What’s the best tonewood for fingerstyle guitarists? Thanks to cedar’s quick response and midrange overtones, Music Experience regularly recommends cedar-topped acoustics for fingerstylists and other players with a light touch. As a back and side tonewood, mahogany generally serves up a focused sound with a full midrange. The Taylor 514ce combines a Western red cedar top with mahogany sides and back in a gorgeous guitar that delivers powerful all-around response with blooming sustain. In the 514ce, these desirable sonic attributes are lifted to new heights with Taylor’s revolutionary V-Class bracing, which boosts volume evenly across the tonal spectrum, increases sustain, and improves the natural intonation of the instrument by creating a more synergistic response from the soundboard. This fosters a more harmonious relationship between the notes you play, helping chords to ring out in cohesive splendor. Spec’d out with ES2 electronics and tasteful, understated appointments, the Taylor 514ce is a superb acoustic-electric guitar you’ll find hard to put down.

V-Class bracing: a sonic revelation

Bracing is the internal framework of an acoustic guitar that helps shape its sound. Although X-bracing has been standard in acoustic guitars for over a century, it creates an innate conflict between two key elements of a guitar’s sound: volume and sustain. The guitar’s top (its soundboard) contributes to both. The flexibility of the top generates volume (projection), while its stiffness generates sustain. And with X-braced guitar tops, here’s where the trade-off comes in: when something is made stiffer, its flexibility is reduced (and vice versa). V-Class bracing changes all that. With Taylor’s V-Class bracing, an acoustic guitar top can be both stiff and flexible — for more volume and sustain. V-Class bracing provides stiffness parallel to the strings for more rigidity and hence sustain. Flexibility on either side generates the air movement necessary for robust projection. It’s the best of both worlds. This groundbreaking innovation also improves intonation, not only producing notes that are louder and with longer sustain — but also more in tune with each other. Guitarists at Music Experience are gobsmacked. But don’t take our word for it — pick up the superb Taylor 514ce and experience it for yourself!

Grand Auditorium body style delivers exceptional presence

Taylor’s beloved Grand Auditorium body style, featured on the 514ce, employs the width and depth of a dreadnought. However, its waist is narrower, which gives Grand Auditorium guitars a sleeker look and more treble zing. The Grand Auditorium body style also helps to focus and sharpen the definition of each note — a quality desirable in any musical style. You’ll also find your Grand Auditorium guitar to be incredibly comfortable whether you’re playing seated or standing.

Western red cedar and tropical mahogany yield a mellow yet full-bodied tone

The 514ce is a prime example of the high-quality tonewoods Taylor selects for their guitars. It features a Western red cedar top, which adds a mellow edge to the bold voice of its tropical mahogany back and sides. This rare combination of tonewoods makes the 514ce a particularly good choice if you prefer fingerstyle playing, but it’s great for flatpicking techniques as well.

Taylor Expression System 2 electronics

If you play plugged in, then you’re going to love the Taylor Expression System 2 (ES2) electronics built into your 514ce. The key to this fantastic system is the 3-section proprietary pickup located behind the saddle. Because of where it’s positioned and how it’s integrated into the 514ce’s saddle, the ES2 pickup provides you with remarkably clear and accurate sound. In addition to a master volume control, a pair of tone controls lets you tweak your highs and lows to get the sound you need, and a discreet phase switch offers vital onboard feedback suppression.