V-class Bracing Comes to Taylor's Popular 314
Revolutionary V-Class bracing is now available in Taylor's popular 314 Grand Auditorium acoustic guitar. V-Class bracing boosts volume evenly across the tonal spectrum, increases sustain, and improves the natural intonation of the instrument by creating a more synergistic response from the soundboard. This fosters a more harmonious relationship between the notes you play, helping chords to ring out in cohesive splendor. With Taylor's value-packed 314, you get it all: playability, tone, and looks. Its richly grained Sitka spruce top pairs beautifully with sapele back and sides to give you a powerful, well-balanced sound with punchy midrange focus and clear treble. The 314 is a perennial favorite here at Sweetwater and it's easy to see — and hear — why. And now with V-Class bracing, it's better than ever!
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V-Class Bracing: a sonic revelation
Bracing is the internal framework of an acoustic guitar that helps shape its sound. Although X-bracing has been standard in acoustic guitars for over a century, it creates an innate conflict between two key elements of a guitar’s sound: volume and sustain. The guitar's top (its soundboard) contributes to both. The flexibility of the top generates volume (projection), while its stiffness generates sustain. And with X-braced guitar tops, here's where the trade-off comes in: when something is made stiffer, its flexibility is reduced (and vice versa).
V-Class bracing changes all that. With Taylor's V-Class bracing, an acoustic guitar top can be both stiff and flexible — for more volume and sustain. V-Class bracing provides stiffness parallel to the strings for more rigidity and hence sustain. Flexibility on either side generates the air movement necessary for robust projection. It's the best of both worlds. This groundbreaking innovation also improves intonation; not only producing notes that are louder and with longer sustain — but more in tune with each other. Guitarists at Sweetwater are gobsmacked. But don't take our word for it — pick up the superb 314 Grand Auditorium and experience it for yourself!
Sitka spruce and sapele: tonewood alchemy
A quality acoustic guitar is all about the wood, and the Taylor 314 serves up a classic tonewood cocktail with no compromises. The top is solid Sitka spruce for robust projection and crystalline note clarity. Sapele, used for the back and sides of the 314, is tonally similar to mahogany, but its higher density tends to produce a slightly brighter sound with more high-end shimmer. The characteristic sapele sound is consistently balanced across the tonal spectrum, which makes it ideal for a wide range of playing styles. Sitka and sapele make an excellent tonewood combination for a baritone instrument such as this.
Comfortable Grand Auditorium body delivers presence and note definition
The 314 responds gracefully to a wide range of playing styles, thanks to its medium-sized Grand Auditorium body. Taylor's beloved Grand Auditorium body style employs the width and depth of the Dreadnought. However, its waist is narrower, which gives Grand Auditorium guitars a sleeker look, and more treble zing. The Grand Auditorium body style also helps to focus and sharpen the definition of each note — a quality desirable in any musical genre. You'll also find your Grand Auditorium guitar to be incredibly comfortable, whether playing seated or standing.
Taylor 314 Acoustic Guitar Features:
- Sitka spruce top, sapele back and sides
- Top bracing: V-Class with Relief Rout
- Black binding, rosette, and pickguard
- Tropical mahogany neck with satin finish
- Ebony fingerboard with black edge treatment
- Italian acrylic Small Diamond fingerboard inlay
- Headstock: Ebony overlay, satin finish
- Black graphite nut, Micarta saddle
- Ebony bridge pins; scale length: 25.5"
- Taylor nickel tuning machines (17:1 ratio)
- Gloss top; satin side and back finish
