Taylor is one of the most well-known and trusted acoustic and electric guitar-based brands in El Cajon, California.
The company has been making a guitar for almost 50 years, and beginners and rockstars are always excited about using and making music with their guitars.
Now, if you’re thinking about getting yourself the best Taylor acoustic guitar, you’re in luck because we’re reviewing the most popular picks from this brand that you can refer to.
Are you ready? Let’s get started and help you choose the right one for your needs and preferences.
Contents
The Best Taylor Acoustic Guitar
- Taylor 814ce
- Taylor 614ce Grand Auditorium
- Taylor 214ce Deluxe
- Taylor 414ce
- Taylor 114e
- Taylor GS Mini Mahogany
- Taylor Baby Mahogany BT2
- Taylor GS mini Koa
- Taylor 314ce
- Taylor Academy 12
Runner Up | Editor's Choice | Also Great |
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Taylor 814ce
Suppose you are looking for a higher-end acoustic guitar from one of the best manufacturers out there.
In that case, the Taylor 814ce is for you, which was released to commemorate the 20th anniversary of its predecessor.
This guitar is not the cheapest, but it packs enough advancements and high-quality materials to make the higher price point worth it.
This workhorse of an acoustic guitar features Taylor’s most popular acoustic body shape to date— the Grand Auditorium.
It is made of the highest quality woods, like the solid Sitka Spruce for the top with the Relief Rout and an Indian Rosewood for the bottom for the full hollow-bodied and balanced tone sound.
This wood combination will provide you with stable sound and vibrations that give your guitar its unique voice.
Its bolt-on neck is made of tropical solid mahogany with a West African ebony fretboard and bridge.
The 814ce features 20 frets and a 25.5-inch scale length, and it has a fantastic-looking mother-of-pearl inlay and Taylor logo on the headstock.
The sound on this guitar is incomparable; every genre and even classical music guitar piece can be played in this workhorse which also has an input for amp if you plan to use this guitar as a gigging instrument.
Overall, the 814ce will not disappoint, and you will get back your money’s worth as it will be with you for a very long time with the proper upkeep.
Pros
- excellent Grand Auditorium body construction
- incredible neck feel for fingerstyle guitar
- a versatile guitar that can play a lot of things
- fantastic pickup system upgrades
Cons
- very expensive and limited colorways available
Taylor 614ce Grand Auditorium
The Taylor 614ce will offer you superb playability in this beautifully packaged and made guitar.
The body of this guitar is made with a Sitka spruce top and maple back and sides; this combination of woods is the top choice for acoustic and most guitars because it produces a variety and range of sounds that would support pretty much all styles of music and guitar playing styles.
There is also an added complexity, warmth, sustain because of the maple top and sides in whatever the guitar player is playing.
The Taylor 614ce has the V Class Bracing that will bring you to sustain and flexibility; in the rigidness of the V-Bracing in the string, you get sustain, while with the way the sound projects, you will get flexibility.
This guitar also features the Grand Auditorium body shape and style that gives depth to the music you will play and sharpness to the notes.
This guitar is incredibly unparalleled when played in an amplifier since it will give you that same clear and incredible you hear unamplified.
Also Read: Taylor 814CE vs Taylor 614CE – Which is The Better Guitar?
Pros
- High-quality materials and build
- Lightweight acoustic guitar with full-scale length
- Venetian cutaway to reach lower frets
- Comfortable neck in this guitar
Cons
- Very expensive although it is an excellent guitar
Taylor 214ce Deluxe
If you are looking for an extra affordable guitar that will give you marvelous features and playability, just like in the higher-priced Taylor acoustic guitar ones, then the 214CE is the one you’ve been looking for.
It is made of a solid spruce top with a layered Indian rosewood on the back and sides; this makes the guitar look amazing, but the choice in materials also adds to the guitar’s playability in terms of the versatility in playing styles.
It also has the Grand Auditorium body shape with a Venetian cutaway for tone resonance and comfortable playing.
It has a mahogany neck with a 25.5 scale length and an ebony fretboard with 20 frets marked by dot inlays.
