The Taylor 514ce-N, now discontinued, was a ‘crossover’ instrument, aimed at delivering the tone and touch response of nylon strings to the steel string player. Typically, crossover guitars have a cutaway body, narrower crowned fingerboards, pickup and preamp systems, and lower action than concert-style classical models. Some models have ‘thinline’ bodies as the volume produced by the body is exceeded by a supporting sound system.

This example dates to January 19 2012 and was built at the Taylor facility in El Cajon CA. The top is Western Red Cedar paired with Mahogany for the body blocks, sides, back, and neck. The body has a venetian cutaway, giving good access to higher frets. The fingerboard and bridge are Ebony, and as it’s a Taylor, the ES-N pickup and preamp set are factory installed. These require a standard 9v battery, which easy to replace – there is an access door on the tailblock! A tasteful set of ‘diamond’ position markers give a visual cue that this isn’t a standard classical!

This Taylor 514ce-N is in very good, clean condition and is sold with its original Taylor branded hard shell case. It plays well, and it delivers on the crossover promise of making nylon performance more accessible to steel string players.

Here is the builder on the Taylor 514ce-N:

“A cedar top paired with mahogany back and sides yields a captivating tone profile on this nylon-string cutaway Grand Auditorium. Cedar adds played-in warmth to mahogany’s focused midrange, and cedar’s responsiveness to the nylon strings will produce clean articulation for fingerstyle players and light strummers. Taylor’s slim, easy-playing necks, a Venetian cutaway, and our onboard ES-N electronics update the classical voice with modern amenities that make this a smooth crossover instrument for steel-string players. Featured appointments include a grained ivoroid Century fretboard inlay, faux tortoise shell binding, a rosette of faux tortoise shell framed by grained ivoroid, and an all-gloss body. The guitar ships in a Taylor deluxe hardshell case.”

Taylor 514ce-N Specifications: