The Taylor 314ce. Dated 2007. Grand auditorium body with venetian cutaway. Internal pickup. Solid sitka spruce top with glossy finish. Solid sapele back and sides with satin finish. Undamaged surface, and immaculate joints and bindings. Strong and even tone across the spectrum. This guitar exudes a certain air of quality and of understated elegance. When I first saw the Taylor 314ce at my local music shop I was captured by its charms, but I was then a poor student. Years later, just yesterday, I have finally added the Taylor 314ce to my guitar collection.
Besides personal feelings, there are numerous good reasons that precipitated my decision to obtain a Taylor 314ce. Firstly, fingerstyle instrumentals are played in various unusual tunings. When I am learning a song at a specific tuning often times I may want to play other songs, but they are almost always in a different tuning. I have to tune my guitar to the appropriate tuning to satisfy my urge, then tune back to where I was to resume my study of a new piece. The tuning process is often an obstacle to my musical urges, and I have broken more than a few strings by tuning too roughly due to my impatient desire to play a song. Having two or more guitars dedicated to different tunings help reduce the frequency of the tuning process.
Secondly, my primary six string acoustic guitar, a Washburn dreadnaught, is a pawn shop bargain. As faithful and instrumental (pun intended) it may have been to my musical endeavors, it is simply not worth the money repairing or rejuvenating it. My Washburn is already fairly worn down and have seen better days. Eventually when it becomes a garage sale special, the Taylor 314ce will replace its role.
Thirdly, as my skills improve, so should my guitars. A professional guitarist at the peak of his or her career may have their musical creations limited if they play a cheap sub hundred dollar guitar that is made in China. Similarly, a beginning student of guitar may not be able to fully exploit nor appreciate a custom built or a top of the line brand name guitar. After seven active years of practicing fingerstyle guitar, I would like to think I have moved past the entry level into the experienced amateur category, but not quite at the professional level. The Taylor 314ce is representative of that middle region in the acoustic guitar hierarchy.
I have set myself an immediate goal: to play every song that I know of written for the six string acoustic on the Taylor 314ce.
