Vera Deep Dive: Taylor Gold Label 814e

Table of Contents

• Specifications
  • Taylor Gold Label 814e Major Specs
• How's It Sound?
• Conclusions
• FAQs

The Taylor Gold Label Collection caught our attention immediately with its incredible tone, but like any Taylor, they look incredible, too. Maybe the best-looking of all is the first Taylor Gold Label 814e that we've acquired here at Vera Guitars in Charlotte, NC; our example features an artfully bookmatched Honduran rosewood back that wows our customers whenever we spin the guitar around to show it off.

What is it about this particular guitar that makes us all swoon? Sorry for being coy, but really, it's the whole package. Read on to find out why.

Specifications

One thing which we must speak about in some length is the new body style debuted in the Gold Label 800 Series: the Super Auditorium.

Of all the instruments Taylor Guitars offers, the most quintessentially Taylor of them all is the Grand Auditorium. Devised in the early '90s by cinching the shoulders and waist of a dreadnought to find a midpoint between larger dreads and OM-style guitars, the Grand Auditorium's comfortable shape and well-balanced tone became an instant success with guitarists of all playstyles.

However, with the Gold Label 800-Series guitars, Taylor has debuted the Super Auditorium, a slightly larger version of their flagship innovation with no cutaway. Specifically, its dimensions have been increased by just under a quarter of an inch in length and a quarter-inch in width, from the 814ce's 20" and 16" to 20-3/16" and 20.25", respectively; in an inverse from the Gold Label's Deep Grand Pacific models, the body depth remains the same.

To my ears, the tone emanating from the Super Auditorium is even better than Taylor's frontline innovation: warmer and louder, but without compromising any of the characteristic Taylor shimmer in the top end. Thus, the new model takes Taylor's definitive clarity and adds a touch of lower-end growl to it, all to the benefit of a more complex sound.

All that being said, here are the most relevant specifications:

Taylor Gold Label 814e Major Specs

• Body: Super Auditorium
• Top: Torrefied Sitka Spruce
• Back & Sides: Honduran Rosewood
• Neck: Neo‑Tropical Mahogany
• Neck Profile: Taylor Standard Carve
• Scale Length: 25.5"
• Nut Width: 1.75"
• Fretboard: West African Crelicam Ebony
• Bracing: Fanned V-Class
• Electronics: LR Baggs Element VTC
• Finish: Gloss (Natural or Sunburst)

Other features include a long‑tenon neck joint, antique chrome Gotoh‑510 tuners with ebony buttons, deluxe hard case, grained ivoroid binding and mother‑of‑pearl "Continental" inlays.

One of the more surprising components of the Gold Label Collection has been the inclusion of the LR Baggs Element VTC under-saddle pickup in place of Taylor's own Expression System. While the Expression System is arguably the most formidable proprietary acoustic pickup, LR Baggs ranks among the gold standards in the industry, and the Element VTC specifically is one of their finest offerings. Soundhole controls allow you to easily dial in volume and tone, while an onboard compressor within the preamp automatically tames problematic low-end frequencies.

If the Taylor 814ce has gone down as one of the great Swiss Army knives in the wide world of acoustics, the Taylor Gold Label 814e deserves to sit at its side.

All of these elements (no pun intended) combine to produce an extremely attractive, endlessly playable, well- and lightly built instrument with some of the best tone that's ever come out of El Cajon.

With all the quantified info on the page, let's get to qualifying all this data.

How's It Sound?

Here I am, rockin' you like a hurricane with the Taylor Gold Label 814e.

The torrefied Sitka top helps improve the guitar's dynamic response; though I can't point to the science herein, I've always felt that torrefaction especially opens up the upper midrange, where your pick attack lays, while pleasingly cleaning up the low end and sweetening highs. Combined with the Gold Label Collection's exclusive Fanned V-Class bracing, this allows the Honduran rosewood to really shine with any playstyle. This varietal isn't as dark and deep as Indian rosewood; rather, it provides tightly balanced bass, clear midrange and firm treble — very fitting for Taylor's sonic forté.

The Taylor Gold Label 814e headstock, featuring the unique brand inlay and Continental emblem.

Just like all the best Taylors, the neck is endlessly playable with a smooth satiny finish. The traditional wider nut width accommodates fingerstyle players well, while the full scale length maintains snappy tension for the strummers among us. Taylor's Crelicam ebony fingerboard tops off the markers of quality and feels smooth under the fingers.

Again, you should hear tight low end and present mids complementing a sophisticated high end. It's as well-balanced as you expect from Taylor Guitars, regardless of whether you're strumming or fingerpicking. The Gold Label 814e possesses some very pleasant dynamic responsiveness and projection ability, promoted by the torrefied top and special bracing in concert with the larger body. Plus, the LR Baggs Element VTC produces a high-fidelity, realistic amplified representation of the natural tone of the guitar itself.

Sounds pretty good to me.

Conclusions

If the 814ce has gone down as one of the great Swiss Army knives in the wide world of acoustics, the Taylor Gold Label 814e deserves to sit at its side. It delivers on aesthetic appeal, craftsmanship and tonal quality. It’s designed for those who want serious acoustic performance combined with high fidelity when plugged in, with a rich midrange, warm lows, and a top end that’s polished rather than raw glare.

Of course, being slightly larger than a Grand Auditorium, its size may seem a bit cumbersome to smaller players; combined with dense Honduran rosewood backing, it's also a touch heavier than your typical Taylor. Yet these concessions to size are far outweighed by the contribution to its tone.

If you'd like to experience the Gold Label difference for yourself, come on down to Vera Guitars in Charlotte, NC to see this beauty for yourself. Once you witness that incredible back paired with its sweet sound, you'll be hard-pressed to stop from taking it home.