The Taylor 314ce Grand Auditorium Sapele/Sitka spruce cutaway models offer the balanced highs and supportive lows of the brand’s flagship, medium-sized body shape, fit for any playing style, with a modern feel and articulate response—as well as easy access to the upper frets allowed by the contoured cutaway—while the bright, shimmering Sapele back and sides paired with a strong, yet elastic, Sitka spruce top yields crisp articulation, suitable for everything from aggressive strumming and flatpicking to fingerpicking. Plus, Taylor’s ES2 electronics provide ample tonal control and responsiveness.
300 Series Sapele/Sitka Spruce
Taylor 300 series Sapele/Sitka Spruce editions offer players balanced and consistent output across the tonal spectrum, making them compatible with a diverse range of playing styles. Paired with highly sustainable West African Sapele—a harder tonewood, similar to mahogany, but with a higher density tending toward a slightly brighter sound that adds more top-end shimmer—the classic Sitka spruce top (Bob Taylor’s favorite choice) provides additional strength and elasticity. Together, in Taylor’s 300 series, these tonewoods boast a broad dynamic range, yielding crisp articulation—allowing for everything from aggressive strumming and flatpicking to fingerpicking.
Grand Auditorium Cutaway
The brand’s flagship body shape, the Taylor Grand Auditorium’s medium size offers balanced highs and supportive lows, making it a versatile choice that’s fit for nearly any playing style. Boasting bold, balanced tone, the Taylor Grand Auditorium provides vibrant, well-defined sound across the entire tonal spectrum, thanks to a more tapered waist than a traditional dreadnought, making the Taylor Grand Auditorium the Swiss Army Knife of Taylor’s body shapes.
Q: Does a cutaway diminish a guitar’s tonal output?
A: Not in a discernible way. We recommend you decide based on whether you want that extra upper-fretboard range; or, if you simply have an aesthetic preference—either for a more traditional, symmetrical look of a non-cutaway, or in favor of the sleek, more modern contouring that the cutaway offers.
V-Class Bracing
The Taylor Grand Auditorium features Taylor’s innovative new V-Class bracing, which lets the soundboard of the guitar vibrate naturally, increasing sustain and overall cohesiveness, and generating additional volume without sacrificing sustain. This design puts the body more in tune with the strings, improving articulation and harmonic alignment, resulting in a sound that is optimally warm and seasoned, nicely blended, and full of luscious low end without being muddy.
ES2 Electronics
The Taylor Expression System 2 (ES2) delivers the latest technology in Taylor acoustic guitar amplification. The heart of the ES2 system is Taylor’s patented behind-the-saddle pickup, featuring three uniquely positioned and individually calibrated pickup sensors. The new positioning enables the piezo pickup’s crystals to respond more naturally to the guitar’s energy as it is transferred through the saddle, with three pickup sensors installed behind the saddle, through the bridge, with three tiny Allen screws that calibrate the position of the sensors in relation to the saddle. Together with Taylor’s custom-designed preamp, this ES2 system produces exceptional amplified tone and responsiveness.
