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Picked up a Taylor 314ce yesterday. First, the pics:
I have the good fortune of knowing the owner and the manager of a local privately-owned music store, which gives me the benefit of being able to bring home any piece of gear I want to try out at home or on jam nights.
In my quest for an acoustic guitar, I tried out 4 different Taylors: the 12 Fret, a 714ce, an 814ce, and a 314ce.
The 12 Fret was interesting; I normally prefer a 14-fret join for an acoustic, but really wanted to try this guitar out at home. Unfortunately (as expected) the 12th fret join made playing passages high up on the neck a bit cramped. The body size was small and it sounded a bit "boxy". Plus, my wife said it looked small on me, and therefore a bit "geeky".
I tried a 714 next. It sounded very rich harmonically, but I felt it was lacking strong fundamentals. A bit anemic in the low end.
An 814 was the next to come home. It sounded similar to the 714, but had more "bling" on it.
I was a bit disappointed at this point, as I kept trying more and more expensive guitars, I wasn't finding what I wanted. The 814 was pretty much the extreme high of my budget, so I didn't even want to try any of the Limiteds they had. I decided to shoot LOWER and see how things fared.
I brought a 314 home, and immediately noticed more low end. It didn't have the harmonic richness of the 7 or 8 series guitars, but it had a stronger fundamental tone to it. I plan to play a lot with a capo on the 3rd fret, so more low end was necessary to prevent thing from sounding too thin. My daughter started learning flute this year, and we've been working on some Jethro Tull songs, and Ian Anderson almost always capoed at the third fret.
This guitar will retire my 20+ year old Fender Montara acoustic. I'll have to hang on to the Fender, as I played it in my wedding and it is in some of the photos, but it was never a tone monster.
The store is giving me a free bone nut and saddle upgrade, so I'll have to bring it back next week for some surgery. Can't wait to hear what it sounds like after that.
- E.
I have the good fortune of knowing the owner and the manager of a local privately-owned music store, which gives me the benefit of being able to bring home any piece of gear I want to try out at home or on jam nights.
In my quest for an acoustic guitar, I tried out 4 different Taylors: the 12 Fret, a 714ce, an 814ce, and a 314ce.
The 12 Fret was interesting; I normally prefer a 14-fret join for an acoustic, but really wanted to try this guitar out at home. Unfortunately (as expected) the 12th fret join made playing passages high up on the neck a bit cramped. The body size was small and it sounded a bit "boxy". Plus, my wife said it looked small on me, and therefore a bit "geeky".
I tried a 714 next. It sounded very rich harmonically, but I felt it was lacking strong fundamentals. A bit anemic in the low end.
An 814 was the next to come home. It sounded similar to the 714, but had more "bling" on it.
I was a bit disappointed at this point, as I kept trying more and more expensive guitars, I wasn't finding what I wanted. The 814 was pretty much the extreme high of my budget, so I didn't even want to try any of the Limiteds they had. I decided to shoot LOWER and see how things fared.
I brought a 314 home, and immediately noticed more low end. It didn't have the harmonic richness of the 7 or 8 series guitars, but it had a stronger fundamental tone to it. I plan to play a lot with a capo on the 3rd fret, so more low end was necessary to prevent thing from sounding too thin. My daughter started learning flute this year, and we've been working on some Jethro Tull songs, and Ian Anderson almost always capoed at the third fret.
This guitar will retire my 20+ year old Fender Montara acoustic. I'll have to hang on to the Fender, as I played it in my wedding and it is in some of the photos, but it was never a tone monster.
The store is giving me a free bone nut and saddle upgrade, so I'll have to bring it back next week for some surgery. Can't wait to hear what it sounds like after that.
- E.
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