Back and Sides on 314ce

[joshesc]

Hey all, I have 2006 314ce and was wondering what the back sides are made out of. I know that they switched to sapele from African Mahogany in 07. My guitar was built in December og 06 and the back and sides look like Sapele to me. Any ideas on the confusion? thanks!

[michaelw]

hi Josh,
i believe the only way to know with any degree of certainty is to contact Taylor customer service
with the serial # of your guitar once they get back from summer break (monday July 9th)

i have the price lists/specs from 03 to 07 -
03 & 07 state sapele & 04, 04L7, 05 05.5 & 06 show african mahogany (khaya)

there was a full scientific name shown on an earlier version of the website but i cannot
remember for certain if it was k. anthotheca, grandifoliola, ivorensis, or senegalensis -
i believe it was khaya anthotheca, but in any case, khaya spp. (species) that are sold as
african mahogany are in the Meliaceae (mahogany) family & it does indeed grow in africa

in the spring 07 wood & steel (Q&A , page 6) it states that the switch was made back
to sapele in 06 (it could have been in the second half of 06), which may have happened

to me, khaya resembles mahogany in appearance more closely than sapele, as the ribbon
figuring is not as '3-d' & the grain pores themselves appear finer & darker, in some cases -
the appearance can vary a good bit & can be a bit inconsistent, but anyways here's a few pics

98 314ce sapele

99 314mce sapele

01 314ce sapele

04 314cL30 khaya

05 314 khaya

12 516ce tropical mahogany (just for comparison)

now that i think about it, the 01 314ce resembles khaya in appearance more than sapele
(to me) but the tone of that guitar was more consistent (tonally) with ones made of sapele -
the 04 & 05 314 had a tone & feel (weight) that was closer to mahogany to my ear,
with more open mids, while sapele seems to have a bit more compression & a bit of 'pop'

[CodeBlueEMT]

 I wouldn't have guessed the 99 314mce was sapele on the back. Did it age to the dark coloring in the grain? It's beautiful. The 04 314cL30 khaya, I would have guessed as being sapele.

[michaelw]

to me, it looks like a darker grain/paste filler may have been used -
the guitar wasn't subjected to much UV light, but enough to where
there was a slight tan-line when i removed the pickguard, so it
could have been a combination of the wood grain, filler & a little age

[mgap]

This is beautiful wood,  the color is outstanding.  I would have never mistaken it for Mahogany but it looks so much different than what I think Sapele should look like.

99 314mce sapele