The hardware on this guitar is made of high-quality materials and will not need any more upgrades in order to be tuned and play beautifully.
The attention to detail on this guitar will quickly make it outstanding and even more worth it for its lower price, and you will not be disappointed.
Pros
- Excellent intonation and string action
- impressive note precision and tone even when amplified
- Venetian cutaway to reach higher notes
- wood blend offers you added quality to the overall tones of the guitar
Cons
- Rosewood is not laminated
Taylor 414ce
Suppose you are looking for an acoustic/electric guitar that’s been proven to be effective and can work its way throughout the entirety of the gig without needing a break from tuning.
In that case, you’re looking for the Taylor 414ce Acoustic Guitar.
This guitar has a bottom and sides made of African ovangkol and a Sitka spruce top, and it has the famed V Class bracing.
You are given a guitar that will sound amazing with great tones, resonance, sustain, greater volume, and even stronger sound projection with all these features.
You can quickly tell the distinction between this guitar and other competitions, whether you are playing it independently or when it is connected to an amplifier.
Pros
- Classic looking high-quality build guitar
- V Class bracing for astounding sound
- Bright and warm sounds
- smooth fretboards for easy finger transition
Cons
- the high price of this guitar can be a turnoff for some
Taylor 114e
For people with a budget looking for a guitar that offers many exciting features, it is still in the wheelhouse of affordability; then the Taylor 114e acoustic guitar is for you.
The Taylor 114e has a Grand Auditorium body that is made of a double wood of layered Walnut for its sides and the bottom with a Sitka Spruce top— the top material of this guitar is sought after for a reason because it adds to the power and sustain of the guitar sound itself and the layered Walnut sides and back will give you comfortability while you play the guitar.
The neck in this guitar is made of Sapele wood that is home to a fingerboard made of African Ebony with 20 medium jumbo frets— and the thinner neck of this Taylor guitar will make it easier for you to do more complex and barre chords.
With the added help from all the woods and advanced electronics, the sound in this guitar will give you beefier, and riches sounds.
Pros
- reliable hardware and electronics
- excellent guitar build and playability
- comfortable guitar weight and neck
- can be used by both intermediate and beginner player
Cons
- Guitar has nylon strings
Taylor GS Mini Mahogany
This solid wood acoustic guitar is smaller than the usual Taylor guitars, but the sound it emits is in no way more minor.
The Taylor GS Mini Mahogany is compactly designed for travel with a sound that will resonate even in the loudest of crowds.
This 36 inches and something guitar has the Grand Symphony body that Taylor has been known for; the quality of the materials with the tropical solid mahogany top and the layered Sapele sides and bottom adds to the overall aesthetic of the guitar but also benefits its tone.
Great things come in small packages, and the GS Mini Acoustic Mahogany will bring that and more for you.
Pros
- compact design great for travel
- packs a range of tones
- very comfortable to play
- an excellent guitar for beginner players
Cons
- can be a little quiet than normal-sized guitars
Taylor Baby Mahogany BT2
Here is another smaller Taylor acoustic guitar that packs a lot of sounds, and this is the Taylor Baby Mahogany BT2 Acoustic Guitar.
This solid mahogany guitar will be perfect for all the young budding guitar heroes in the future looking to learn the instrument.
The BT2 Acoustic Guitar is made of mahogany, and this wood type often is described as giving a bluesy tone that is unique to this type of wood.
It’s a smaller acoustic guitar, but it packs a tune it does that.
Pros
- great beginner-friendly guitar
- packs a lot of tones and sound
- compactly designed
- high-quality build and craftsmanship
Cons
- It needs an amp to be able to sound more resonant and louder
Taylor GS mini Koa
If you fell in love with Taylor’s range of Koa Guitars, then you are going to fall further with this solid wood GS Mini-e Koa guitar.
This all Koa guitar packs the looks, the great sound, and the high-quality build in this compact guitar.
It has the patented Taylor neck, a 23.5 inches scale length, and comfortable body shape that will make it perfect to practice with and even more incredible to play on stage.
