Taylor 214ce Plus

The Taylor 214ce Plus takes the same Grand Auditorium body as the base 214ce and swaps walnut for Indian rosewood back and sides, a $400 upgrade that changes the guitar's entire tonal character. Where walnut sits bright and focused, Indian rosewood opens into more complex overtones stacked under the fundamental, a deeper low end, and noticeably longer sustain — the harmonic complexity most fingerstyle players are chasing. It's still built on C-Class Bracing, Taylor's traditional bracing pattern used throughout the 200 Series, and still ships standard with Expression System 2, Taylor's three-sensor pickup system.

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Indian rosewood has built its reputation on exactly what it delivers here: a wide, ringing overtone series that stacks additional harmonic content underneath the fundamental note, so a single strummed chord carries more complexity and shimmer than the same chord played on a brighter, more direct tonewood. That complexity comes paired with a deeper low end and noticeably longer sustain than walnut offers, which is why rosewood has long been the default choice for players building fingerstyle arrangements around note decay and harmonic layering rather than rhythmic punch. On the Grand Auditorium body, that voice stays balanced rather than boomy — the Grand Auditorium is Taylor's most versatile shape precisely because it doesn't over-emphasize the low end the way a deeper-bodied dreadnought can, so the rosewood's added complexity reads as richness rather than muddiness.

That richer voice carries through the same Grand Auditorium proportions as the rest of the sub-family — a 15-inch lower bout and Taylor's standard nut width, built to feel equally at home fingerpicking a slow ballad or driving rhythm behind a full band. Nothing about the playing feel changes when the wood does; the difference is entirely in what comes out once the strings are moving, which makes the 214ce Plus an easy guitar to adjust to for anyone stepping up from the base 214ce or another Taylor Grand Auditorium model.

The comparison worth making here is against the base 214ce, the Plus's closest sibling. Both guitars share an identical Grand Auditorium body and C-Class Bracing, so the entire tonal gap between them comes down to that back-and-sides wood swap. The 214ce's walnut stays brighter and more focused, with a quicker note decay that suits rhythm players cutting through a busy mix; the 214ce Plus's rosewood trades some of that immediate clarity for depth, sustain, and overtone complexity that rewards a player working alone or building layered fingerstyle parts. Neither guitar is a strict upgrade over the other — they're voiced for different playing priorities on the same body and bracing platform, and the $400 gap between them buys a different tone, not a better one.

At $1,399, the 214ce Plus clears The Acoustic Shoppe's $1,000 Dread-Not Guarantee threshold, and every 214ce Plus we sell ships under the full guarantee. That starts with a 30-day in-home trial to confirm it's the right fit, followed by a full year during which you can trade it in toward anything else in the store for 90% of your purchase price back in credit — on this guitar, that's roughly $1,259 in credit, meaning your real downside exposure over that year is only about $140. The guarantee also includes a professional inspection and setup by our certified in-house tech before the guitar ships, and a free humidity monitoring kit to help you track conditions once it's home, which matters in particular for a solid rosewood back and sides acclimating to a new environment. On top of the guarantee, every instrument we sell, at every price point, completes our full 23-point professional inspection — a genuine pre-sale quality check, not a routine setup, run by the same in-house techs who handle warranty work on every Taylor we carry.

For the rest of the line, see our Taylor 200 Series collection, and for the complete range of Taylor models we carry, visit our Taylor Guitars collection.

The Acoustic Shoppe is an Authorized Taylor Premier Dealer and Gold Label Advantage Dealer. Every instrument ships after a full 23-point professional inspection by our in-house repair tech. As a nine-time consecutive NAMM Top 100 Dealer, we handle warranty concerns directly on your behalf.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is the Taylor 214ce Plus built for?
A player who wants the same versatile Grand Auditorium body as the base 214ce but voiced warmer and more complex — Indian rosewood back and sides trade some rhythmic clarity for deeper sustain and richer overtones, which tends to suit fingerstyle players and anyone building arrangements around note decay rather than straight rhythm work.
How does the 214ce Plus differ from the base 214ce?
Both share the identical Grand Auditorium body and C-Class Bracing, so the $400 difference comes down entirely to the back-and-sides wood. Walnut on the 214ce stays bright and focused; Indian rosewood on the Plus adds more overtone complexity, a deeper low end, and longer sustain.
Does the 214ce Plus qualify for the Dread-Not Guarantee?
Yes. At $1,399, it clears the $1,000 threshold and ships under the full guarantee: a 30-day in-home trial, a full year to trade it in for roughly $1,259 in credit (90% of the purchase price, meaning about $140 of real downside exposure over the year), professional inspection before it ships, and a free humidity monitoring kit.
What pickup system does the 214ce Plus use?
Expression System 2, Taylor's three-sensor pickup system, standard across the 200 Series rather than reserved for higher-tier models.
Is V-Class bracing available on the 214ce Plus?
No. Like the rest of the 200 Series, the 214ce Plus is built on C-Class Bracing, Taylor's traditional internal bracing pattern. V-Class, Taylor's patented bracing geometry, starts at the 300 Series and isn't offered on any 200 Series model.