Taylor 314ce Next Generation, Spruce/Sapele

A new era of Taylor tone dawns with the Taylor Next Generation 314ce, refreshing the brand’s classic Grand Auditorium platform with innovative Claria electronics and a deeper, warmer tonal profile. This stage-ready acoustic-electric guitar retains all the classic elements of Taylor’s 314ce recipe, from the Sitka spruce top’s sweet and dynamic tone to the crisp and defined voice of its sapele back and sides. However, Taylor’s Scalloped V-Class bracing imparts this Grand Auditorium with a healthy dose of X-brace-inspired tonal charm in the form of a deeper low-end thump and a more responsive resonance — all while retaining the V-Class bracing’s signature balance and projection. As for acoustic-electric tones, Taylor’s Claria under-saddle pickup system provides plug-and-play performance with handy soundhole-mounted Volume, Tone, and Mid-Contour controls. Finally, the 314ce’s ebony-capped mahogany Standard Carve neck comes equipped with Taylor’s trailblazing Action Control neck system that allows users to optimize the neck’s angle (and thus the action) while also boosting resonance. It all adds up to a true workhorse of a Grand Auditorium that pushes the art of the acoustic guitar forward while simultaneously incorporating the best bits of time-honored Taylor design.

Plug-and-play Claria System electronics

Road-tested and refined for over two years with the world's biggest touring acts, Taylor’s Claria System represents the next step in the brand’s ceaseless pursuit of acoustic-electric excellence. As opposed to the more sensitive and microphone-like performance of Taylor’s ES2, the Claria System features a single under-saddle piezo transducer paired with a powerhouse preamp to supply you with the warmest, most accurate acoustic-electric tone possible with the least amount of tweaking required — simply plug in, adjust your sound to taste via the Volume, Tone, and Mid-Contour controls, and you’re ready to go.

So, how does the Claria System differ from a typical under-saddle pickup? Taylor’s expert engineers built Claria from the ground up to overcome the most endemic challenges of standard under-saddle setups, allowing the system to perform free from piezo distortion and avoid unwanted frequencies with its clear and focused voice. Moreover, Claria also avoids clipping by gain staging the preamp and the controls within the preamp. As for tone shaping, Claria’s Mid-Contour control offers a vast sweep of dynamic sounds to explore, from smooth, rhythm-ready warmth to a midrange-forward timbre that promotes lead playing and fingerpicking to the forefront of the mix. For the guitarist seeking a plug-and-play system that preserves their guitar's inherent acoustic character and excels in any environment without a fuss, Taylor’s Claria system is as good as it gets.

Rich and responsive Scalloped V-Class bracing

First launched in 2018, Taylor’s V-Class bracing revolutionized the brand’s sound with one of the most innovative advancements in steel-string technology in nearly a century. Here, Taylor has changed the game once again, tweaking the forward-thinking formula of V-Class by precisely paring away material from key locations of each brace.

The result is Taylor’s Scalloped V-Class architecture, a design that preserves all the defining sonic features of standard V-Class bracing with a more muscular bass response and a softer, warmer blend among notes. Strum an open cowboy chord, and Scalloped V-Class delivers the familiar low-end thump and harmonic cohesion that’s most often associated with typical X-braced instruments. However, as a direct descendant of Andy Powers’ original V-Class design, Scalloped V-Class bracing preserves the former’s spot-on pitch accuracy, rich sustain, impeccable balance, and crisp note-to-note definition — especially as you venture farther up the fingerboard with complex chords, intricate fingerpicked patterns, and rapid-fire leads.

Cutting-edge Action Control neck joint

Taylor has led the charge in neck joint technology for decades, from Bob Taylor’s earliest bolt-on experiments to the dawn of the easily adjustable NT Neck at the turn of the 20th century. Under the leadership of Andy Powers, Taylor has once again pushed the boundaries of steel-string design with the Action Control Neck, a trailblazing bolt-on system that allows you to adjust the neck angle without requiring removal of the neck or strings.

From fine adjustments to optimizing the neck’s pitch over the top, the Action Control Neck gives you the power to set your string height from shred-ready specs to a higher, strum-friendly action with the turn of a bolt. Moreover, it also transforms repairs that generally require major surgery on traditional glued-in dovetail joints (such as neck resets) into a straightforward, routine procedure. Best of all, the Action Control Neck’s long-tenon joint protrudes well into the heel to properly mate your guitar’s neck and body, increasing the stiffness of the heel and resulting in a deeper tone with greater low-end resonance, even on higher notes.

Grand Auditorium body style delivers a full sound and sleek look

Acoustic players all over the world routinely reach for Taylor Grand Auditorium guitars like the 314ce. This guitar boasts a comfortable waist, a full range of sounds, sharp definition, and a sleek appearance, making it an excellent intermediate option for fingerpickers and singer/songwriters alike. With this level of prestige, it's no wonder so many players depend on its rich sounds and smooth playing, set after set.

Sitka spruce and sapele balance warmth and sparkle

This 314ce’s time-proven Sitka spruce top gives you superb projection with just the right amount of sparkle. Supported by scalloped V-Class bracing, this top grants you a touch-sensitive response that simply excels in fingerstyle applications, although the Grand Auditorium body offers more than enough headroom for hard-hitting strummers as well. Moreover, this acoustic guitar’s sapele back and sides also lend it a warm and mellow quality, similar to that of mahogany, for a full and rich tone. It all adds up to a truly genre-defying 6-string creation, boasting a beautiful level of balance that ensures every string sings in perfect harmony.

Tech Specs

• String Type: Steel
• Number of Strings: 6
• Left-/Right-handed: Right-handed
• Body Shape: Grand Auditorium
• Back & Sides Wood: Sapele
• Top Wood: Sitka Spruce
• Top Finish: Gloss
• Color: Natural
• Body Bracing: V-Class
• Binding: Black
• Neck Wood: Neo-Tropical Mahogany
• Neck Shape: Standard Carve
• Radius: 15"
• Fingerboard Material: Crelicam Ebony
• Fingerboard Inlay: Italian Acrylic Dots
• Number of Frets: 20
• Scale Length: 25.5"
• Nut Width: 1.75"
• Nut/Saddle Material: Tusq/Micarta
• Bridge Material: Crelicam Ebony
• Tuning Machines: Taylor Standard
• Electronics: Claria
• Strings: D'Addario XS Phosphor Bronze Light, .012-.056
• Case/Gig Bag: Hardshell Case