[LakewoodM32Fan]

Thanks everyone! And SprintBob, yes I also like the silking. I know most builders say silking has no impact on quality of the tonewood, but I do notice mine has more pronounced silking than the ce version did, and also has that dark streak in the middle whereas the ce has a lighter streak. Perhaps mine was roasted a little longer and that could be playing a part in the better projection and tone (along with the lack of ES2, 2-piece vs 3-piece back, going through the BTO vs standard process, etc.). Who knows?

Additional observations after living with the K14c a few days:

• Silent satin finish: I’m torn. It feels great to play on (bare skin with moisture doesn’t stick like it can to gloss). It definitely is close to silent, so if you’re mic’d you will have much less body noise against the guitar. But Koa does love a gloss finish. And the back has some great looking Koa which would have looked even better in gloss.
  
• Vine inlay. When I traded in the 914 for my OM, I also realized I was over the whole “abalone bling” and appreciated more classic understated appointments. But I have to say I like the vine inlay.
  
• Gotoh 510 21:1 tuners. Yes my boutique builders have Waverly open backed tuners, which are great. But I didn’t realize how much I missed the Gotoh 510s until the K14c. Smooth, precise operation. I know some may think 21:1 is too much of a good thing, I’ll respectfully disagree.
  
• Bevels and chamfered edges. No more lines on the underside of my arms from extended playing. Not only are there bevels at both the armrest and the cutaway, but all of the guitar’s edges are chamfered. A small, but nice, ergonomic touch. You stop noticing it after a while, and then you go back to your other guitars and you notice it’s absence.
  
• Sharp edges on bridge. This is the one downside. Everything other edge is soft, rounded and feels great, which makes the bridge’s sharp edges all the more pronounced when your hand, palm or wrist brushes against it. Apparently starting with the 2020 Builders Editions they have gone to softened edges on the bridge as well, so someone informed them about that. Sure wish mine had it, but not enough to risk messing with the sound by asking for a bridge replacement.
  
• Second strap button on the back. I get why they didn’t put it in the classic position because, with the added cutaway bevel allowing you 20-fret easy access, Taylor didn’t want the button in the way when you’re shredding on those sweet metal solos. But it just feels kind of weird on the back, and I only use my more flexible, thinner leather straps because it needs to bend easily in a certain way to hook up to the button and not feel uncomfortable against the body.
  
• Ditched the Elixirs. One thing I knew while auditioning was it was a bit too bright/zingy, but I knew that was likely due to the Nanowebs (based on using Elixirs from 2003-19). Sure enough, as soon as I got home I put some DR Sunbeams on it. Sonic happiness. Bright/zingy edge: gone. Mids are more pronounced; not sure if they were accented more, or if removing the zing just revealed them more, but I like the end result! In fact I would say the guitar overall sounds even better with the Sunbeams and can’t wait to try other strings on it as well.
  
• Action (3/32” at 12th confirmed at home, no fret buzz) and intonation near perfect from the factory. Just need to acknowledge that Taylor did a great job with this. I have zero need to get it set up, and that’s usually the first thing I do for a new guitar.
  
• Capo friendly. Of all my guitars, this is the only one that, at least when I’ve tested my G7th ART capo on frets 1-6, it does not pull the low E out of relative tune with the other strings (in fact it doesn’t pull any of them out of relative tune). And, when I confirm absolute tuning with my TC Electronics Polytune clip on tuner, the worst result is that one red line slightly flickers sharp, and sometimes it barely flickers at all. I know if you used a strobe tuner it wouldn’t be in “perfect” tune with the capo applied, but it gets the closest to it for all my guitars, and I’m not a good enough singer for that to make a difference. If I were playing a gig where I could only bring one guitar and I knew I had to use capo a lot in various positions, I’d likely take this one due to not having to retune when moving the capo around.

Oh, and here’s a closer pic of the silking on the top: