Of the half dozen or so I tried at the shop, there was very little between them in terms of quality of build. Part of the price is the brand, the rest is the materials and the design and the 'voice'.
The 214ce I looked at was really nice - much brighter midrange tonally when unplugged than the one I bought, this was due to the rosewood laminate back and sides - apart from a slight change in the pickups and the laminate woods, it was the same guitar as the 314ce.
The 214ce goes for around £800+. For that kind of money there is a lot of choice with other brands. But it is a bit much for a laminate guitar imho, plus it comes with a gig-bag not a hard case - a bit of a let-down.
The Taylor 300 series guitars are their first entry (at that price point) to an all solid wood guitar. The voice of the 314 type spoke to me with a warmer more mellow tone than the 214.
Both are very nice guitars and my inner tight-wad nearly won out in choosing the 214ce. In the end I was going to walk away with an instrument that I would not be disappointed with regardless of the model, so I chose tone over price.
I've been playing guitars on and off since I was 19 or 20; my first guitar being a Squier jazz bass (I still have it). Since then I've acquired another bass (fretless this time) and two acoustic guitars (my seagull, and a little 3/4 size unbranded classical for 15 quid out of a second-hand shop window).
I love them all, but the only one I bought new was the jazz bass. Everything else has been second hand.
So finally, after almost 20 years, it was time for a new guitar. I won't say how much more the 314ce was compared to the 214ce, but suffice to say it's getting into the region I like to call 'eye-watering'. If you care to look at some of the higher series taylors, the 400's 500's 600's 700's 800's 900's then there's the 'custom' 'presentation' and 'limited' series guitars - lord save me from sinful thoughts - I think I came away with the right guitar for me at the right price.
