I just finished spending two weeks with both an 814ce and 914ce and here are my observations.
Both guitars are EIR/spruce with identical bracing. Both share the x14, GA shape. The necks and fingerboards are of the same material. In terms of basic construction, they are pretty much identical. The cosmetics are quite different. The 914ce has the Cindy inlay on the otherwise plain fretboard, inlays on the headstock and bridge to match. The 914 has the red purfling and rosewood binding. The EIR of the 914ce is said to be hand-picked for the 914. The model I tried and others I have seen had a deeper, darker color than an 814 EIR. The 814ce has maple binding and classic 800 series inlays. My 814ce is a Tobacco Burst which really is beautifully contrasted with the maple bindings. The soundhole on the 914ce is also bound which is a nice touch.
The BIG difference in the two guitars comes from the bone nut/saddle on the 914ce vs. the tusque nut/saddle on the 814ce. UNPLUGGED, you immediately hear the difference. The 914ce with bone gives a deeper, darker tone. The bottom and low mids are much more pronounced. There is less of that "sparkle" inherent to Taylor guitars. It is a rich and deep voice but not exactly, though close, to the classic Taylor tone. The tusque nut/saddle of the 814ce yields a very broad frequency response. While the bottom is not as strong as the 914, it is easily there and the mids, though scooped by the EIR tone, are pleasant. The highs on the 814 are clean and clear with all the shimmer you need. IMHO, the 814ce has a broader tonal spectrum due to the nature of the tusque nut/saddle than the deeper and somewhat darker tone of the bone nut/saddle. Some folks here and on the AGF have often referred to the bone as "muddy" which I could understand when comparing to the tusque, but the 914ce I tried was not muddy, just deeper and darker. There was still an inherent clarity in the frequencies just not as much shimmer and classic Taylor tone.
PLUGGED IN: the 914ce really came to life. While it was a sweet and dark voice unplugged, the active eq on the ES system gave it much more flexibility. I cut the bass a tad and boosted the treble and wow! It was a monster. The 814ce is really the swiss army knife of Taylors. Plugged in it was basically the same voice, just louder. There was a broad range of frequencies and that wonderful EIR/spruce combination that works for just about any style of music. Just FYI, I plugged into a Fishman SA, Roland AC90 and an Alesis Mixer with QSC K8s, to try out a variety of systems. I kept all settings the same on the guitars and amps when comparing. The only other difference is that you get Gotoh 510 gold tuners on the 914ce, a nice touch vs. Taylor gold tuners on the 814ce. If you check the list price you will see a significant difference. I would contribute that mainly to cosmetics. The upgrades are the handpicked EIR, Gotoh tuners, bone nut/saddle and Cindy and other inlays on the 914. To me, the maple binding of the 814ce is a stunning contrast to the rosewood and TB finish.
So, which did I keep? That was a hard choice. The nostalgic part of me won over since the guitars were both so incredible. My first Taylor in the mid-90s was an 814 and I love the TB so that was my choice. If I want to experiment, I could add a bone saddle and the combination of tusque nut and bone saddle might be the best of both worlds. The Gotoh tuners are an easy add on with minor modification of 6 tiny screw holes for the set screws. You can always modify a model and add the bone, Gotoh, etc. to an 814ce as well. I happen to personally like the ES and it worked well for both guitars, with the active eq giving nice tonal options in all three systems.
So there you have it - do you want the bling, the bottom and the extra dough OR the workhorse that can get any acoustic job done with little sweat? Both choices are excellent ones and I can't say enough good things about either guitar. You can't make a wrong decision here.
I have included a pic for your viewing pleasure.
Hapy hunting
DC
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