would describe the sound as warm, seductive and very, very mellow. I love the combination of the cedar/mahogany, I think this combo is the reason for the superb quality of sound.

Not sure, but I plan to find out in the near future

I have played guitar for over 30 years now and I have hasd many makes/models of guitars, i.e. Epiphone, Fender. Yamaki, Ovation, Yamaha,Martin, Art Lutherie (Canadian luthier/handmade), and now Taylor.

This is the best guitar for christian music

I play this through a SWR California Blonde.
This thing sounds so amazing.
If you want a warm sounding guitar that can pick and strum perfectly, this is the guitar that you want.

I have the 2000 with the diamond inlays and abalone rosette with mother of pearl taylor inlays along with an extra little truss rod cover with a dove on it.

This is a beautifully bookmatched guitar! PERFECT!

this is a great live guitar. I play it at church every tuesday, wednesday, and friday. Strap buttons are the greatest, they hold the strap great.

The company customer would have to be one of the best in all of universe. I accidentally dropped my guitar one and cracked the top and they fixed it without a hitch for only 100 bucks. and then I requested them send my guitar back along with a new case and they forgot to send me the case and sent the guitar to a wrong address, which was redirected back to my house again. They gave me the taylor case for FREE. they have the best customer service in the world. Take it to their factory and they will buff out your guitar and clean it and tune it into perfection for free!

SUPERB.

Mine was built in November of 2002. Solid cedar top with solid tropical mahagony back and sides. Koa rosette and rosewood bindings. Simply a beautiful guitar. excellent finish and detail.

The Fishman Stereo Blender pickup has been replace with an LR Baggs element active with onbaord controls. It is a perfect retrofit design that drops right into the original Fishman hole. The tone and sound of the Baggs setup is far superior to the Fishman system (though the Fishman blender is excellent. I'd recommend the change (unless you want to spend the nearly $500 to retrofit the Expression system to it). I may opt for the Expression retorfit later, but for now, I love the tone and warmth with the Baggs setup I have.

Grover tuners are solid and keep tune wonderfully.

The NT neck design is a wonderful innovation and it shows in playability

I play acoustic fingerstyle and folk music, and contemporary Christian. It is a dream to play. Full rich lows and perfectly balanced mids and highs. A real players guitar.

I play thru an Ultrasound AG50DS2 amp. At church I go thru the amp then into the PA. Simply beautiful sound. I get many flattering comments from people. The sound guys at our church love to hear it over the system.

Fingerstyle playing is alternate tunings is where this guitar really shines. The harmonics are bell like andf pure.

Action is near perfect from the factory (as are all Taylors). Woods are beautiful and matched perfectly. The UV finish is near bulletproof.

I can see no identifiable flaws on the guitar at all.

Extremely reliable and durable at this point. Holds tune wonderfully. I use it at church and coffee house gigs. I have a Takamine EAN45C that I bring as back up but truely never need it. I only use it when I am in a hurry to retune and need a second guitar for that. Otherwise, I'd use my 514ce without a backup easily.

Taylor customer support is excellent. I've never needed repair or warranty work of any type, but any time I've called with set up questions or advice, they are personable and won't let you go until you have it your issues resolved. They treat their customers like royalty.

I've been playing guitar on and off for nearly 30 years. I've owned Martins, Ovations, and other less notable brands. My Taylor is by far the best guitar I've owned. I's replace it in a heart beat. The Cedar/Mahogany combination is in my opinion the best combo. Taylors are probably the best value for the money. Plays and sounds easily as good as guitars 2-3 time the price.

There are other similar qulaity guitars (McIlroy, Bereedlove) but the Taylor reputation is impeccable.

Professional players of all genres play Taylors and for a reason. Phil Keaggy uses a 514ce on his Acoustic Sketches II album on the track "Cajun Pass". I'd be happy just to play his mistakes.

1999 model made in California.
Cedar top, which makes it unusual, mahogany back and sides, Fishman Prefix blender, ebony fretboard, subtle MOP inlay work around the soundhole and on the odd frets. Came with excellent case.

This is a wonderful utility guitar for the studio due to its versatility and overall quality of tone. Because of its small size, however, it does not have a huge bottom end like a dreadnought. This means that I've never been fully satisfied with this guitar for hard strummed folk music.

