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Every guitar has a story.

Taylor

814ce

Taylor has rebuilt its flagship from the braces out, again and again, and kept the same three numbers on it.

El Cajon, California, 1993. Kathy Mattea comes to visit Taylor Guitars, and Bob Taylor offers to build her a guitar. What he builds for her becomes a new shape, and the shape becomes the guitar Taylor is judged by.

Introduced
1996
Type
Flat-top steel-string acoustic
Class
Production
Read the story · 3 min

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The short version

  1. 1993

    Kathy Mattea visits

    Bob Taylor offers to build her one. It becomes the first Grand Auditorium.

  2. 1994

    Twenty years old

    The Grand Auditorium debuts as a limited run for Taylor’s 20th anniversary.

  3. 1996

    In the regular line

    A documented 814ce with the old bolt-on neck, X-bracing, and a Fishman pickup.

  4. 1999

    The Taylor Neck

    Taylor introduces its new bolt-on neck joint, the Taylor Neck.

  5. 2014

    Rebuilt

    The 800 Series is redesigned with new bracing, thinner finish, and the Expression System 2.

  6. 2018

    V-Class

    Taylor’s new bracing pattern goes into the 814ce.

  7. 2026

    Next Generation

    A new 814ce, with a new neck and pickup, takes the old one’s place at the same price.

Side A

A1

A guitar that never got finished

Most flagships get finished. A company designs its best guitar, puts it at the top of the catalog, and leaves it alone for forty years, because that’s the one people ask for.

Taylor did the opposite. The 814ce has been taken apart and rebuilt so many times that a 1996 one and a 2018 one share a shape, a model number, the same woods, and not a lot else. Same three numbers. Different guitar underneath, every few years.

Bob Taylor and Kurt Listug’s company turned twenty in 1994. That was the year the 814ce’s shape went on sale.

A2

Built for one singer

In 1993 the country singer Kathy Mattea visited Taylor, and Bob offered to build her a guitar. What he came up with became the Grand Auditorium, Taylor’s mid-size shape, with a 16-inch lower bout. It’s the in-between size, and in my experience it doesn’t care whether you strum it or fingerpick it.

Taylor introduced the shape in 1994 as a limited run for its 20th anniversary. More limited runs followed. By 1996 the rosewood and spruce version, with a cutaway and a pickup, was in the regular line, and that’s the 814ce.

Taylor model numbers are a code, and this one’s easy once you know it. 8 is the 800 Series, Indian rosewood. 1 means six strings with a softwood top. 4 is the Grand Auditorium. c is the cutaway, e is the electronics. An 810ce is a dreadnought. Don’t let anybody sell you one as an 814ce. Same with the ones missing letters: an 814 has no cutaway and no pickup, and an 814e has the pickup but no cutaway.

The recipe on top of the shape is Sitka spruce over East Indian rosewood, with an ebony fingerboard and maple binding. It isn’t trying to be a Martin D-28, which is a square-shouldered dreadnought with no cutaway, or a round-shouldered Gibson J-45. It was Taylor’s own shape, from the start.

A3

The rebuilds

The first 814ces had Taylor’s original bolt-on neck, traditional X-bracing, and a Fishman pickup. In 1999 Taylor introduced a new neck joint, the Taylor Neck, and that changed the guitar again.

Then the pickup changed, to Taylor’s own Expression System, a magnetic pickup working with a sensor on the soundboard.

In 2014, a builder named Andy Powers redesigned the whole 800 Series. New bracing, protein glues, a thinner finish, and the Expression System 2, which David Hosler designed, with three little sensors sitting behind the saddle.

Same three numbers. Different guitar underneath, every few years.

In 2018 Taylor moved the 814ce to V-Class bracing, its new pattern, and the guitar changed again. Along the way, the deluxe model’s armrest, a rounded edge where your forearm crosses the body, got folded into the standard 814ce.

Flip the record · By the numbers

  • 1993

    The year Kathy Mattea visited, and Bob Taylor offered to build her the first Grand Auditorium.

  • 16"

    Width of the lower bout. Big enough to be loud, small enough to sit comfortably.

