Taylor Gold Label 514e SB

A great mahogany Super Auditorium that combines retro looks with innovative features.

November 26, 2025

Taylor’s Gold Label instruments combine a vintage-inspired appearance with chief designer Andy Powers’s latest innovations. The Gold Label tone is rooted in the sound of classic American flattops, but with the sonic balance and playability that modern players expect. We recently presented the rosewood Gold Label 714e, and in this video, I demo the mahogany Gold Label 514e SB.

The Gold Label 514e SB (SB = sunburst) has a Super Auditorium body exclusive to the Gold Label guitars. It’s slightly larger than Taylor’s familiar Grand Auditorium, and is built with a torrefied Sitka spruce top and neo-tropical mahogany back and sides. While the outward appearance suggests a vintage-style small-jumbo, its construction details are cutting edge. The “Fanned V-Class” bracing gives the guitar the focused precision of Powers’s earlier V-Class bracing, but with richer overtones. The innovative Action Control neck allows angle adjustments on the fly. The Gold Label unique look combines an ebony fingerboard with a Honduran rosewood bridge, as well as a distinctive peghead shape and script “Taylor” logo. This demo guitar has a gorgeous reddish sunburst finish and a cream-colored pickguard. It’s also available with the firestripe pickguard used on the natural-finish version. On some recent models, Taylor has adopted L.R. Baggs electronics instead of its own ES system, and the 514e is equipped with an L.R. Baggs Element undersaddle pickup and onboard volume and tone controls mounted in the soundhole.

We included a taste of the Gold Label 514e sound during my demo of the 714e, where I played both guitars side-by-side, and I do so again in this video. As I’ve noted in my other Gold Label demos, if you think you know what a Taylor sounds like, you have to think again: The Gold Label 514e tone is much closer to the overtone-rich, dynamic sound of a golden-era flattop than it is to the ultra-modern sound of typical V-Class Taylor model. The guitar has beautiful lower mids and bass tones, and its trebles offer balanced warmth. The playability is excellent, and the neck shape and fundamental feel will be familiar to anyone who has played other Taylors. Compared with the rosewood 714e, this guitar is a touch brighter and offers a bit more overall clarity. The mahogany may also contribute to a slightly quicker response, especially when playing fingerstyle.

I had a ton of fun playing the Gold Label 514e SB. I could easily see using it as a capable fingerstyle guitar or as a versatile “do everything” instrument. Andy Powers’s vision of creating a new Taylor platform with advanced features and heritage tonality is certainly a success. If you have a chance, try one for yourself.

Taylor Gold Label 514e SB Specs