914ce V class and the Holy Grail

[sacredground]

My last Taylor was a 1995 810...back in the day when Bob picked up the phone. I always regretted parting with it. For all ya’ll who have guitars from just before the redesign, I don’t have any basis of comparison. I’m a stranger from another land where X braced Taylor’s have never existed...

I narrowed my choice to the 614 or 914. My impression of the 614ce was warm clarity. The torrefied top takes the maple edge off. The build was beautifully executed. It had a strong fundamental in open chords, up the neck, dropped tunings. I heard a harmonic ‘thickness’ in single note runs that I found very satisfying, and the triads and first position chords blended in an inspiring chorus. My over all impression of this wood combination is that it favors the fundamental: some call it a dryer sound.

The 914 is what a rosewood guitar would be: rounder notes, deeper harmonic overtones and the touch of reverb rosewood is known for. For solo fingerstyle the 914 won out. Not better...just different. All of the other V class claims were evident, which opens a creative door for experimenting with attack and dynamics. I’ve had a few Goodalls and Lowdens go through my hands, but my new 914 is easily on par with them.

It seems to me that Taylor has continued to refine and innovate the art of large output guitar manufacturing. So much so that I think of them more as a builder. The precise execution of my 914 and its crazy good playability lend weight to this. I know of no other production guitars with a thinner finish like Taylor does with its gloss 3.5 top on the 914.

So there have it: Holy Grail. Pictures coming soon.

[tnfiddler]

My only remaining full-size Taylor is a 1995 810 and I'll never part with it!!  It's a special guitar that just has the "IT" factor!!  A 916ce is my dream Taylor so I know how you feel about the 900 series!!  Post pics soon!!!

[RileyKendall]

The glorious 916ce. 

When I found it, it was like finding the holy grail.  It was like finding a unicorn in real life.   I was able to play a 2017 914ce LTD that had cocobolo back and sides.  When I played that, I immediately noticed a difference.  Same thing happened when I played the 916ce.  Don't get me wrong, I see and notice some consistency throughout the all Taylor Guitars. Even my 224ce Koa DLX has some common ground.  But for me, the 900 series is where they go the extra mile and refine it furthest.  Then you have the presentation series which goes off the deep end.  While they are still great guitars, there are too much non-guitar tone improving attributes added.  Its like let's do everything at once and this is the blended result.  I don't know...

I am scared and curious what a V-class 916ce will be like in the future.  Having just just paid off my 916ce, I am looking forward to playing it free and clear without knowing I am still paying for it.  And when they create a V-class 916ce and I love it just as much...  I just might have 2 916ce in the end.  Because I also still want a sunburst version even though I went natural with this one which I love.

[Guitarsan]

There is something about the 900 Series that's not about bling. And it's not a placebo effect, I've done blind tests. Whether it's pixie dust or something else, Taylor does something different and undefined with those builds and materials. They're nothing short of majestic. And that's before you look at them. I love how they've muted the bling a bit on the latest redesign, they're just superb in every way.

[zeebow]

awesome! can’t wait for pics

[RileyKendall]

Watched an interview where Andy Powers was describing what went into these 900s.  Specifically he was talking about the 916ce in that interview.  He said that they hand pick from the top 5% of the wood to be used in these.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brtSyv2YDQU

[sacredground]

There is something about the 900 Series that's not about bling. And it's not a placebo effect, I've done blind tests. Whether it's pixie dust or something else, Taylor does something different and undefined with those builds and materials. They're nothing short of majestic. And that's before you look at them. I love how they've muted the bling a bit on the latest redesign, they're just superb in every way.

Well said! Glad you’ve been smitten.

[sacredground]

Watched an interview where Andy Powers was describing what went into these 900s.  Specifically he was talking about the 916ce in that interview.  He said that they hand pick from the top 5% of the wood to be used in these.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=brtSyv2YDQU

Jeff...thanks for the link. Gotta love Andy. The guy is a monster player. No pixie dust (Guitarsan), just great wood and execution of the build.

[ClassicRock]

Congrats on finding your ‘Holy Grail’. I note that you started playing the same year I did—1973 (It was a very good year). I played for a few years than did a “Rip Van Winkle” with my guitar playing until a couple of years ago. Still trying to figure out my HG. Glad you found yours. Now, play the heck out of it.