  • 3

    Pickup sensors behind the saddle in the Expression System 2.

  • $3,999

    The 2026 list price of the 814ce, and of the new model that replaced it.

Side B

B1

On stage, mostly

The 814ce doesn’t have a famous record. It has a job. Taylor names Lindsey Buckingham, Hall and Oates, and Johnny Rzeznik among the people who use one as a reliable stage guitar. That’s the company talking, not a list of serial numbers, but it tells you where these guitars live: plugged in, in front of people, every night.

Taylor calls it its flagship acoustic-electric, and its own magazine calls it a perennial best-seller in its price range. Neither of those is a production count.

B2

The latest version, for now

In 2026 Taylor did it again. The Next Generation 814ce has a scalloped version of the V-Class bracing, an adjustable neck, and a different pickup with its controls in the soundhole. It costs $3,999, the same as the 814ce it replaced, and Taylor says plainly that it has taken the old one’s place. Some dealers may still have the previous version.

So if you buy a used 814ce, look at the year before you look at the price. A 1996, a 2014, and a 2024 are three different guitars with the same name.

Each one was the best guitar Taylor knew how to build the year it left El Cajon. Then they went back to the bench and tried again. Yours is one of those years.

The cast

The people, and the specific guitars, that made the legend.

  • 1993

    Kathy Mattea

    The first Grand Auditorium

    Bob Taylor built her the first one. It’s where the shape came from, not an 814ce.

  • 1993

    Bob Taylor

    Co-founder, builder

    Offered to build Mattea a guitar. The Grand Auditorium came out of it.

  • 2014

    David Hosler

    Expression System 2

    Designed the pickup that put three sensors behind the saddle.

  • 2014

    Andy Powers

    The 2014 rebuild

    Re-braced the 800 Series and changed the glue and finish.

  • Lindsey Buckingham

    Standard 814ce

    Named by Taylor, alongside Hall and Oates and Johnny Rzeznik, as someone who relies on one on stage.

Liner notes

Specs, construction, rarity, value, and every source we used.

Taylor’s Grand Auditorium flagship with a cutaway and ES2 — 814ce — not a dreadnought Martin and not a round-shoulder Gibson.

Body
Grand Auditorium (Taylor's mid-size shape; Premier Guitar 2014: 16" lower bout), Venetian cutaway; Sitka spruce top; solid East Indian rosewood back and sides; rock maple binding; radius armrest; rosewood pickguard
Neck
Tropical mahogany, satin; Taylor Neck (NT family on this SKU — Taylor.com: introduced 1999). Not the 2026 Action Control Neck
Fingerboard
West African Crelicam ebony, Element inlays, ebony binding
Scale
25-1/2"
Pickups
Expression System 2 (ES2): three behind-the-saddle piezo sensors, upper-bout volume/tone. Not Claria. Vintage/early 814ces used Fishman, then original Expression System
Hardware
Ebony bridge; black TUSQ nut, Micarta saddle; West African ebony pins with green abalone dots; smoked nickel tuners
Electronics
ES2
Finish
Gloss 4.5 top and back/sides; satin neck
Nut
1-3/4" (Acoustic Guitar 2014 814ce review; Next Generation sheet prints the same. The current /814ce spec tabs fetched 25 August 2026 did not list nut width)
Open the full research fileConstruction details, the complete player record, production numbers, dated value estimates, and sources

Taylor.com 814ce page, Series 800, UPC 00887766107293, $3,999 USD (fetched 25 August 2026): V-Class bracing, ES2, Venetian cutaway, radius armrest. El Cajon, USA (Taylor staff Q&A on the Next Generation page). This table is that ES2 / V-Class SKU — the guitar the dek names. Taylor's own FAQ (Next Generation 814ce page, staff answer 29 May 2026): Next Generation replaced the 814ce in the standard line for 2026 (scalloped V-Class, Action Control Neck, Claria). Dealers may still have pre-2026 814ces. Don't flatten the two SKUs. Builder's Edition 814ce (Adirondack, beveled cutaway, $4,499) is a different plate. 814ce-N is nylon. Gold Label 814e is Super Auditorium, not this guitar.

