The 814ce has long been considered the quintessential Taylor guitar thanks to its classic rosewood/spruce tonewood pairing in tandem with Taylor’s flagship cutaway Grand Auditorium body style. Together, the rich tone, musical versatility and signature playability have given players a refined workhorse tool for many different playing styles and musical applications. Now, we’re bringing the 814ce to our Builder’s Edition collection, further enhancing its performance virtues with a suite of premium craftsmanship details.

Among the suite of material refinements are a soundboard upgrade from solid Sitka spruce to a carefully matched four-piece top of solid Adirondack spruce. The high- end craftsmanship reflected in the Builder’s Edition philosophy acknowledges the evolving future of the world’s forests, where a great soundboard will require careful woodworking joinery to utilize smaller sizes of the high-grade timber preferred for an heirloom instrument. The artful craftsmanship yields a high-quality soundboard and displays a beautifully consistent grain structure.

Additional comfort-enhancing woodworking details that distinguish this edition from its standard-model counterpart include an elegantly sculpted beveled cutaway for effortless high-register access, along with a beveled mahogany armrest that provides a smooth surface for the player’s strumming arm. Other refinements include nuanced alterations in the taper of the body, a modified V-Class voicing, and a subtle alteration to the gloss finish. (This is the only Builder’s Edition model to feature a gloss finish to highlight the beautiful contouring of the body.) The back and sides boast a Kona edgeburst.

Other premium appointments include Gotoh 510 tuners in antique gold, which offer a highly precise 21:1 gear ratio, a contoured Curve Wing bridge (exclusive to Builder’s Edition models), alternating maple and black top purfling with rosewood edge trim, and a rosewood pickguard. The Builder’s Edition 814ce ships with ES2 electronics and a deluxe brown hardshell guitar case.