Played Taylor V-class at Gryphon today for 1.5 hours, my thoughts!

[Earthworm]

Originally Posted by AndrewG

you can come and see Bigfoot. He's living in my garden shed with Mrs. Bigfoot and Bigfoot Jr. I would have them in the house, but they're a little fragrant

Can I come over? I want to meet them. We could have a jam.

[Guitarsan]

Originally Posted by srick

Thank you Cybershot! Sounds really interesting. I wonder how they will sound when they open up? I wonder how they would sound with terrified tops?

Don’t know about terrified tops, but the current V-class K14ce Builder’s Edition does have a torrified top.

https://www.taylorguitars.com/guitar...-edition-k14ce

[RyanR]

I also stopped by Gryphon in Palo Alto on Friday. Spent about 30 minutes testing both the new 914ce and the "Builder's Edition" K14ce.

I had expected them to be very similar but was in fact surprised at the difference. I have no experience playing a Koa guitar before so this was my first try. I found the Koa (K14ce) to have a much more woody, midrange type sound. The 914ce had more bass and a high, almost metallic high end. These were both brand new so I'm assuming strings are identical.

I know this is the description you often see online of these tone woods but this is actually how they sounded to me. To me the difference was quite obvious. And, again, I went in thinking they would be super similar.

Both sounded very nice, just different.

Caveat -- it was not a perfect environment to test them, there were other people in there playing other guitars.

In terms of how they felt to me there was no contest -- the K14ce felt best. I loved the way the corners were beveled off and also the finish was slick. The access to the upper frets was nice as well.

I called Taylor afterwards and asked if it was possible to custom order a K14ce with rosewood back and sides but they said "no, not yet, too soon, but wait a while". So eventually I think the new "comfort" features on the K14 will be available for special order on other models. No idea when.

[Jeff Scott]

Does this V bracing eliminate the typical dead notes at the F#/G area on the A string, and that I sometimes find on the D string, too?

[ii Cybershot ii]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

Does this V bracing eliminate the typical dead notes at the F#/G area on the A string, and that I sometimes find on the D string, too?

I played a lot of single notes in the dead-note areas which for me have always been found randomly anywhere between the 5th-10th frets on all of the wound strings, and it seemed to me that these areas were improved for sure.

[JohnW63]

The guitar was almost "slippery" in that there was no drag on the back of the neck, or on your clothes from the body.

Oh dear. Are we going to have people complain that they won't stay on their laps like they do about Ovations !

[M Hayden]

Was also at Gryphon and spent time with the V-braced Taylors.

I agree that they’re very even - they are archtop-like in their relative smoothness of response. The trebles are quite good.

A/B-ing with x-braced Taylors brought one difference to the fore: the V-braced guitars do not have the power-chord ‘growl’ of (some) X-braced guitars. I think I hear what Andy Powers means when he states that the new guitars are more in tune - the strings don’t beat against themselves (e.g some kind of harmonic distortion) as they do on many good steel-strings. I’m used to that, and it is a bit odd that the new instruments don’t make that sound - they are more mannered, something like a good classical guitar. But play a first position A chord on an x braced and listen to the root-fifth-octave growl, and do the same on the V; it sounds different.

Another thing is that the evenness makes the trebles not cut through the way they do on an X’braced instrument. Many Taylors can cut through a roomful of players; these did not. Their evenness makes it a little harder to play with dynamics - the touch has to be a little more definite.

Either way, it’s a good innovation and I’m curious how it’ll evolve.

[JimmerO]

It seems to me that Taylor and Martin have a different philosophy about designing new guitars.

Martin is iconic. A Martin sounds like a Martin. Newer vintages of the same model are tweaks not major revamps. They know that people buy a Martin to get the Martin sound. I have an HD28 that I love. I wanted a Martin for many many years and got a nice one that I will probably keep forever.