Construction

Taylor Guitars, El Cajon. Grand Auditorium, not a dreadnought. Taylor numbering (taylorguitars.com/guitars/acoustic/model-numbers): 8 = 800 Series (Indian rosewood appointments); 1 = 6-string, softwood top; 4 = Grand Auditorium; c = cutaway; e = electronics. An 814 without the suffix is a different order: no cutaway, no factory pickup. 814e is electronics without the cutaway. 810ce is an 800-series dreadnought (third digit 0). Do not read "814" as "814ce."

The shape is older than this SKU. Wood & Steel (Kurt Listug, 2022 Issue 1): Grand Auditorium designed after Kathy Mattea visited in 1993; introduced 1994 as 20th-anniversary limiteds (XX-RS rosewood/spruce; XX-MC mahogany/cedar), then 1995 limited GAs, then "in the years that followed" the rosewood/spruce 814ce became the iconic regular-line guitar. The Music Zoo serial guide (Taylor chronology): Grand Auditoriums added to the regular line in 1996. Peghead Nation (Builder's Edition 814ce review): "an 814ce built in 1996" still had Taylor's original bolt-on neck, X-bracing, and Fishman electronics. 1994 is the shape. 1996 is a documented 814ce in the regular line. Don't collapse anniversary limiteds onto this model number.

Neck joint is a year split. Taylor.com's current 814ce features copy: "The Taylor Neck / Introduced in 1999." Peghead: 1996 examples are the original bolt-on, not NT. Don't print NT on a mid-90s 814ce.

Bracing is a year split. Do not flatten.

  • Through 2013 (and earlier factory recipes): conventional Taylor X / "Advanced Performance" era — not V-Class. Peghead: 1996 = X-bracing.
  • 2014 800 Series redesign (Winter NAMM; Premier Guitar, Scott Nygaard, 4 Feb 2014; Acoustic Guitar): Andy Powers re-brace, protein glues, thinner finish, Expression System 2. Vintage Guitar on that 814ce: parabolic/scalloped bracing developed for Grand Orchestra, recalibrated for GA — still not the 2018 V-Class patent. Nygaard: 16" lower bout; shares shape and spruce/rosewood with the predecessor, not the rest of the recipe.
  • 2018: V-Class on the 814ce and 814ce DLX (Taylor/MMR, June 2018; street then $3,499 / $3,999 DLX). Current /814ce page: V-Class Bracing.
  • 2026 Next Generation 814ce: scalloped V-Class with relief rout, Action Control Neck, Claria (soundhole Volume / Mid-Contour / Tone). Taylor FAQ: Standard Collection guitars without the Next Generation name "usually include the original V-Class bracing platform, the classic Taylor neck and Expression System 2." Next Generation has taken the place of the 814ce in the standard line; the pre-2026 814ce is no longer in production. Same $3,999 list. Different guitar.

Electronics follow the same split. Early: Fishman (Peghead, 1996). Then original Expression System (magnetic + soundboard transducer — Acoustic Guitar on ES2). ES2, 2014: David Hosler; three piezo sensors behind the saddle (Taylor ES2 tech sheet ©2014; Acoustic Guitar). Current /814ce page is ES2. Claria is 2026 Next Generation, not this table.

Sitka over East Indian rosewood is the 800-series recipe Taylor still prints. Maple binding, Element inlays, Crelicam ebony, radius armrest on the current ES2 page (the old 814ce DLX's armrest was folded into the standard 814ce — Andertons/Taylor copy: "Newly consolidated with the 814ce DLX"). Hide glue / protein glue is on the 2014 Powers write-ups; the current Taylor.com spec table does not list glue. Don't assume.

Not a Martin D-28: square-shoulder dreadnought, 25.4", no factory cutaway on the Standard. Not a Gibson J-45: round-shoulder mahogany dreadnought, 24.75" class. The OM-28 is Martin's 25.4" 14-fret auditorium without a cutaway or factory pickup on the current Standard — closer in outline than a D, still not a Taylor GA.

