[milehimagic]

I had the opportunity to play the new V Class Bracing guitars a few nights ago in Denver. Taylor had a new product showing at the Denver Folklore Center. The place was jammed, maybe about 50 people and it was so crowded, people were standing in the doorway. As you would expect from a Taylor rep, very polished, knew his stuff and was a decent player.

During the intro statements, the rep made some very interesting comments:

He made a unique comment in that when he took the new 914ce home and started playing it he noticed that unlike a normal rosewood back and side instrument, this 914 didn't have the normal midrange "swoop." I found that interesting in that I thought that is why you choose different tone woods. Strange but true.

Secondly and most importantly, he made the direct statement that by the end of 2018 all GA's from the 300 series up will have the new V bracing.

How do they sound.....first let me state, I play a 214ce, love it and love Taylor. That's the good news, now the bad news, me and many of the attendees were somewhat/very disappointed.

Before we had the chance to personally play the instruments, one of the attendees asked the rep to play an 814ce DLX to compare it to the 914ce V Braced he had with him. Although the 914ce was noticeably louder (strumming??). the 814ce DLX was much much clearer and articulate. Truly the "Taylor Sound" we have grown to enjoy over the years. Sorry for the poor layperson descriptor but that's the best way I can describe it. Now to the reps defense, he didn't want to do it the comparison, up to and including asking the audience if the wanted him to do it, and was kind of forced into it. Mistake..... I think the most telling comment of the evening was after the rep did the comparison and asked (and I am paraphrasing) "what did you think?" and the only response was from a woman in the front row who said, "it was louder."

Given the large number of attendees, you could only audition the instruments for a few moments and as much as it pains me to say it, I think that Taylor has really missed the mark. With that being said, some people thought they sounded really good. Bottom line, we all have different tastes. I like vanilla and you may like chocolate.....nothing wrong either way!

I went into this process looking for a new guitar...I think I found it, the 814ce DLX.....before they change to the new V bracing.,