However, for more intimate sounding songs involving softer strumming and fingerpicking, this guitar is a dream. It has a bright, warm tone that records wonderfully with a decent condenser mic. I really like the tone that results from the cedar top as opposed to the more traditional spruce tops. It give the whole guitar a unique character.

The strings that come with the guitar are Elixers which seem to have a lot of strong opponents in the guitar playing community. I agree that they are a bit dull compared to other strings, but my sweat eats through normal bronze strings annoyingly quickly, and Elixers stand up to the abuse quite well. Also, the bright nature of the guitar's tone compensates for the strings, in my opinion.

The onboard blender is fine, particularly when plugged into a PA and given a touch of reverb. The Fishman unit allows you to blend the piezo pickup with the built-in microphone to provide a good compromise between the two sounds. I find that they piezo sounds a bit too harsh for my taste on recordings although in a live situation it helps the guitar cut through the mix.

Recording with this guitar demands a decent microhpone, even though it can be plugged directly into the board. I find that the tone on this guitar, when recorded directly, is far too thin to stand up when mixed with other instruments. By itself, you wouldn't notice as much, but as soon as you put an electric solo or a bass guitar into the pot, the sound of the Taylor gets lost. With a condenser mic, however, this problem is solved and the full tone of the guitar can be heard in spades.

Flawless in *almost* every way. Quality control at the Taylor factory seems to be a high priority. The action on this instrument is remarkably low, yet there is no buzz on the frets making it a nice guitar for solo work as well as strumming and fingerpicking chords. The tuning pegs are solid Grovers, and I love the ebony bridge. The ebony fretboard is great for tone and feel, but I do have a slight flaw at the third fret where the wood is pockmarked. It is a small blemish and does not affect the tone.

The lacquer is very thin, which helps the guitar resonate strongly. The drawback is that it is quite delicate and scratches easily. If you're clumsy, you'll have some scars on this guitar in no time. Unfortunately, I'm definitely in this category.

Very lightweight in its construction, so I wouldn't knock it around much. The hardware is solid, however, and I don't see the tuners or bridge breaking down any time soon. Very dependable, but if you drop it or sit on it, it'll be toast.

If you're obsessed with hand-made guitars, you probably won't be interested in Taylors. The company makes no secret that they use CNC technology to manufacture parts to exact specifications. The mystique of human craftmanship is traded for consistency. As far as I'm concerned, its a fair trade. The guitars are consistent and, most importantly, they are consistently wonderful. Every Taylor I've ever played has had the same great sound. Of course, there is plenty of human craftmanship to go along with the CNC precision, but its a happy marriage as far as I'm concerned.

You see a lot of artists playing these things in live situations, which seems to make some people distrust the brand. Personally, I think its because they're reliable and sound great. Their tone compares favorably to Martins, particularly when you're using direct amplification or recording. I have a hard time imagining a more desireable "utility" guitar for the recording studio than the Taylor 514 CE.

After playing a Martin D-35 with a bridge pickup for 10 years, Fret and fingerboard wear (and the need for a 2nd gtr while my D-35 was in the shop) had me guitar shopping. I finally settled on the Taylor 514CE with a spruce top and the new expression pick-up system (more on thst later). The Grover tuners with gold plate are of course wonderfull. I'm not thrilled with the look of the finger joint between the neck and headstock although it is undoubtedly stronger. It came with a first clas hardshell case with thick padding and a nice snug fit.

This guitar is plays great for my finger picking style. It can't take hard strumming like my Martin but I haven't tried putting medium gauge strings yet. It has a nice round sound accousticly, and the pickups can be run ballanced or unballanced. Through a system, the unballanced output has a full, warm and loud sound without feedback. the pickup system uses 2 AA batteries that are easily replaced. I would highly reccomend it to friends.

It felt played and looked great (exept for the finger joint)right out of the case!

After playing it about 2 weeks, the pickup system started humming, buzzing, and then quit. The company took it right back and repaired it (at no cost) and I had it back in 3 weeks. A moonth later it went out again! Again, Taylor sook it back and this time replaced the whole preamp and re installed the pickups. Needless to say, I'm still taking my Martin to any gig!

The service has been very accomadating throughout this and I do have confidence thet they will do what's needed to correct this electronics problem.

If Taylor can work out the bugs in their electronics, this would be a wonderfull guitar for any serious player.