Taylor Acoustic Neck Reset

[Don Korth]

Does anyone know of a reputable third party supplier for the shims that are used in doing a Taylor acoustic neck reset? To the best of my knowledge Taylor does not sell these and a buddy of mine brought me a Taylor acoustic with a new Tusq saddle and asked me to lower his action via sanding down the saddle. Well, I did this for him as requested and retained the original Tusq saddle in case he wanted to revert. Actually, to me, the guitar played just fine prior to the saddle replacement but my friend primarily plays a Tele and wanted a lower action.

Obviously, this affected the break angle of the strings over the saddle which lowered the volume considerably and he asked me to ramp the bridge to get the proper break angle in which I refused. I told him the best way to achieve action adjustments on those Taylor guitars was doing a neck reset as opposed to lowering the saddle and it's a $2k or more instrument and I really don't want to ramp the bridge. In fact, I won't ramp that bridge period it's a beautiful instrument.

I know I could make the shims but if there's someone who already does this it would be much easier to purchase them. In fact, if I can't get the shims I will send him to an authorized Taylor facility as it would probably be cheaper for him in the long run because I know the authorized shops can get the shims from Taylor.

Thanks for any info!

[Andrew]

Higher action and thicker strings make electrics sound better too dont forget! Im mostly an electric player and I started going to tens and nines and lowering my action on my two main electrics because of carpal tunnel and tendonitis (also I cut the end off my left pinky wid me jointer in march :P) and often you just cant get the same kind of firepower as with thicker strings. The amp just doesnt get driven as much and you cant wail the chords as hard without them "flabbing out".

Had to add to your rant :). Sorry to go further off topic.

[Paul Verticchio]

So sorry to hear about your accident, man. I hope for the best possible outcome for ya :)

[Andrew]

Well lets say it could have been worse, very nearly got the next two fingers as well. Its usable playing again though, chords and stretches are just a little hard having no nail there. I took it as a lesson, since I was getting a bit too comfortable with the machine. Sad part is there was a jack plane sitting two feet away :P.

[Don Korth]

Sorry to hear about your accident with the jointer Andrew and all the more reason (when I finally get a jointer) that I will use the push pads. I bet you'll be using them moving forward too huh? I think that sometimes we can become too comfortable with our surroundings and forget or overlook the present dangers. My dad lost his right thumb on a table saw back in the 1960's.

I couldn't agree more with the higher action and heavy strings assessment you provided too. The combination allows the artist to attack the instrument or lighten up and you also have much better control of dynamics with a higher action and heavier strings (another concept lacking with many of todays guitarists) and I also use a very heavy pick most of the time when I play with a pick as well. Actually, I am not all that proficient with a pick and prefer to play finger style on a nylon string but sometimes the job calls for electric or steel string acoustic and I use a pick. When I finger pick steel strings they tear up my finger nails

[Don Korth]

Hi Paul,
I've been going to Elderly for over 35 years and their staff and repair crew are as knowledgable and competent as they come. Heck, back in the days of 33 1/3 lp's I would spend hours at that store just going through the eclectic musical collection they offered. I never made the 1 hour drive to Lansing MI without dropping $100.00 on records. They still offer a really nice collection of music on cd however with the advent of the Internet etc most of the material is readily available online too.

As previously stated, I would love to do the neck reset for my friend just to gain the experience and I am certain I could do it and do it well however it seems kinda senseless knowing he could get it done free or much cheaper taking an hour drive to Lansing. I am sure I will get my opportunity to work on one of those NT necks someday but in this circumstance it wouldn't be a wise decision. Besides, I am neck deep in a few simultaneous guitar builds at the moment and this is what I really want to do. I know a few local luthiers who rarely take on repairs due to the fact that it takes away from their building and after spending most of this past summer repairing instruments I can see why.

Not to mention that "everybody wants to go to heaven, but, nobody wants to die to get there" or "everybody wants something for nothing" and if the average Joe had any idea the labor and hours involved in doing something like a total re-fret or even just a level and dressing they would understand real quick that even though $250.00 -$300.00 for a total re-fret may appear to one a lot of money to them the tech isn't making squat if he/she took their time and did a quality job. It's very labor intensive and those of us who have the patience to do this kind of work to begin with take extreme pride in what we do.

[Hesh Breakstone]

Don I love Elderly too and always enjoy my time there.

Not sure where you and/or the guitar owner are located but we are in Ann Arbor and Taylor certified too. Taylor has not updated their web site yet to list us, Ann Arbor Guitars, but we are certified with both Taylor and Martin. One of us may also indeed be certifiable as we'll...;)

End shameless self-promotion here....

[Don Korth]

Hi Hesh,
We are located in Flint and I will pass the info on to my friend however he purchased this guitar at Elderly so odds are pretty good that's where he'll end up taking it.

As far as being certifiable, I think this planet we inhabit is chock full of certifiable people and it's the ones who think they're normal that scare me man. Knowing we're all nuts is a prerequisite to being anything close to normal IMO :-)