Cracked neck heel installing strap locks

[Robin, Wales]

Originally Posted by John Arnold

This cracked with the grain. The primary cleavage plane in wood is perpendicular to the growth rings. The custom of using vertical grain wood for necks is a contributing factor. A slab cut neck is less likely to fail in this manner. A common misconception is that vertical grain hardwoods are stiffer or make a more stable neck. Not true.

That's interesting John. My thoughts were similar when I saw the photos (as well as my heart going out to the OP - it is easily done!). The neck is listed as 'Tropical Mahogany' on Taylor's website, whatever that means? Nato perhaps, which would explain its brittle nature? The small, sharp edged heal shape has not helped here either.

I would be interested to know the provenance and age of the 'Tropical Mahogany'. I was drilling a piece of 'undetermined' mahogany about 1" thick a few weeks back, which could have been nato, and it just fell apart like it was a biscuit.

Looking at the other pictures of the guitar with the separated neck joint, I've had problems myself with some Sapele heals separating, which I think was due to the oil content of the young wood affecting the glue, and the grain going in a poor direction.

I quite like maple for guitar necks.

[DavidE]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

I agree - that’s serious structural damage right there. You need to pull that screw out of there and take the guitar to a repair tech.

It shouldn’t be too expensive or difficult to repair, but it needs to be done.


Wade Hampton Miller

This. And slack the strings.

[Grizzly Adams]

Double post

[Grizzly Adams]

This will require removing the neck, IMHO:

My brother took his 1933 Martin to a "qualified luthier" to have him install a strap button in the heal. It ended up cracking the heal in the same way as the OPs. The neck had to be pulled off in order to correctly repair the damage. Much easier to do on the Taylor than an old Martin!

[metsfan84]

So here we are four months later, and I finally felt comfortable bringing the guitar out for a repair since Covid is, at the moment, under control in NY.

I dropped it off at Guitar Center the other day (I know, but I felt more comfortable going to a large space with corporate PPE rules, etc), and the tech called back to let me know that the repair is beyond the expertise of him and the more experienced tech from another store, and that buying a new instrument would probably be more cost effective than getting it repaired since the repair involves removing the neck and essentially rebuilding it.

Well, I just came home with a new guitar along with the broken one, but I'd still like to look into getting the other one fixed if it's not too expensive. I do know of a few luthiers in the area that are probably much better equipped for this type of repair than Guitar Center, but how much money do you think I'm looking at? $300 to fix a $1500 guitar is probably reasonable, but $800 to fix it is definitely not worth it.

[phcorrigan]

Originally Posted by metsfan84

$300 to fix a $1500 guitar is probably reasonable, but $800 to fix it is definitely not worth it.

Will it be a $1500 guitar when you're done, or is that the new price?

I would find the approximate resale value before making a decision.

BTW, I doubt the repair will even come close to $800.

[mirwa]

Crazy, its not even a 100 dollar repair, less than 30 minutes work, I speak from having done lots of these

Steve

[metsfan84]

Originally Posted by phcorrigan

Will it be a $1500 guitar when you're done, or is that the new price?

I would find the approximate resale value before making a decision.

BTW, I doubt the repair will even come close to $800.

I'm talking about what I paid for it new (approximately).

[DavidE]

Get it fixed by a pro.

But the good news is that the repair will be stronger than the original wood.

[phcorrigan]

Originally Posted by mirwa

Crazy, its not even a 100 dollar repair, less than 30 minutes work, I speak from having done lots of these

I'm neither an expert nor a luthier, and I suspected no more than $200-300.

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by phcorrigan

I'm neither an expert nor a luthier, and I suspected no more than $200-300.

Its a very simple job and I am stunned that the people at the place he took it too said its beyond their skill set.

Finish is the only expensive component of this repair,

To fix for the lay person.

7/16 nut driver to remove the two bolts holding the neck heel on
1/4 allen key to undo the fretboard extension and the neck is off,
Titebond glue into the crack and a clamp allow dry 24hrs
Re-attach neck vee bolts and allen key

Steve

Job finished

[phcorrigan]

Originally Posted by mirwa

7/16 nut driver to remove the two bolts holding the neck heel on
1/4 allen key to undo the fretboard extension and the neck is off,
Titebond glue into the crack and a clamp allow dry 24hrs
Re-attach neck vee bolts and allen key

One advantage of the Taylor bolt-on neck.

[phavriluk]

My advice to OP: Bring the unnecessary new guitar back for a refund. This impresses me as fraud, plain and simple. The nonsense that the 'techs' at that store were trying to blow up OP's backside in order to spin him into buying a new instrument is astounding to me. Thoroughly deceptive. As others have mentioned, this is a dead-simple repair for a Taylor-savvy luthier to do in a half-hour plus glue drying time.

[metsfan84]

Originally Posted by phavriluk

My advice to OP: Bring the unnecessary new guitar back for a refund. This impresses me as fraud, plain and simple. The nonsense that the 'techs' at that store were trying to blow up OP's backside in order to spin him into buying a new instrument is astounding to me. Thoroughly deceptive. As others have mentioned, this is a dead-simple repair for a Taylor-savvy luthier to do in a half-hour plus glue drying time.

I don't think that was what was going on. I don't think a guitar tech at Guitar Center has any vested interest in whether or not I buy a new instrument. I think it's a type of repair they don't specialize in, and maybe he was misinformed about the price of getting it done someplace else, but he even said he would get me the names of luthiers in the area that his more veteran colleague would recommend. There was no pressure to buy a new instrument. He just said he couldn't do it, and the repair probably wouldn't be cost-effective.

And in terms of the new guitar, I figured worst-case scenario I'd have a replacement guitar, best-case scenario, I have two nice acoustics. Should I have waited? Maybe. But I fell in love with the wood grain on a Taylor 214ce-K-DLX, and wanted to come home with it!

[phavriluk]

I can certainly agree with the allure of a nice and shiny and new Taylor of any flavor. They're all examples of high quality engineering and design and manufacture. Ain't nothing wrong nohow with another one...

But those 'techs' didn't mind spewing ignorant nonsense.