Speaking of playing on stage, it also features a built-in chromatic tuner for easy display.
Pros
- compact guitar build and design
- made of high-quality materials
- amazing guitar tones
- high-quality hardware and tuners
Cons
- can sound tones down in large ensembles
Taylor 314ce
One of the famous Taylor acoustic-electric guitars is the 314ce, and for many reasons.
This acoustic guitar will give you performance whether you’re using it at home, at a gig, or even in a recording studio.
The Taylor 314ce features the famed Taylor V-Classic bracing, giving you a louder sound and more sustain for excellent sound clarity.
The wood tones with the Sitka Spruce top and the Sapele back and sides will also affect the overall tone with the warmth, balance, and fuller sound it will give you.
This flexibility will make the guitar unique in playing every music style imaginable.
When plugged in with an amplifier, the Taylor 314ce will still give you a clean and clear sound, just like when you’re using it at home during practice.
You will feel just at home with this guitar with the Venetian cutaway, ebony fingerboard, and the comfortable neck.
This guitar is truly a bang for your buck.
Pros
- Guitar plays amazingly
- gorgeous, high-quality guitar build
- Guitar packs great intonation
- Sounds straightforward and excellent even when amplified
Cons
- higher price tag
Taylor Academy 12
For all the beginner guitarists looking for a great acoustic guitar to start with, the Taylor Academy 12 is the acoustic guitar for you.
This acoustic guitar packs all the high-end features and excellent playability in this budget-friendly Academy guitar line.
It features a Grand Court body shape, the trademark Taylor neck design with an ergonomic armrest, and ebony fingerboard; this is really a guitar made with the comfort of a beginner player in mind.
With that in mind, it also features a shorter 24 7/8 scale to make it easier for beginners to learn and reach all the chords, fret strings, and bend notes to their liking as they grow to be more advanced in their practice.
Aside from that fantastic attention to detail in terms of practicality and comfortability, this guitar designed for beginners will give you advanced sounds rich in range and tonal quality.
Pros
- great beginner guitar
- fantastic build and playability
- great affordable price for Taylor guitar
- features and playability defies the price tag
Cons
- maybe a bit beginner guitar for intermediate and advanced guitar players
Why Choose Taylor Guitars?
Taylor Guitars are specialty guitars made for different guitar players, from beginners to the already established rockstars and recording artists.
Their guitars are known to emit and have a clear tonal spectrum across the board.
They sound great whether you are looking at the more affordable Academy Series to the more custom ones.
They also innovate with every drop of their line of guitars and really cannot go wrong with such great attention to detail and overall amazing craftsmanship that only the boast.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
Which Taylor guitar series is the best?
The best Taylor Guitar series overall is the 800 series.
The blend of spruce and rosewood on this line of guitars give the best tones and resonance overall, and it can accommodate a wider variety of music style.
The comfort in playing this guitar is also a fixed point to this series, owing to the comfortable neck and the radius-style armrest included in the two guitars.
The looks in this guitar are a classic, too, and take us back to when this series was first made.
Overall, the guitar’s aesthetic, the sound, the upgraded features in this series conglomerate to a superb acoustic-electric guitar that will last you a long time.
Is Taylor guitar better than Martin?
Which is better between the two has been an ongoing debate topic for these brands’ lovers.
Martin guitars have the advantage of having a deep history since the brand was established in 1833 compared to Taylor’s much recent 1974 conception.
This is not a simple question with a simple answer, and we need to look at each company before we help you decide if we answered your question right by considering different factors.
First, the sound, since Martin has been around for a considerable amount of time compared to Taylor, you will find acoustic guitar enthusiasts that are partial to the classic Martin sound.
Every artist you could think of in the 60 and 70s, from Elvis to Paul McCartney, has used the classical Martin guitars.
On the other hand, Taylor, a recently established although successful guitar company, caters to the more modern sound.
The ‘crisp,’ the ‘balanced,’ and the ‘straightforward’ sound guitar users and enthusiasts usually use to describe sounds on the more modern Taylor guitar.
In terms of playability, both Taylor and Martin guitars have their drawbacks and their benefits.
