Taylor Solid Bodies Discontinued!

[s2y]

Very unfortunate they're handling it this way. I'd consider getting a used SB, but not if they won't service it.

Hopefully they don't pull a move like this when they ultimately discontinue the T5 and T3.

[crnazz]

But if you ARE the original owner, isn't your warranty a binding contract that they have to honor?

[Sword Bringer]

I was told by Taylor Service, that they would have parts available for repairs to SB guitars. They won't however have the Loaded Taylor Pickgard available period. I don't consider these to be accessories. They're the whole reason I bought the guitar to start with. It was central to the concept and sales pitch.

You can argue that these are not crucial and as long as your guitar functions I should be happy. I am not, because that isn't what I bought. I bought the guitar because Taylor stated it had loaded pickgard plug and play ability. In other words, rather than buying different guitars with different pick-up configurations, we were supposed to be able to plug in the combo we wanted. There were supposed to be seven pickgards available ranging from All single coil to all humbucker and every combination in between. There were even two types of buckers -High Gain and High Definition.

I'm sure the strategy here is to hold the position that if you have an intact working guitar, you have nothing to complain about. But, I have come to expect Taylor to stand by their words.

I just got the beautiful new Wood And Steel. No mention of the solid Body or its discontinuation. Don't you think that's strange and unlike Taylor?

[s2y]

I'd imagine you could find someone willing to build you some wired pickguards, which may open you to other non-proprietary pickups.

[Sword Bringer]

I was told over the phone by a Taylor Rep that there probably weren't any luthiers who could put other brand pick-ups in these guitars. My Luthier, who is a Taylor trained service tech said, it would be very difficult and perhaps costly due to Taylor's unusual electronics platform. I guess they use a different kind of capacitor and connectors than most. Then there's the question of the warrantee being discontinued if you alter the guitar like that.

I'm sure it could be done. But why should a customer go through all of that when being able to switch loaded pickgards was a feature of the product originally purchased?

[Sword Bringer]

There was no mention of any of the discontinuations in the beautiful Wood and Steel I received yesterday.

I did, however get an reply on the Taylor Facebook Page. It was the same answer. The line has been discontinued and will be supported for warrantee work only.

I in turn asked why they didn't let current or prospective owners know about the plan to discontinue the model. I said they have every right to discontinue anything they produce, but since the loaded pickgards were a selling point of this excellent instrument, shouldn't there have been an announcement made so that current owners could get what they were planning to buy before discontinuation. Why did we have to find out only after many phone calls from many people to Taylor Service? I didn't say this but i think that the issue is really one of living up to ones reputation and word. Taylor continues to gush about how wonderful their customer service is, even in this issue of Wood And Steel. Shouldn't there at least be a foot note in this expensive glossy publication referencing the demise of the solid body program? I just find this contrary to who and what Taylor has stood for as a company.

[Sword Bringer]

The biggest loser in all this is the customer who will no longer be able to purchase these wonderful guitars. I have Fenders, PRS's, Godin's and Gibson Electrics. I have to say no neck I own feels as natural, or action is as responsive as my Taylor Solid body. The pickups are wonderful and the fit and finish superbly Taylor. I really hate to see this program end mainly because it was so darn good!

I know the product wasn't selling as well as anticipated in this glutted guitar market. But, I think if they gave it a little more time it would have. They should have given some of these things to some really iconic guitarist. If people saw great guitarist play them, it would have made a big difference.

So, here I end my quest.... I am a lucky owner of one of the best designed Electric guitars on the planet. I will play it and enjoy doing so I hope others will enjoy listening.

I tried my best to get to the bottom of what was going on. I still think Taylor completely mishandled this issue by not telling the public what was going to happen. It is especially bad from for Taylor because they claim the Best Practice in customer service. I remain deeply disappointed and do hold out some hope that Taylor will give current owners of the SB's more options. It wouldn't kill them to make a few more pickgards available to current owners.

Judging from the way these items flew out of stores and E-Bay, i suspect there is an untapped market.There's money to be made. It would be great if duncan or someother company started supplying these items. I'm sure it won't happen because Taylor will claim a copyright infringement.

Thus falls another idol.

[Clydeslide]

This is getting a bit silly now.

[Sword Bringer]

Why is it silly? I have bacsically conceded that there's nothing that can be done and that I'm going to enjoy my guitar. I think, the customer service points I've made are valid- and other's do also.

Basically, I'm dropping the matter. So why would you call something that effects some member's of this forum silly?

[Clydeslide]

Because you're now just repeating yourself in an effort, it seems, to bad-mouth Taylor. I understand your frustration but continually repeating the same problems is silly.


As for the pickups, if you have an interchangeable scratch plate model you can make your own scratch plates with different pickups on, I'm sure of it. No matter what Taylor have done with the electronics the input jack will be the same or very similar, it has to be.

So open it up, have a look how the scratch plate attaches to the input jack and you're away. I'm sure they have not used proprietary connectors that cannot easily be worked around or with, but it's likely the connectors are available.

Even if you end up having to solder the jack it's still pretty much as interchangeable as the original plates were.

Take some pictures of the electronics and it'll be easier for people to help you.

[s2y]

Other than matching the screws, it shouldn't be too hard to get someone who can build something. It's not like Taylor's electronics or pickups were anything special/magic. Get a Tele setup, some P90s, etc.

[Sword Bringer]

Now, you highlight the reason why these concerns aren't "silly."

I don't want to take the mini-buckers out of my SB. I like them. The reason some of us purchased the Taylor Sb was so we could avoid going through the soldering, matching connectors, etc. With the loaded PG's I could return to the mini-buckers when ever I wanted, but have access to any other sound I wanted.

That option no longer exists and I'm not going to keep installing and removing pickups. So whether you think I'm just bad mouthing Taylor. I have a legitimate beef. As I said before I was "silly," I am resigned to the reality of the situation.
I don't have to be pleased about it. As a consumer I have every right to voice my dissatisfaction.

I'm not going to bore anyone with it here anymore because I think I've made a valid point. I reserve my right to my slow quiet burn over the Company who in it's last News Letter went on about how important the needs of individual customers are. I think they blew it. They are a different company now. You are entitled to your opinion as well.

Peace!

[Clydeslide]

You are not listening.

You can make your own interchangeable pickguards. At most you have to solder the input jack which is a couple of minutes and makes no difference, it's not like you could change pickguards between songs at a gig so soldering a couple of wires, which probably isn't even needed, is perfectly fine. Then you get to use any pickups you want, not just Taylor ones.

Again, take off the pickguard and post photos, we'll help you make your own.

[GCWaters]

Warmoth could probably help you out--they used to cut custom guards....

[s2y]

Or just sell it.

I have thought about doing the whole interchangeable pickguard thing. It's still generally faster to just grab another guitar.