thank you Taylor repair

[charlemagne52]

This forum is a great resource. I finally signed on.

Had a major meltdown a couple weeks ago when our dog knocked my '97 412 off the guitar stand (note to self: keep it in the case!). It got a nasty ding in the headstock and I just about fainted. Know the feeling? I love this guitar. My wife got me to call the factory and they gave me psychiatric help and shipping instructions.

A while later the Taylor factory people call and say they can fix it no problem, and by the way, they're going to reglue the bridge, reset the neck, dress the frets, etc, etc. Just a few things they wanted to fix and all covered under warranty. It arrived back here last week and is better than ever.

What a fine company to deal with and it sure justifies buying new when you get this kind of warranty service.

[TaylorKid]

I did the samething, but dented the rosewood binding instead. My reaction was much worse than yours. I was upset at first, but its these dents that give our guitars character and truly make the OUR guitars as the years pass.

[MJH]

I had a friend accidently drop my 710(yes he is still my friend, he just doesn't touch my guitars.). It crunched the headstock and put a good sized ding in the soundboard. I was a wreck. Called Taylor and like charlemagne said, they gave me lots of psychiatric help and instructions. The repair is excellent. They also did a lot of extras on mine, too. What a great company.

MJH

[JW]

Maybe they need to start a Taylor crisis line.hehe! JW

[ckgdrums]

Originally posted by JW:
<STRONG>Maybe they need to start a Taylor crisis line.hehe! JW</STRONG>

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[bagelsgirl]

My guitars soundboard is beat up something terrible, and I have never seen anything so beautiful. Funny, because I really tried not to ding this thing.

Once somebody posted about having three dings. I decided I would count the dings on mine. but when I took mine out of the case, I realized that there were too many to possibly count. And some are scratches, or two little dings joined... would that be one, or two dings there?

I'd say I have roughly three hundred little dings, one big double ding and almost 20 1 1/2" pick scratches (about 15 in one little spot where I must hit the soundboard during aggressive strumming, that area just past the pickguard...)

Well, there is something liberating about having a guitar you no longer have to panic about dinging...

I guess having the soundboard refinished would be my only option now, but wouldn't that necessitate removal of the bridge? I know one thing, they would have to remove the pickguard and as some of you know I just ordered a fancy mother of pearl inlayed pickguard.... no way!

Be happy with your guitars, I guarantee if the top of yours looked like mine, you would cry!

[JW]

I like my guitar just a litlle on the trashy sideeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Hey when you play it for a living it happens, Ive got some really rough looking Takamine stage guitars, Ive got one where it looks like the pick gaurd is cut into and the guitar is close to to it. the bottom of the sound hole is gone down to the pick gaurd, the top looks like wille nelsons but it still plays great. My Taylors are a personal thing. Now tell me about that MOP pick gaurd! you know how us indians love that flashy stuff. JW

[charlemagne52]

Wow, you guys like to beat on those things!

It's true, the wear and tear is what makes our guitars truly our own.

[Bill_K]

I read on a web site somewhere that the best thing that you can do to a new guitar is place it on the floor and drop your keys on the sound board. Once you get over that initial ding, you can begin to live your life normally!
I could never do that and have tried hard to keep my guitars pristine. Different strokes for different folks, I guess.

[cpmusic]

I've always tried to keep my instruments in best possible shape, but stuff happens. A mic cable once swung loose and the plug took a chip out of the finish on my 615's soundboard. I was advised to have it filled to keep dirt and moisture from getting under the finish, so I did. Two weeks later, the same thing happened again! Now I have two slightly dark spots on the top to go with all the pick scratches and various dents and dings. And you know what? It's still beautiful!

[bagelsgirl]

JW, I promise I will post a photo as soon as I can get a decent one. I drew a vine inlay design on a Taylor shaped guard, found a guy through the internet to make it for me (John Greven, he is a guitar builder, maybe some of you have heard of him - he also invented "tor-tis" faux tortoise material and thats what he put the mother of pearl into.) it looks really cool, I showed it to Taylorsmitten yesterday.... we met at the Doyle Dykes workshop in Jacksonville- wow, an impressive guitarist if I ever saw one!!!

cpmusic- I have taken a tiny paintbrush and put the tiniest amount of water soluble polyurethane in some of my dings. So they are still visible, but dont accumulate dirt and turn black on me.

I can hear some of the gasps already out there....no doubt you guys think I treat my guitar badly. wait till you see the photos....you'll have a different opinion of my beat up, GORGEOUS 510ce.... its a beauty!

[cpmusic]

Originally posted by bagelsgirl:
cpmusic- I have taken a tiny paintbrush and put the tiniest amount of water soluble polyurethane in some of my dings. So they are still visible, but dont accumulate dirt and turn black on me.

Thanks, that's a great idea. Certainly saves time and money. However, I don't know what the finish on my guitar is made of. I know it's not the same as the new ones, and I believe it also predates the "Fullerplast" era (are they still using that stuff?). I suppose I could ask the guy who did the repair work...or Taylor, for that matter! If Taylor has never used laquer, then the polyurethane would probably do the trick.

[ 12-04-2001: Message edited by: cpmusic ]

[cpmusic]

Well, I just called Taylor, and it turns out that my 615 has a laquer finish.

Just FYI, all Taylors up to about serial #3000 (don't remember exactly) have a laquer finish. They went to Fullerplast after that, which I now remember hearing is a royal pain to repair. I don't know when they switched to the UV poly finish.

[buddiesorg]

They switched in 1994 or 1995 ...