Taylor Guitars 914ce “Wildwood and Steel” Blackheart Sassafras Prototype

Tonal Evaluation

Attention, everyone! We have a cover girl in our midst! That’s right, this sassy sassafras lady recently appeared on the cover of Wood and Steel magazine! Don’t let her good looks deceive you, though: she’s nice to look at, but even more fun to play.

It sounds unlike any other Taylor I’ve ever played—sort of like a dark grand piano. It has big bottom end, but the lows have a sonorous, focused quality to them. When you hit the low E, it sounds like a male opera singer warming up after undergoing experimental lung-doubling surgery. There’s a notch in the low-mids and a bump in the upper-mids, which lends some shape and definition to the booming bass.

And, of course, there is the signature Taylor treble sparkle above all that. All in all, this guitar sounds the way burnished bronze looks: somehow dark and shining at the same time.



Most dark-sounding instruments are very dry, but this one has an enormous amount of harmonic response across the entire frequency spectrum. This unique combination of chocolate timbre and lush overtones is quite rare; in fact,

I don’t think I’ve ever played a guitar that sounds quite like this one, and that’s what makes it so inspiring. This guitar forces you to step outside your comfort zone as a player and pushes you into exciting new creative territory.

Case in point: while testing this guitar, I wrote two cool new riffs and came up with an entirely new (for me) way of applying the mixolydian scale to my playing! This is the sort of guitar that has a wellspring of songs in it just waiting to be tapped.

If you want a guitar that will push you to write music in new and interesting ways, or if you simply want an acoustic that sounds unlike anything you’ve ever heard before, check this famous gal out!