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

[rwhitney]

I’ve had a 714ce V-class, made in February, 2018, for a couple of weeks. Mine has dead spots, weird buzzing (apparently from high frets), and strange overtones (e.g., the octave overtone on G on the 5th string is louder than the fundamental) -- so it’s going back to the online store I got it from.

In spite of these aggravations -- which I attempted to correct with a new setup, bone saddle, and various strings -- the overall sound of the guitar appeals to me. It’s richer and punchier than other Taylors I’ve tried, including V-class and non V-class 814ces. It has an unusually clear, even-from-top-to-bottom (excepting the dead spots), piano-like sound.

Edit: I played an 814ce deluxe today that only had one noticeable dead spot (5th string F). It played and sounded great.

[hopeunseen]

So very late to this party, but thankful for this great review. I bought a 714ce V-class last night and I'm amazed by it. It sounds even better at home than in the perfectly built acoustic room at my local store.

My husband accused me of having a love affair with Taylors because I tend to keep my Martins and trade my Taylors away like nobody's business.

I loved the comment about these being most like Martin guitars, having just traded away a Martin GPCPA1-Plus because it sounded too much like the Taylor performance bracing.

It's the honeymoon period, of course, but I suspect this Taylor will be a keeper. I've played the 814 and 914 V-Class guitars. This one is by far my favorite...maybe it's the Lutz spruce.

[Br1ck]

Uh, someone early on in this thread said that the Taylor reps weren't trying to sell you anything. Sorry, but the whole point of such events is to sell guitars. Period.

[BT55]

I’ve attended two 2018 Taylor Road Shows. The reps NEVER said that the X braced guitars were obsolete or had negative comments about them. In fact the 1&2 Class Taylors are going to stay as X braced models.
I found the OP’s review to be spot on with what I heard playing the V-Braced models. Taylor is representing V Bracing as an advancement in design just like performance bracing was. Taylor’s future is based on moving all of their American made guitars to V Bracing one body style at a time. I own numerous X Braced Taylors but was so impressed by a V Braced 814ce that I bought one.

[Twolefthands]

Thank You for an excellent post.
Your timing was perfect as I have just finished reading 'Good Vibrations' by Andy Powers in v90 Winter 2018 edition of Wood & Steel.
This superb article explains not just about V bracing but how various parts of the guitar work and is very interesting.
As a player of less than two years planning to get their first 'proper' guitar when they feel ready to do it justice I feel I have joined the guitar community at an exciting time.