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  #1  
Old 01-28-2021, 04:34 AM
meredith meredith is offline
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Default Bridge Doctor, or no?

My trusty Taylor 114e (Sapele, 2007) is just beginning to show some belly.

I have a Bridge Doctor (in another guitar that I'm giving up on because what that really needs is a neck reset which is beyond my skills; I live in Nigeria and there are no luthiers). Should I just go ahead and install in the Taylor?

I value the guitar enough to pay a luthier if there is a better solution.

TIA!
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Old 01-28-2021, 05:11 AM
mirwa mirwa is offline
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Please dont use bridge doctor.

If no luthiers are available send an email to taylor, they sometimes subject to your situation send replacement shims, taylors aftermarket service is IMO second to no one

Steve
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  #3  
Old 01-28-2021, 05:42 AM
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My experience with the Bridge Dr in the past is not good. I would say try for a proper fix.
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Old 01-28-2021, 06:18 AM
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warfrat73 warfrat73 is offline
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A bit of belly is perfectly normal. How much are we talking about here?
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  #5  
Old 01-28-2021, 06:19 AM
nikpearson nikpearson is offline
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Default A small belly is not an issue...

...with guitars at least!

Unless playability is being compromised I’d simply leave things alone. If it is, then I wouldn’t use a Bridge Doctor, the design will certainly stabilise the guitar and stop the bridge rotating forward, but will almost certainly alter (damage?) the tone.

As mentioned already, Taylor guitars with the NT neck joint have an easy to adjust neck/body geometry. Neck resets can be done quickly and relatively inexpensively. Not sure what you can do if there’s not a Taylor authorised repair person available. Presumably anyone with the knowledge and laser cut shims could do this job?
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Old 01-28-2021, 06:28 AM
meredith meredith is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by warfrat73 View Post
A bit of belly is perfectly normal. How much are we talking about here?
Enough that because adjusting the truss rod was no longer adequate, I ignorantly shaved the saddle about 3mm, and lost volume, which I did not know would be a consequence.
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  #7  
Old 01-28-2021, 06:32 AM
meredith meredith is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nikpearson View Post
...with guitars at least!

Unless playability is being compromised I’d simply leave things alone. If it is, then I wouldn’t use a Bridge Doctor, the design will certainly stabilise the guitar and stop the bridge rotating forward, but will almost certainly alter (damage?) the tone.

As mentioned already, Taylor guitars with the NT neck joint have an easy to adjust neck/body geometry. Neck resets can be done quickly and relatively inexpensively. Not sure what you can do if there’s not a Taylor authorised repair person available. Presumably anyone with the knowledge and laser cut shims could do this job?
Can anyone recommend a good luthier in Richmond, VA? I'll be in that area for a while this summer (Lord willing, and the Covid don't rise).

I've had this guitar since 2009 and it's really been great and deserves some professional TLC, I think.
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  #8  
Old 01-28-2021, 07:37 AM
mirwa mirwa is offline
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https://www.taylorguitars.com/support/service-centers
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Old 01-28-2021, 07:39 AM
mirwa mirwa is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nikpearson View Post
Presumably anyone with the knowledge and laser cut shims could do this job?
Both the neck extension and heel shim are tapered from one end to the other, you could cnc manufacture them
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Old 01-28-2021, 07:43 AM
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Ive never though there was anything good about using a bridge doctor.

I'm somewhat amazed anybody uses them
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  #11  
Old 01-28-2021, 09:35 AM
hat hat is offline
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question - when you say 'you've lost volume' are you speaking about acoustic volume, or electrified ( pickup) volume? These are two quite different things to correct.
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Old 01-28-2021, 10:07 AM
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posted a link but I need to fix it first will be back with some instrctions on making shims
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  #13  
Old 01-28-2021, 11:33 AM
Shuksan Shuksan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by meredith View Post
Enough that because adjusting the truss rod was no longer adequate, I ignorantly shaved the saddle about 3mm, and lost volume, which I did not know would be a consequence.
What were you trying to accomplish by adjusting the truss rod?
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Old 01-28-2021, 03:05 PM
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here is how you can make shims
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  #15  
Old 01-30-2021, 09:13 AM
meredith meredith is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fazool View Post
here is how you can make shims
Thanks, but shimming won't solve the high-action issues that caused me to sand the saddle to begin with. That's also why I adjusted the truss rod.

The loss in volume is acoustic.
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