Taylor Builder's Edition 814ce Sinker Redwood

Sinker Redwood and V-Class bracing

The 814ce’s top is crafted from Sinker Redwood – a rare tonewood harvested from century-old redwood logs preserved in Californian riverbeds. This premium wood provides a lush overtone-rich response with fast attack and great dynamic range. Taylor’s V-Class bracing architecture enables the top to vibrate more efficiently across its surface, resulting in improved volume, sustain, and harmonic complexity. A thin finish and lightweight build allow each note to bloom naturally, making the guitar ideal for both delicate fingerstyle and expressive strumming. The Kona Burst finish adds a warm, earthy visual appeal, beautifully complemented by an abalone single-ring rosette and a bold rosewood pickguard.

Rosewood for additional saturation

The back and sides are made of coarsely grained Honduran rosewood, known for its deep bass response, rich harmonic overtones, and long sustain. This wood provides a powerful low end and shimmering highs, creating a tone that is both bold and balanced. A thin gloss finish allows the rosewood to resonate freely, even with a light touch. Combined with the mid-sized Grand Auditorium body shape, the 814ce Sinker Redwood offers superb versatility equally at home in fingerstyle, flatpicking, or vocal accompaniment.

An incomparable playing comfort

Playability is a core strength of the Builder’s Edition series, and the 814ce is no exception. A sleek mahogany neck with a smooth ebony fingerboard and a 44.45 mm nut width makes complex chords and melodies feel effortless. The GraphTech TUSQ nut and Micarta saddle ensure optimal string spacing and accurate intonation across the 647.7 mm scale length. The distinctive headstock is fitted with Antique Gold Gotoh tuners, offering precise tuning and a refined aesthetic. Elegant Element inlays further enhance the instrument’s classy look.

Expression System 2

Taylor’s Expression System 2 (ES2) sets the standard for natural acoustic amplification. The behind-the-saddle pickup design uses three individually calibrated piezo sensors that respond to string vibration and top resonance with high fidelity. Discreet volume, bass, and treble controls are tucked into the guitar’s side, allowing for easy tone shaping without disrupting the guitar’s elegant lines. The result is a warm, authentic amplified tone that captures the guitar’s true voice in any live or recording situation.

Sustainable ebony cultivation in Cameroon

As ebony is particularly finger-friendly due to its hard, supple texture, it has long been the preferred choice for the production of fingerboards. Its attractive appearance is also extremely popular for bridges, headstock overlays, bridge Pins and Bindings. However, the high demand and the flourishing black market outstripped stocks, so that ebony ended up on the Red List of endangered species in 1994. In addition, only the deep black heartwood, which makes up only a fraction of the tree, was used, resulting in a disproportionately large amount of waste in production. To protect the forests, Taylor has been working with the Crelicam Wood Mill in Yaoundé, Cameroon, since 2011 to promote controlled consumption by processing waste products. Thus, Taylor guitars not only contain black ebony elements, but also the different colored, more clearly grained parts of the tree. This complete recycling is an effective method of preserving the stocks and successfully counteracts their dramatic decline and the associated negative ecological effects.

"We need to use the ebony that the forest gives us" - Bob Taylor