My Future Taylor 714CE -your opinion/comments

[ronbermudez]

Hello,

I am seriously thinking about investing in a Taylor 714CE. A Big upgrade from the Yamaha I have now, but very well worth it though.

I would definitely like to hear what your personal opinions are on the 714CE:
Such as…
-on the wood…
-the tone (do you find it warm, balanced or bright)…
-cost for the money…
-likes…
-dislikes…
-on anything about it...

Also, does neck size really matter with the guitar style I play, or is it really just a matter of overall comfort?

Thanks!
Ron

[Mike G]

Ron:

I love the 714ce and find the GA body style very comfortable. The neck on all Taylors are wonderful, comfortable and effortless to play. Sound is so subjective and I suspect you may hear differenct opinions as peoples ears work differently. However, I find the 714 a versatile guitar suitable for many applications. The nice bass response and depth of the rosewood, the warmth of the cedar make the guitar sing. I personally feel in handles flatpicking and strumming well, though some don't, but there are factors such as technique, pick guage, etc that influence that. I also feel it is a good fingerstyle guitar due to the response of the cedar. When I play it, I almost expect it to be muddy and find myself remarkably surprised at how much it sparkles. Though I've found that some models didn't. Don't assume every 714ce sounds the same.

I think it is reasonably priced relative to the Taylor line.

Everyone will tell you to get alone with a few and choose the one that speaks to you.

Let us know how you make out.

Best,

[tenthumbs]

I am not an expert nor do I own a 714. However if there's one thing I've learned from this and other forums is that opinions/preferences are so vastly different that it's often hard to come to a conclusion. In this forum you'll be hard pressed to read any complaints about any Taylor. The best advice I've read is to test drive different models until one of them "speaks to you."

Just my opinion

Cheers

Chris

[cpmusic]

The others are right -- you need to find the one that works best for you. However, as a new 714 owner (plain, no ce) I'll answer anyway because I like this guitar so much.

Overall, I find it rich, warm and smooth, yet with crisp highs and just a little bite. The low end is very impressive for a mid-size (it sounds like it was built for drop-D), but it supports the guitar instead of overpowering it. The cedar top won't take hard driving, but light-to-medium strumming and flatpicking works well with a thin pick, and fingerstyle is pure pleasure.

I think of the 714 series as Taylor's sleeper -- a guitar that does many things extremely well, but which is overshadowed by its siblings.

My only dislike is that, as a slightly older model, mine is bound with black plastic instead of rosewood, but it has the abalone rosette which I do prefer over the new koa rosette, so I call that a wash. Anyway, these are cosmetics that don't affect tone one way or the other.

As for neck size, go with what's comfortable. For most adults, the 1.75" neck does just fine.

Good luck, and let us know where you land.

[Livingston]

I ordered a 714C (no E or pick guard) w/Engleman spruce top about 2 weeks ago. I currently own a 912C, K10 and an NS32CE. I play fingerstyle guitar almost exclusively.

I agree with the aforementioned. I'll add that I believe the X14 is the complete guitar for the fingerstyle player. Light gauge strings, 1-7/8 fingerboard and cedar top (although I chose spruce) makes this an excellent fingerstyle instrument.

Re: Sound
Nicely balanced with a full bass and crisp high end. A nice balance between clarity and volume. Each string is distinguished even when played aggressively. I agree, this is a monster guitar in dropped D tuning.

Re: Fingerboard Width
I have found even with my small hands, 1-7/8 makes for a very manageable and playable fingerboard. Don't worry, your fingers will adjust and you will ultimately achieve a cleaner playing style.

Have fun spec'ing out your guitar. Let us know what you end up with.

[cpmusic]

Just to clarify, because it looks confusing even to me: My 714 has the standard 1-3/4" neck, which I wrote in my post at 1.75". It's the same size, of course, but it could look like 1-7/8" in passing, and that size is a special order.

With due respect to Livingston's preference (and Chris Proctor's, too!) I'm not sure the 1-7/8" neck would be ideal for most people and suggest trying a neck of that size before ordering it. If you use your thumb on the 6th string regularly, the wider neck might be a bit of a stretch.

