Taylor 714ce V-Class Grand Auditorium Cutaway – Natural Lutz Spruce Top Taylor

A Lutz spruce top voiced with Taylor’s new V-Class bracing reveals another compelling side of rosewood in Taylor’s 714ce V-Class guitar. Compared to the high-fidelity sonic detail of its other rosewood siblings, the 700s lean toward a more rootsy personality, emphasizing a fundamental focus that responds directly to a player’s attack while capturing all of rosewood’s classic richness. V-Class bracing delivers volume, sustain and “in-tune-ness” that make the player experience even more enjoyable. 

The Lutz top powers the volume up a notch, producing a powerful tonal response comparable to older, high-grade Adirondack spruce, giving players a higher volume ceiling, which also shines in an amplified setting. The roosty sonic vibe is reflected in earthy aesthetic details like koa binding and a rosette and top trim featuring Herringbone-style Douglas fir and maple. An optional Western sunburst top adds honey-brown shading that highlights the warm, classic Americana vibe.These guitars promise to give back to players everything they put in and then some. The 714ce V-Class guitar comes with Taylor Expression System 2 electronics and ships in a Taylor deluxe hardshell case for optimal fit and protection.

Body Shape
A Taylor original, the Grand Auditorium helped establish the Taylor acoustic sound. The popular body style makes for a versatile guitar that yields ample volume in response to light fingerpicking, and reacts to medium strumming and flatpicking with a clear, balanced sound across the tonal spectrum. If you want a great all-purpose guitar, the GA is an excellent choice.

Tonewood Pairing
A guitar’s top is the primary filter and distributor of vibrating string energy through the guitar, which means it has a huge impact on its sound. Lutz spruce is a naturally occuring hybrid of Sitka and White spruce. Sitka is the most prevalent guitar top wood of the modern era because it blends stiffness and elasticity in just the right proportions which translates into broad dynamic range with crisp articulation. Lutz spruce takes these attributes and blends them with those of White and Englemann spruce, with an end result resembling old Adirondack spruce. When combined with Taylor’s bracing architecture, guitars are more powerful, richer and louder than before. 

Solid Indian rosewood back and sides complement the Lutz top with sound that’s made it one of the most popular tonewoods ever. Rosewood produces the strongest bass response among the tone woods commonly used for guitars, with a slightly scooped midrange. Rosewood’s sweeping frequency range – deep lows that assert a throaty growl with sparkling highs – rings out with bell- like, high-fidelity clarity. It yields a full-range acoustic voice with complex overtones and extended sustain.

V-Class Bracing
Taylor’s V-Class bracing is a fundamental innovation in acoustic guitar design. It marks an important evolution beyond traditional X-bracing, introducing an entirely new platform for acoustic performance. It is essentially a “sonic engine” that optimizes the response of an acoustic guitar in three key ways: by boosting volume, sustain, and by largely resolving the intonation (in-tune-ness) issues that have long plagued acoustic guitars. V-Class bracing creates purer, more orderly notes that don’t cancel each other out or sound “off”. They have clearer, more consistent response, and the whole fretboard is brought into greater sonic alignment for a more musical playing/listening experience. Guitars with V-Class bracing are easier to tune; the pitch sounds purer and more solid, and electronic tuners can more easily locate notes for quick, precise tuning. Other benefits: harmonics ring more uniformly down the neck, notes are louder with more projection and sustain, and notes are more consistent, i.e., upper register notes don’t get choked out or swallowed. Fewer “sour” sonic qualities exist with chords; a more agreeable relationship is created between notes as they ripen, bloom and decay.

Electronics
Taylor’s ES2 is a revolutionary pickup design that delivers the latest in Taylor’s ongoing innovation in acoustic guitar amplification. The heart of the Expression System 2 is Taylor’s patented behind-the-saddle pickup, which features three uniquely positioned and individually calibrated pickup sensors. Because the pickup doesn’t sit under the saddle, the bottom of the saddle comes in full contact with the bridge, allowing all the nuance of the guitar’s tone to come through clearly whether playing acoustically or plugged-in. 

The location of the sensors enables a more dynamic range of acoustic sound to be captured than ever before while playing plugged-in. Together with Taylor’s custom-designed “professional audio”-grade preamp, this system produces exceptional amplified tone and responsiveness. On stage through a PA, plugged into your favorite acoustic amplifier, or direct into recording software, the Expression System 2 faithfully conveys the voice of your Taylor guitar. The Taylor Expression System 2 operates through a proprietary 9-volt battery compartment and easy-to-use volume, and active bass and treble controls.

The Taylor Difference
What sets Taylor Guitars apart? Unmatched build quality, the most stable and playable necks, a vast array of tonal options, eco-conscious and ethically-sourced raw materials, and a lifetime of service and support.

Features

• Non-figured koa binding
• 3-ring herringbone-style rosette featuring mirrored, bias-cut Douglas fir with maple/black trim
• Top edge trim of bias-cut end-grain Douglas fir with maple/black accents
• “Reflections” fretboard inlay in pale green abalone
• Protein glue for the bracing and bridge
• Honey brown shading

Specifications

Body

• Body type: Grand Auditorium
• Cutaway: Venetian
• Top wood: Solid Lutz spruce
• Back and sides: Solid Indian rosewood
• Bracing pattern: V-Class with Relief Rout
• Body finish: Gloss
• Orientation: Right handed

Neck

• Neck shape: Taylor Standard Profile
• Nut width: 1.75″ (44.45 mm)
• Fingerboard: West African Ebony
• Neck wood: Tropical mahogany
• Scale length: 25.5″
• Number of frets: 20
• Neck finish: Satin

Electronics

• Pickup/preamp: Yes
• Brand: Taylor
• Configuration: Behind-the-saddle transducer with Adjustable Sensors
• Preamp EQ: 2-band
• Feedback filter: Phase
• Tuner: No

Other

• Headstock overlay: West African ebony
• Tuning machines: Taylor nickel
• Bridge: West African ebony
• Saddle and nut: Micarta “Wave”/Teflon-infused graphite nut
• Number of strings: 6
• Special features:
• Case: Deluxe hardshell case
• Accessories:
• Country of origin: United States

Tech Specs

• String Type: Steel
• Number of Strings:6
• Body Shape: Grand Auditorium
• Left-/Right-handed: Right-handed
• Color: Natural
• Finish: Gloss
• Top Wood: Lutz Spruce
• Back & Sides Wood: Indian Rosewood
• Body Bracing: V-Class
• Binding: Non-figured Koa
• Neck Wood: Tropical Mahogany
• Fingerboard Material: West African Ebony
• Fingerboard Inlay: Pale Green Abalone “Reflections”
• Number of Frets: 20
• Scale Length: 5″
• Tuning Machines: Taylor Nickel
• Bridge Material: West African Ebony
• Nut/Saddle Material: Tusq/Micarta
• Nut Width: 75″
• Electronics: ES2 electronics
• Strings: Elixir Phosphor Bronze Light, .012-.053
• Case Included: Hardshell Case
• Body Length: 20″
• Body Width: 16″
• Body Depth: 62″