Never ones to rest on their laurels, California's finest acoustic guitar makers have gone back to the drawing board with the Taylor Guitars Gold Label 814e. This guitar, a real innovative step for Taylor, marks the beginning of a new series, body shape, and set of principles for design.
The Gold Label 814e begins with a newly designed body shape. This new shape, the Super Auditorium, was fashioned from the beginning by Taylor Guitars Master Builder Andy Powers and hearkens to the classic form of the Taylor Grand Auditorium shape. With a larger lower bout and a proud sound to play with right off the bat, this new Taylor specialty touches down for a strong first impression.
Assembling this body, Taylor decided to employ two distinct tonewoods. The top of this Super Auditorium is comprised of torrefied Sitka spruce. Torrefaction, a careful process in which tonewoods are heat-treated to bake out imperfections, improve tonal balance, and impart a more lived-in character to the wood, is a special treatment you may find on other high-end Taylor acoustics. Matching this torrefied top is a back and sides pair of Honuduran rosewood. Between these two radiant tonewoods, this Gold Label series model is a phenomenally colorful and lush acoustic with plenty of volume and projection on tap. This is aided by a variation on Taylor's classic V-Class Bracing, as this 814e's V Class Bracing is fanned and adds a certain distinction to the iconic internal architecture.
From here, this Gold Label features a new long-tenon neck joint to improve sonic transfer between the neck and body. Taylor's Neo-Tropical mahogany neck in a Taylor Standard Carve profile joins in on the equation with a responsibly sourced West African Crelicam ebony fingerboard. Mother-of-Pearl continental fingerboard inlays shine across the ebony for a dazzling visual motif.
Tying all these elements together, the Taylor Gold Label 814e comes topped off with a number of key features. For one, this acoustic features a satin neck finish that offers a smooth grip in hand. This is accompanied by the gloss finish that makes this Taylor shine under light. Concerning hardware, this Gold Label features a white TUSQ nut and white micarta saddle with Gotoh 510 Antique Chrome tuning machines. One truly notable change on this Gold Label model is the L.R. Baggs Element VTC electronics system that contrasts from Taylor's traditional Expression System 2 electronics. Traveling with an included Taylor Deluxe brown hardshell case, this Gold Label moves with safety and security from place to place.
As a breakthrough in Taylor design, this Gold Label 814e extends the horizon for Taylor acoustic guitars. Sky's the limit with Taylor, and the proof is in the pudding.
