Vera Deep Dive: Taylor Gold Label 814e Koa

Table of Contents

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

The Taylor Gold Label Collection has made a big splash here at Vera Guitars. For example, we've gotten a lot of compliments from our customers on the Gold Label 814e, namely for its gorgeous bookmatched Honduran rosewood back, but its fraternal twin stands by its side: a Taylor Gold Label 814e Koa (since dubbed the K14e, yet I'm being specific to our exact model). And it is the finest koa-backed guitar I can recall playing in my life. We joke that the 814e draws their eye, but the koa model holds their ear.

What is it about this particular guitar that's maintained our attention? 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. Conveniently enough for curious Grand Auditorium fans, the body depth remains the same.

To my ears, the tone emanating from the Super Auditorium is even better than Taylor's frontline model: 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 Koa Major Specs

• Body: Super Auditorium
• Top: Torrefied Sitka Spruce
• Back & Sides: Flamed Hawaiian Koa
• 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.

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 sweetening highs and cleaning up the low end to a pleasant degree. Combined with the Gold Label Collection's exclusive Fanned V-Class bracing, this allows the Hawaiian koa to really shine with any playstyle.

The neck is as playable as you should expect from the best Taylors. 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.

The Taylor Gold Label 814e Koa might be the greatest work in koa ever produced by one of this tonewood's greatest pioneers.

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.

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.

How's It Sound?

I've already included some playing notes on the Taylor Gold Label 814e Koa but the video below will allow you to hear for yourself.

In describing koa's sonic quality to clients in the past, I've often said it's like mahogany on steroids, and this guitar exemplifies that description: warm bass, brassy mids and the bell-like treble you typically find more often in rosewood guitars. Still, it's as well-balanced as you expect from Taylor Guitars, regardless of whether you're strumming or fingerpicking.

The Gold Label 814e Koa possesses some very pleasant dynamic responsiveness and ample volume, 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.

Lovely, lovely guitar.

Conclusions

The Taylor Gold Label 814e Koa might be the greatest work in koa ever produced by one of this tonewood's greatest pioneers. It delivers on aesthetic appeal, craftsmanship and tonal quality. With full midrange, warm lows and a rich top end, the Taylor Gold Label 814e Koa can play however you wish and handle it with aplomb. It's a masterpiece that will only improve with age, as all the best koa guitars do.

Of course, being slightly larger than a Grand Auditorium, its size may seem a bit cumbersome to smaller players; combined with dense Hawaiian koa backing, it's also a touch heavier than your typical Taylor. Yet these concessions to size are far outweighed by the contribution to its larger-than-life 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 harness its power and witness the beauty of its silky flamed back and sides, you'll want to take it home for yourself.