2001 Taylor 314KCE Cutaway Guitar

Update: I listed tis as "ply koa" for the back and sides but they're actually solid. I've updated that info.

300-series Taylors are the standard "gig-ready" nicer-quality modern guitar that I see around here in the hands of working musicians aside from the 15 and 17-series Martins. This one's a little older but it's been kept in beautiful condition. It, too, was a gigging machine for its owner -- but he took care of it and it only has the lightest pickwear around the soundhole and minor usewear throughout. It looks more "shopworn" than "playworn."

This one features a solid spruce top with x-bracing, an active Taylor pickup system under the hood, and the reliability and functionality you'd expect with any modern Taylor -- a neck that can be reset and adjusted any which way within half an hour, a quick neck profile, and rugged design. The back and sides are koa.

Tone is even, clean, and has a nice lower-mids grumble. It's, of course, very-much suited to the singer-songwriter crowd that occasionally gets up the neck to take a few leads.

Repairs included: a very light level/dress of the first-position frets to remove small amounts of fretwear, cleaning, and a setup which included adjust the saddle's compensation and radius.

Setup notes: action is bang-on at 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret. The neck is straight, the truss rod works well, and it's strung with 54w, 42w, 32w, 24w, 16, 12 gauges.

Scale length: 25 1/2"

Nut width: 1 3/4"

String spacing at nut: 1 1/2"

String spacing at bridge: 2 3/16"

Body length: 19 7/8"

Lower bout width: 15 3/4"

Waist width: 9 5/8"

Upper bout width: 11 3/8"

Side depth at endpin: 4 1/2"

Top wood: solid spruce

Back/sides wood: solid koa

Neck wood: mahogany

Bracing type: x-braced

Fretboard: ebony

Bridge: ebony

Neck feel: slim C-shape, ~14" board radius

Condition notes: there's only the lightest pickwear to the treble side of the soundhole and a little bit of hand-rubbing wear/minor indents on the back of the neck in first position. There's also one, tiny, 1.5" repaired hairline crack on the lower bout top right next to the center seam. I couldn't even photograph it and it's cleated and a non-issue.