Players

The 814ce does not have a D-28 named-serial shelf. Taylor's house magazine is the loudest player list, and it is not a census of instruments.

Lindsey Buckingham, Hall and Oates, John Rzeznik. Wood & Steel (2023 Issue 2), on the Builder's Edition 814ce launch: the standard 814ce is "a reliable performance tool for the likes of Lindsey Buckingham, Hall and Oates and Johnny Rzeznik." No serials, no session dates on that page. Do not upgrade those names to documented hero guitars. Keep it as Taylor's house list.

Kathy Mattea — first Grand Auditorium, 1993. Listug: Bob offered to build her the first one; that became the GA. It is not sourced here as an 814ce. Anniversary XX-RS / 1995 GA-RS are not this SKU.

Not this guitar. Taylor Swift's famous small Taylor is a Baby Taylor. Jason Mraz's signature is a nylon-string, not an 814ce. Prince's well-known Taylor is a custom purple 12-string jumbo, not an 814ce. Long Equipboard dumps (Kennedy, McIlrath, Tori Kelly, DeLonge) without a named instrument and a primary cite are not used as evidence.

Rarity

Current production: regular catalog, El Cajon. Taylor calls the 814ce its flagship / most acclaimed acoustic-electric; MI Salestrak "perennial industry best-seller in its price category" (Wood & Steel 2023) is a sales-rank claim, not a unit count. No current-year factory total found. Used 800-series 814ces are common. Pre-NT (pre-1999), pre-ES2 (pre-2014), and pre-V-Class (pre-2018) examples are successive factory recipes, not scarce closed runs. 1994–95 anniversary GAs are limiteds of the shape, not 814ce production figures. Next Generation 814ce (2026) is the current standard-line replacement, not a rarity. Builder's Edition and LTD/colorway SKUs are separate orders.

Value

Informal estimate, 25 August 2026. Not an appraisal.

Ask vs sold. Split the SKU before you read a number. Celebrity lots are not comps.

New street. Taylor.com 814ce $3,999 USD (V-Class, ES2, UPC 00887766107293, fetched 25 August 2026). Next Generation 814ce $3,999 (Claria / scalloped V-Class / Action Control Neck) — same list, different guitar. Sweetwater 814ceV (V-Class, radiused armrest) $3,999.00. Builder's Edition 814ce $4,499. Sunset Blvd 814ce SEB listed $4,199 on the 814ce related-guitars rail.

Used, ES2 / V-Class era. Reverb's 814ce with ES2 Electronics guide (Canada page, fetched 25 August 2026): estimated used band C$1,980–C$3,335 (373 orders, Good to Mint, "all models" mix). Recent solds on that page: 27 June 2026 Very Good C$2,582.14; 11 June 2026 Very Good C$2,655.92; 20 May 2026 Excellent C$3,172.35; 14 May 2026 Excellent C$3,246.12; 5 March 2026 Excellent C$3,688.78. Those are CAD solds, not USD, and the guide mixes years/conditions. Informal: used ES2 814ces sit under the $3,999 new street; do not invent a USD midpoint from the CAD band. US Reverb price-guide HTML was not captured this pass.

Used, ES1 / pre-2014. Reverb 814ce with ES1 Electronics guide: $1,600–$2,370 (295 orders, Good to Mint). Sample solds (2024, USD): 6 July Very Good $1,995; 5 July Excellent $2,195; 19 June Excellent $2,000. Older pickup, older brace recipe — not a V-Class ES2 comp.

Vintage / collectible. There is no pre-war 814ce market. 1990s bolt-on / Fishman examples trade as used modern Taylors, not as Martin herringbone money. No 2024–26 Heritage/Christie's hammer isolated.

See also

  • martin-d-28 — the square-shoulder dreadnought this is not
  • gibson-j-45 — the round-shoulder Gibson dreadnought this is not
  • martin-om-28 — Martin's 25.4" 14-fret auditorium; no cutaway, no factory pickup on the current Standard

Sources

Guitars this one gets compared to, confused with, or descended from.