Taylor 200 Series Acoustic Guitars
Taylor 200 series acoustic guitars are easy on the wallet and equally as easy on the eyes and ears! Another best selling segment of the Taylor lineup, 200 series acoustics represent a great middle ground price point and a guitar that will hold it's value better than most!
Pictured is the 214ce-FS DLX- with figured sapele back and sides. Click on a photo for a hi-res version!
History
The first Taylor 200 series guitars were introduced in the early '00s. They were original crafted from spruce and sapele, a mahogany-like tonewood, but Taylor eventually realized that the 200 series needed to be set apart from the tonewoods in their 300 series, so they were eventually tweaked to use rosewood back and sides, a desirable acoustic guitar tonewood. Appointments on the 200 series guitars are for the budget minded, but the shapes, construction, and tone are true blue Taylor!
Recent Updates
After Taylor switched the 200 series guitars over to laminate rosewood back and sides, they set out to make a "better" laminate wood. And like Taylor's other recent series updates, they've recently improved aesthetics, finish options, and added new cutting edge preamps! They've also even introduced Koa wood 200 series acoustics!
Optimized features for the new 200 series guitars included:
Layered Woods
Taylor sought to change the laminate wood landscape. Their new layered wood back and sides are set to do just this. Inside of just a thin veneer that may or may not be visually appealing, a core layer of poplar (not a cheapo tonewood) is surrounded by a pair of rosewood veneers, picked for their grain patterns. Taylor will admit that the tone of a layered wood is not quite as complex as a solid wood, but they are visually appealing and beat out most other laminates on the market. And of course, the price is much more inviting!
Tonewoods
If you're looking for a spruce and sapele 200 series guitar, you'll have to look for one made before 2007. But you can find some beautiful new 200 series acoustics too - including parings such as spruce and layered rosewood (214ce-DLX), spruce and layered koa (214ce, 214ce-K DLX), or a full koa body with solid top and layered back and sides (224ce-K DLX).
Bracing
200 Series Guitars use "Classic X" bracing. It's name speaks for itself in some ways, as it's based on the century old X brace pattern, with a bit of Taylor flare. These braces are scalloped and forward shifted to allow for more top vibration.
Finish
200 series guitars are offered in standard, or deluxe (DLX) permutations. Deluxe models feature a full gloss finished body, as opposed to the gloss only top of the standard model. Personal preference is important here, as some would prefer the sound of a satin finished back and sides. All-koa models boasts a stunning Shaded Edgeburst finish too, and the standard 214ce includes satin finish layered koa back and sides and a gloss top.
Aesthetics
Aside from the Shaded Edgeburst finish on the koa 200 series acoustic guitars, these Taylor's feature a single ring pearl rosette, pearl small snowflake or dot inlays, ebony headstock overlay, and a nice looking tortoise pickguard.
Electronics
New 200 series models include the Expression System 2 preamp and pickup system. Not quite an "under-the-saddle" pickup, the revolutionary ES2 system is placed behind the saddle. Taylor discovered that the saddle doesn't really move vertically when the guitar is played, but in a pendulum like motion, so an under the saddle pickup wasn't receiving tonal pleasing vibrations. ES2 boasts three carefully positioned sensors with allen screw adjustments, and an audiophile grade preamp with slightly more headroom than the original Expression System.
Taylor NT Neck:
The NT neck has long been one of Taylor's crowning achievements. Introduced in 1999, it solves a pair of the most long-standing acoustic guitar problems ever - neck angle and 14th fret hump. With a traditional set neck, it's just a foregone conclusion that one day, it will require an expensive neck reset, and because the fingerboard extension is usually glued directly to the top (which is constantly moving) it will eventually shift and cause a hump/crooked angle, when compared to the neck angle before the neck meets the body.
Taylor's NT neck is made from 1 piece of wood that extends all the way up to the 19th fret - including the fingerboard extension, so no part of the neck is impacted by top movement and it's completely secure. The neck joint itself is also proprietary - it's easy to remove and action can be set with spacers. There's a perfect neck angle for each guitar and each set of wood, and the NT neck allows these precise adjustments to occur like no other.
