Hello everyone, a little back story and my Taylor history first.
I bought my first Taylor, a 414ce, 5 years ago. I was (and still am) a "weekend warrior" and played at open mic nights with that 414ce as soon as it was purchased. It had a completely different tone from the Takamine EF360SC (another great acoustic) which it replaced, but in a good way. I loved it and always got compliments from the crowd! I was even honored at one point to have Taylor feature a picture of my Mother and myself on their Facebook page for Mother's Day.
https://www.facebook.com/taylorguitars/photos/a.252363442231.138105.13839982231/10150872785332232/?type=3&theaterIn 2013 I purchased a GS Mini for my two boys. Great little acoustic for the money, except they never really ended up learning how to play, at least not yet.
Around February of last year I purchased my third Taylor, a Taylor T5z Pro Custom w/a flamed top. I played countless gigs with my 414ce and was finding that I wanted something that wouldn't fatigue my fret hand and wrist as much for a 4 hour show. I know, I know... Seems lame, but it worked out great! I still use it at my 4 hour gigs today, use Elixir Custom Light strings, and I'm running it through a LR Baggs Venue DI to help the tone. I sold my 414ce a month after I purchased my T5z. (In the picture below my singer/guitarist in this band is playing my old Takamine I sold to him, and yes, that is me on the right. Even though I don't look much the same as 4-5 years ago in the Facebook picture.)
Recently I've felt an empty spot in my life where the 414ce once was. The T5z is great, but I missed having that full acoustic around the house. So I decided that I was ready to buy another Taylor KOA product, a K24ce this time. I had previously played one at a Dave's Guitar shop in LaCrosse, WI (where I buy many of my electric guitars), fell in love with it right away and lusted for ever since, which was back after I bought the 414ce. In doing my research I found that a lot of players had positive things to say about the K series, but others didn't find them as impressive due to the initial tone of the KOA build. So in my research I rediscovered the redesigned 800 series and after finding one on Sweetwater.com I included that as a contender. I couldn't find much online in form of a comparison with the K24ce and 814ce... So this past week I was in Detroit for work meetings and decided to surprise my Sweetwater rep and swing down to Fort Wayne, IN "on the way" home.
I can safely and confidently say that the 814ce absolutely blows the K24ce away! It was a night and day differnece of tone and volume. My sales engineer, Dennis Konicki, was very helpful in getting both products from the warehouse for me to try back-to-back, while lending his insight and expertise on the situation. I don't want to take anything away from the K24ce, it sounded great as well... but as soon as I strummed that first chord on the 814ce, the difference was very clear. Tone, in the form of smooth mid range and more lower end with better volume. Bottom line is I walked out of there with a grin on my face and a Taylor 814ce in my hand that included the Gotoh tuners, a bone nut/saddle, and abalone dot bridge pin options. I couldn't be happier.
Thanks for reading! If anyone wants to see more pictures and angles, I'm happy to oblige.