Taylor likes to change the sound of their models. People come back to see what the new ones sound like. They are always high quality instruments but they may sound different depending on the vintage. I have a 2011 714ce with a cedar top that sounds lovely. I almost bought a newer 714ce with an Engleman Spruce top. It sounded great but I was looking for something very different than my Martin and I loved the sound of the cedar so I went for the used one with a Cedar top.

I'm sure the new V braced guitars will sound good but different. And maybe that's the point.

Credit to both makers for their innovation towards seeking to make newer guitars with more sustainable materials.

[jstroop]

Originally Posted by pjroberts

Most buyers are not tracking AGF debates, NAMM announcements or really care about bracing. They will play, and if they like what it does, and especially if they like the way it looks, they’re not even going to think about or ask guitar nerd questions like what brace technology does this guitar use.

I don’t fully agree with this. I understand the logic, but I wonder if buyers of higher-end manufactured guitars - Taylor, Collings, Martin, Gibson, Larrivee, etc. - might be nerdier than you give them credit for.

[jstroop]

Originally Posted by JimmerO

It seems to me that Taylor and Martin have a different philosophy about designing new guitars.

Martin is iconic. A Martin sounds like a Martin. Newer vintages of the same model are tweaks not major revamps. They know that people buy a Martin to get the Martin sound. I have an HD28 that I love. I wanted a Martin for many many years and got a nice one that I will probably keep forever.

Taylor likes to change the sound of their models. People come back to see what the new ones sound like. They are always high quality instruments but they may sound different depending on the vintage. I have a 2011 714ce with a cedar top that sounds lovely. I almost bought a newer 714ce with an Engleman Spruce top. It sounded great but I was looking for something very different than my Martin and I loved the sound of the cedar so I went for the used one with a Cedar top.

I'm sure the new V braced guitars will sound good but different. And maybe that's the point.

Credit to both makers for their innovation towards seeking to make newer guitars with more sustainable materials.

+1 - Amen to this.

[Mycroft]

Originally Posted by JohnW63

Oh dear. Are we going to have people complain that they won't stay on their laps like they do about Ovations !

I noticed it too.

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by jstroop

I don’t fully agree with this. I understand the logic, but I wonder if buyers of higher-end manufactured guitars - Taylor, Collings, Martin, Gibson, Larrivee, etc. - might be nerdier than you give them credit for.

You're right some are nerdier, for sure.

And some go by tone and feel, ignoring things that don't come out of the sound hole.

[fazool]

Thanks for such a well thought out, articulate and informative review.

[Shades of Blue]

I very much appreciate your feedback. I think some people will love the new bracing, and some people will hate it. Some people will be oblivious to the new bracing and will love them for being a great sounding guitar, and some will color their ears with V braced disdain.

When I heard that Taylor will be hanging their hats on V Bracing going forward, I was shocked. I mean, converting your entire line to an unproven bracing pattern with little market feedback seems risky. Unless, this is a cost saving move and the bottom line is more important than customer feedback/expectations. It has to be less expensive and more simple to manufacture.

It makes sense in that they marketed the hound out of V bracing and now will be shoving it down their customer's throats before the end of 2018. Saves Taylor and in return, they give their customers "grand innovation."

[DudleyDoRight]

Originally Posted by MChild62

Cybershot, I literally joined the AGF a few days ago because I could not find any meaningful views anywhere else of Taylor's new V-Class guitars. Your review was exactly what I hoped to find: competent, balanced, healthy skepticism, and open-minded to new concepts, and ability to compare/contrast with existing Taylors.
Thanks so much for the time you put into sharing your views. Awesome!

I'm with MChild62. I also joined this forum for the express purpose of learning about the V-Class. I haven't played in a few years. My daughter has my guitar with her in another state and the itch to play again is growing. The videos on the V-Class guitars are enticing, but until you read such a thorough review like this one, they can all sound like hype. I'm going with the 814ce V. So thank you, Cybershot!