Both Taylor and Martin guitars offer various neck profiles, although Taylor guitar provides more flexibility in adjusting the neck angle than that of a Martin guitar.
Martin guitars, on the other hand, because of their set neck, get a better transfer between the neck and the body, which adds slightly to the overall tone of your guitar.
The fretboard’s radius also differs in both brands, and the fretboard’s radius is usually subjective upon whoever is using the guitar.
Some user says that a smaller radius makes playing barre chords more manageable, and Taylor usually has smaller ones than Martin guitars.
But with Martin’s flatter neck melody, and lead might be easier to play.
When it comes to the build of the guitar itself, either you choose something that has already worked for the last almost two centuries — this is in Martin’s case, or you like the more modern technique Taylor employs with the manufacturing of their guitar.
In conclusion, both guitars are excellent, with the other winning on the factor that the other loses and vice versa. It’s important to know that you know what you’re looking for before deciding between these two trusted guitar brands.
Also Read: Baby Taylor vs Little Martin
What are the different series of Taylor Guitars?
There are many series of Taylor guitars to choose from, and whatever you need, you can find them in one of these series.
Academy Series is the budget Taylor guitar for the guitar students and beginners.
100 Series Guitars are the more affordable guitar made with higher quality materials.
200 Series Guitars are made of layered rosewood and koa that give off a distinct sound that is sold at an affordable price.
GT Series Guitars are the smaller Taylor acoustic guitar that gives off a distinct, powerful tone.
American Dream Series give you professional specification at an affordable price.
300 Series Guitars offers two choices in materials that will give you clear solid wood tones.
400 Series Guitars are made of Indian rosewood and African ovangkol, and both kinds of wood will help you deliver a full range of acoustic guitar tones.
500 Series Guitars are the Taylor guitar with a mahogany back and a side of your choice in either mahogany or Western Red cedar.
600 Series Guitars are made of maple, and it would give you that warm and rich sound unique to maple-made guitar.
700 Series Guitars are what you go after when looking for a dynamic and bold-sounding acoustic guitar.
800 Series Guitars have one of the most ergonomically designed Taylor acoustic guitars; aside from the design, you will have unique tones and fantastic playability.
900 Series Guitars includes one of Taylor’s most expensive and sophisticated specifications, and you will undoubtedly play great songs and tunes with this workhorse.
Koa Series Guitars features the Spring Vince inlay in an all-wood guitar.
Presentation Series Guitars gives you Taylor guitars craftsmanship at its finest with fantastic build and playability.
GS Mini Series Guitars are a part of the Custom and Specialty Guitars; it will pack a workhorse in a comfortably designed guitar.
GS Mini Bass Guitar is a series of a bass guitar built more compactly.
Baby Series Guitars are the perfect guitars for beginners, especially the little ones.
Custom Guitars are designed in close contact with you in what you need and what you are looking for in a guitar.
Guitars by Specialty are where you will find unique and other specific guitars like the 12-String guitars, the Baritone, the Bass, and more.
V-Class Guitars will give you a louder guitar with a more excellent sustain and better intonation.
All in all, whatever you are looking for, Taylor guitar will cater to your needs and from affordable ones to more customized and higher-end ones.
Where are Taylor acoustic guitars made?
All Taylor guitars are either made in the factory of El Cajon in California or the one in the Tecate factory in Mexico.
More specifically, all the 200 series guitars and lower are made in Mexico whole the 300 series and other higher-numbered guitar series are all made in America, including the custom ones.
The best acoustic guitars by Taylor are the ones that are made in America since the California-made guitars are made with a solid top, bottom, and sides that give a guitar more depth in tone and good ranges.
There are also more body shapes and wood varieties available in the California-made acoustic guitars.
In the US-made guitar, you also get more attention to details with the addition of the inlays and other finishes, plus you get the inclusion of a hard case with every purchase of a US-made Taylor guitar because they are sold at a higher price point.
Still, the Mexican-made Taylor are not bad guitars at all since they are also some of the best acoustic guitars a beginner and an expert could have.