Expanding on the success and warm reception of the new Gold Label Collection, Taylor Guitars adds three models. Debuted in 2025, the Heritage-inspired Line adds new 514e mahogany and 714e and 817e rosewood models. The Gold Label collection now offers 18 total models, offering players more options within Taylor’s premium acoustic range.
MC received a Taylor Gold Label 714e Super Auditorium for testing. Beautifully constructed of Indian and Honduran rosewood and torrefied Sitka spruce, the gorgeous rosewood two-piece back is beautifully bookmatched. The neo-tropical mahogany neck is topped with a West African Crelicam Ebony Fretboard that feels clean, precise, and has a nice sustain. The torrefied spruce top has a very tight grain with an interesting waviness to it and is a bit unusual and pleasing in appearance. The body has an attractive gloss finish, and the neck has a smooth satin finish. This model features modest appointments yet still has a high-end look.
As you would expect from a premium Taylor, intonation is excellent, and playability and workmanship are first rate. While it feels smaller than the traditional dreadnought, the 714e is still a full-sized guitar with a full-sized sound. The bass is tight and controlled with none of the boominess that sometimes comes with rosewood construction. The treble is round and full and does not sound thin or aggressive. The overall tonal balance of the guitar has a great consistency across its range and an even relationship between highs and lows.
“With the Gold Label Collection, we set out to capture the soul of older, traditional acoustic guitars with that warm, woody, broken-in tone that usually takes decades to develop,” said Andy Powers, Chief Guitar Designer and CEO at Taylor Guitars. “While not a direct replacement, these new mahogany and rosewood Gold Label models are just about the closest thing you might otherwise spend a pretty penny hunting for.”
The Gold Label Collection sports three design features that deviate from traditional Taylor offerings. Fanned V-Class® Bracing features a fan-like arrangement of braces in the soundboard’s lower bout, promising a “warmer, more resonant, more powerful sound.” The patented Action Control Neck® features a long-tenon neck joint that extends deeper into the body to boost low-end resonance while maintaining a slim, fast-playing profile. It also enables quick, precise string height adjustments with a turn of a bolt through the soundhole without the need to remove the neck or strings. The collection’s Heritage-Inspired aesthetics draw from old banjos and mandolins, early Taylor designs, and Powers’ pre-Taylor archtop work, featuring his modified headstock shape with an angled back cut and a script-style Taylor logo inlay and unique pickguard shape that comes in a nice tortoise shell.
All models feature LR Baggs Element VTC electronics and a lifetime warranty upon owner registration. Equipped with D’Addario XS Coated Phosphor Bronze Light strings, some players may prefer non-coated strings, but these ones sound and play great. $2,799