[Livingston]

Whoops. CP, you are correct and the 1-3/4 width (not 1-7/8)seemed wide at first with my small hands. Nonetheless, after becoming used to it, I find I can play more cleanly with the wider 1-3/4 width.

Thanks for the correction and play on.

[Lisa]

The 714, ahh, how shall I say it? I LOVE IT

I have a 914c, a 714CE, and a 314KCE. Guess which is my favorite? The 714, no contest. It is warm, completely awesome in dropped D, sustain that is out of this world, and for some reason the 714 plays so much easier than the other two. It is one of those "keepers". I would never part with it.

I don't know if this will mean anything to you, but my friend that does all our guitar work (who has a huge collection of guitars, vintage and otherwise) says this is the sweetheart of his collection of Taylors. He would never sell his either.
IMO, the only thing you need to decide is what top, cedar or spruce.
For the record, I have cedar and I strum and fingerpick all the time. I think this guitar handles both very well. Let us know what you decide. Oh yea, I bought my sight unseen!!!
Lisa

[ScottyMac]

I just got rid of my 714ce, which I loved. It was sold only to pay for the new 710 cocobolo that moved in.

The 714 is a great guitar...warm tone, depth, and good looks. For fingerpicking, I think it's the best Taylor around. For strumming...there are better models. It doesn't have that ringing brightness of a spruce top guitar, but it wasn't made to.

But it does great when strummed lightly. I preferred mine with DiAddario, not Elixers. It was effortless to play.

[Jim]

714CEs are popular guitars and as you see already they have a big following, but if it were me I would buy an 814CE without thinking twice. The reason is for only a couple hundred dollars, or less, you get higher grade woods all around plus an abalone rosette and nice fretboard markers. I prefer the sitka that comes standard on the 814CE to cedar, but if you like cedar, you can order it on an 814CE without any cost for the switch.

[austinmusicmatt]

Is the difference between the 514ce and 714ce real noticable? I haven't gotten to play the 714 yet. I did a/b testing with the 814 and 514 and fell in love with the 5 right away. It's somethin about that cedar top, I just Love it. I'm a pretty hard strummer, and 514 kept up never losing it's integrity. I just don't know if the rosewood b/s will better suit my style or not. I really question this a lot cuz my guitar and songwriting idol, Dave Matthews, has 4 714's, so I figure there must be something great about them that I just haven't heard yet. Well Lemme know of yall's opinions. peace

[JayGon]

I'm just gonna pile on here and throw in for the 714

I, too, have an older style (2000 cedar w/NT), but I love the black (would really LOVE rosewood, but that's OK) binding and abalone rosette and large dots. Sometimes they and the bridge pins are all shimmery green at the same time; a visual delight!

But the tone, playability, comfort and understated classic beauty make this a near perfect guitar. It compliments my 410 very well.

Jay

[Livingston]

I wanted to add something. I had a chance to play the 714CE with cedar top. You really can hear a big difference between a cedar top and a spruce top. For my taste, I like the clarity and brightness of the spruce top. That confirms I have made the right choice for me, in choosing the spruce top on my special order. However, I can see why people love the cedar top. It's like butter - very soft sounding.

Here's a tangent. I opted to order my 714C without E. The main reason was I don't like the permanence of the hardware embedded in the side of the guitar. Since I play my guitar unplugged 90% of the time, it didn't make sense to have this foreign object stuck in the otherwise beautiful wood. Anyway that's my prejedice.

After playing a few 912CE's in the store, I could swear that there was an acoustic difference in the tone and resonance of the guitar, as compared to a 912C with no electronics. I was thinking that the Fishman aparatus embedded in the side of the guitar, was effecting the sound. Any takers on this idea? Just curious...

[cpmusic]

Livingston, whether or not the mixer and pickup affect tone is hard to tell for certain because of other variables affecting tone, but I usually find non-e guitars preferable to their e counterparts. It may be just a personal bias (many luthiers claim there's no difference) but since I don't like the sound of under-saddle pickups, it's a moot point for me.

As for spruce versus cedar, you say po-tay-to and I say po-tah-to. Then again, I could see myself adding an 814 or some other spruce-rosewood guitar to my collection if I had the money.