[TaylorGirl]

Congrats on finding your ‘Holy Grail’. I note that you started playing the same year I did—1973 (It was a very good year). I played for a few years than did a “Rip Van Winkle” with my guitar playing until a couple of years ago. Still trying to figure out my HG. Glad you found yours. Now, play the heck out of it.

1973 was a great year, my start date was 9/11/73.

Personal love for the 914 from me too.

[sacredground]

Congrats on finding your ‘Holy Grail’. I note that you started playing the same year I did—1973 (It was a very good year). I played for a few years than did a “Rip Van Winkle” with my guitar playing until a couple of years ago. Still trying to figure out my HG. Glad you found yours. Now, play the heck out of it.

ClassicRock, 1973...yep, gotta love that year. How do you like your K24? Playing daily working on finger style Beatles.

[sacredground]

Congrats on finding your ‘Holy Grail’. I note that you started playing the same year I did—1973 (It was a very good year). I played for a few years than did a “Rip Van Winkle” with my guitar playing until a couple of years ago. Still trying to figure out my HG. Glad you found yours. Now, play the heck out of it.

1973 was a great year, my start date was 9/11/73

Three players for 1973! That might not be a bad thread: the year we picked up a guitar for the first time...

[TaylorGirl]

Congrats on finding your ‘Holy Grail’. I note that you started playing the same year I did—1973 (It was a very good year). I played for a few years than did a “Rip Van Winkle” with my guitar playing until a couple of years ago. Still trying to figure out my HG. Glad you found yours. Now, play the heck out of it.

1973 was a great year, my start date was 9/11/73

Three players for 1973! That might not be a bad thread: the year we picked up a guitar for the first time...

I started a thread with a poll. 

[ClassicRock]

Congrats on finding your ‘Holy Grail’. I note that you started playing the same year I did—1973 (It was a very good year). I played for a few years than did a “Rip Van Winkle” with my guitar playing until a couple of years ago. Still trying to figure out my HG. Glad you found yours. Now, play the heck out of it.

ClassicRock, 1973...yep, gotta love that year. How do you like your K24? Playing daily working on finger style Beatles.

I was always a Martin Rosewood/Mahogany Dread guy. After all, when we started playing (before Taylor was born) all our guitar heroes played Martins. That’s the guitar you bought with your first paid gigs. [David Crosby tells a wonderful story about getting paid for one of his first professional gigs in Chicago then running out and blowing it all on a used D-18.] Koa and Taylor entered my consciousness just last year when I discovered BT’s “reforestation tour”. [Congrats, Bob. It only took 45 years to get my attention!] I’m a sucker for highly figured wood so it didn’t take long to fall in love with the only American exotic tonewood. Having no background with Taylor, I was demoing the first batch of V-class, looking for something different from my lifelong attachment to Martin dreads. I really, really liked the K14ce. It kind of got me oriented toward a Koa guitar. But the only one at our local dealer was a Road Show leave behind and it was beat up with no discount available. I prefer to do my own “aging” so decided to take a chance on buying over the net and go all-Koa. I really like the guitar. It is certainly beautiful and it is different. Construction-wise, it is perfect with many intricate details only found in other builder’s Custom shops. Tonally, it is overly mid-range focused, probably due to the hardwood top that isn’t fully broken in and the full 6 mil finish (many are now 3.5 mils which really is a big deal most buyers don’t think about). I suspect I would have ultimately liked the K14ce better with its torrified spruce top offering a much more dynamic diaphragm. So, I’ve had the K24 up for sale for a while with the intent of using those proceeds toward a more expensive Koa guitar with a non-Koa top.

As far as playing focus goes, I was originally inspired by Stills and Young, so I know all their stuff (LOL, my first child is “Stephen”, always with a “ph”). I kind of missed the Dylan heyday and preferred a harder rock back in my youth. But I’ve rediscovered Dylan and thrown myself into learning many of his songs. Typically, they are very easy to play but difficult to memorize because they may have 15 verses and three different choruses. But the lyrics are profound and I’m gaining tremendous satisfaction from learning his book.