Taylor ES1.3 Issues
 

I recently purchased a 2011 414CE and ran into a couple of issues with the electronics and wanted some guidance.

First off, I have yet to find a 9V battery that will fit the housing properly enough for it to slide all of the way in and latch. I can force a regular Duracell to the point that it almost latches, but then had to pry it back out.

Second, even when I just slide a battery in without the holder and shim it in place, the red LED only comes on for a couple of short flashes as I slide the end of the cable in. I can not get the LED to stay lit, meaning the pickup is not on.

I did remove the battery end and could not find anything that looked visibly wrong or obvious. Any hints, tips or tricks before I pay someone to work on this?

Taylor has a redesigned battery holder you can purchase off their website which is intended to hold larger 9v batteries. In the meantime you can try an Everyready Energizer. I am pretty sure they conform to the "standard" size.

Regarding the first issue...Taylor has a new battery compartment now that can be ordered through their website for 5 bucks each that will hold larger batteries that may be too tight of a fit in the one that came on your guitar from the factory. I replaced both of mine and it now holds my Amazon 9v that were previously too large. Regarding the other issue, I'm not sure. I just bought my first ES2 guitar and have not had that issue.

I had this problem when I stupidly used Duracell’s. I only use Energizer’s now and they work brilliantly in my 2010 814ce. No more issues and they last ages

https://www.amazon.com/Energizer-Lit.../dp/B00003IEME

I also bought a couple of these for a few quid. I haven’t needed to use them but peace of mind and all that :)

https://www.gak.co.uk/en/taylor-es-8...E&gclsrc=aw.ds

If you are in the US, a new version will set you back 5 bucks and shipping. Also, if you have a 2011, unless it has had an ES1 upgraded, the ES2 did not come out until some time in mid/late 2013.

https://www.taylorguitars.com/taylor...tery-cartridge

You are correct!

After a little digging I discovered that it is indeed a ES1.3 system and not ES2.

I also grabbed a fresh Energizer battery and it still would not go all of the way in. After a little closer examining, I found someone had glued a shim in the battery holder for some reason. After removing the shim, the battery fit perfect.

https://i.imgur.com/4co7fT4.jpg

Here is a short video of what the LED is doing when I insert and remove the cable. It never goes to a solid LED or even flashes when the cable is completely inserted.

https://youtu.be/JLL0S1_VxOk

Is the pickup output also intermittent? It seems previous owners have had problems with either the battery making intermittent contact or maybe buzzing. The entire assembly at the endpin is easily removed. Assuming the LED and the output are both intermittent, then the battery contacts, or possibly the cabling inside the guitar, are problematic. Taylor ES system cables all have Molex connectors and are easily removed, cleaned, and reseated. I would start with the endpin housing. It is easily removed from the guitar:

https://thumbs2.imgbox.com/ba/e8/6AQwvbmK_t.jpg

I would check the battery contacts for oxidation or being bent (reform and clean with contact cleaner). Next I would remove, clean, and reseat the cable.

It would not surprise me that this started with a buzzing battery, then a shim, and then bent battery contacts in the end pin assembly.

There are 2 sizes of Duracell 9V batteries, one has the longer body/shorter connectors which doesn't fit in the old battery holder.
The light coming on then going off sounds like a battery power problem - there is enough juice when first connected to light the light for a moment, but not enough to run the preamp. That happened to me when someone gave me a used battery when I thought it was my new one I had lent them.

You and I think alike. When I removed the endpin housing yesterday I could not get it far enough out to get to the wires on the end and it had some funky, dark, sticky residue on the outside of it but no signs of the residue inside the guitar. That made me wonder if someone had use petroleum jelly as a form of a dielectric grease at some point.

I am going to pull it in a better setting than my recliner, clean it with contact cleaner and cross my fingers. We do not have any guitar shops in this area and would have to travel over an hour one way to have someone else look at it.

Going with the buzz theory, maybe the first step a previous owner took was to put something between the endpin plastic housing and the body suspecting the buzz was there. I've fixed a few buzzing Fishman Barndoors by carefully putting electrical tape around the opening to isolate the the preamp box from the bezel.

Back in the day, Taylor used to suggest wrapping the 9V (and AA) battery with a Post-It note or Scotch tape to keep it from ratting inside the holder. It sounds like the previous owner used a shim to accomplish that, and maybe did some other things too.

Good luck with your efforts to clean contacts. Hopefully that works.

I think they left a battery in to long and it puked.

With better lighting and a more stable environment I pulled it back apart today and found this

https://i.imgur.com/WiypBGf.jpg

Half a can of contact cleaner and the best fiberglass brushes I own can not get it clean enough to make contact. I have a call in to Taylor for a replacement part price.

Silly question, if I pull the strings, can I reuse them or would I need to replace the strings? I REALLY like what is on there and they appear to be rather new (just got the guitar 3 days ago). Anytime in the past I've always replaced if I removed. The reason for asking is in the process of pulling this piece out, one of the wires came off a clip inside the body and now flops around. The strings will need to come off so I can get my hand inside to put the wire back on its clip.

If I need to get inside a guitar but don't want to change the strings, I simply loosen them a bit, capo up the neck to keep them in place, and then pop the bridge pins out and move the strings out of the way. Reverse the process when done.

Good idea. I had not thought about doing that.