Extra buzzing on Taylor V-braced guitars?

[michaelveloz]

Hi there
I've been tempted several times to buy a new Taylor V-braced guitar but I'm finding that they tend to buzz much easier when capo'd than previous Taylors I own.

Has anyone else noticed this? Is this simply a side effect of the new bracing allowing the string to vibrate more??

Michael

[vindibona1]

It's probably a matter of setup and possibly only a matter of needing a bit more neck relief; a simple adjustment.

[BT55]

I recently purchased a V Class 814ce. I completed a minor truss rod adjustment to tweak the setup. I’ve had no problems using a capo. I haven’t capo’d past the third fret but no buzz whatsoever.

[fazool]

Originally Posted by michaelveloz

... several times... I'm finding that they tend to buzz much easier when capo'd than previous Taylors...

After reading many commentaries on this, yours is the first I've found to even mention buzzing. And you made it sound like a common occurrence.

I find this post strange and unlikely.

[Jeremy]

My V-Class Taylor does not buzz any more than any other guitar I've ever owned.

[B. Adams]

Originally Posted by Jeremy

My V-Class Taylor does not buzz any more than any other guitar I've ever owned.

I'm a little surprised by this too. My new 914 has the lowest action of any acoustic guitar I've owned (or can ever remember playing), and it doesn't buzz at all. I don't use a capo much though, I'll have to try that.

[michaelveloz]

The guitar I tried today was an 814ce DLX V class. It's a beauty but when capo'd on the 2nd fret the 4th and 6th strings buzzed if you thumb-strummed them fairly hard.

Their setup guy checked all the fret heights, adjusted the truss rod, and concluded that it was the capo I had brought into the store (which does not buzz on my other three Taylors). We then used a clamp style capo he had and it buzzed as well.

Basically they said "live with it or try another guitar". I tried another V class they had on the floor and the same thing.

I came home and used my same capo on my 812e 12 fret and no buzz.

So I am not knocking the V class, I'm simply noticing that so far they seem to buzz more than the older bracing.

Please try it: capon on fret 2, strum 6 or 4 string pretty hard, see what happens and let me know

You might argue that strumming that hard is not usually what we do on a single string, and you might be right. But their setup guy was also able to get it to buzz using a pick and strumming loudly.. If it weren't for that, I'd ignore at as a border case issue. But with the 814 body style I expect to be able to strum loudly with no buzz

[JohnW63]

My guess is the fretboard radius may be a little different. If it is a little more radiused, the 6th and 1st strings will not get pressed by the capo as hard. Some of my guitars like different capos for that reason. Because if the string height is the same on all the guitars, and the neck is adjusted properly, then that leaves very little else, unless... they ship with lower tension strings and vibrate more with less effort.

The guitar bracing can't have much at all to do with string buzz on the fretboard.

[Simon Fay]

Fret buzzing does not correlate with the type of soundboard bracing. If it is indeed fret buzz, then you have to look at the nut, saddle, frets, and neck relief. The issue lies with one of those things.

[rick-slo]

Originally Posted by michaelveloz

Basically they said "live with it or try another guitar".

They really said that?!

It's a simple guitar setup (action height) issue.

[Zandit75]

As others have mentioned, fret buzz is not the result of bracing, and is solely in the realm of neck relief, nut & saddle height, or frets not being seated properly. Pretty much anything that can be fixed by a proper setup.

Do any of us here really believe that the shop staff would be saying "live with it or try another guitar"?? Especially an 814 DLX model? How much do they costs again?

Did you try your capo on a standard X Braced Taylor?

Looking forward to some more answers.

[songman2]

The OP is a member of the Taylor forum with 65 posts and he asked the same question there.

[Basalt Beach]

Originally Posted by vindibona1

It's probably a matter of setup and possibly only a matter of needing a bit more neck relief; a simple adjustment.

Originally Posted by Simon Fay

Fret buzzing does not correlate with the type of soundboard bracing. If it is indeed fret buzz, then you have to look at the nut, saddle, frets, and neck relief. The issue lies with one of those things.

Originally Posted by JohnW63

My guess is the fretboard radius may be a little different. If it is a little more radiused, the 6th and 1st strings will not get pressed by the capo as hard. Some of my guitars like different capos for that reason. Because if the string height is the same on all the guitars, and the neck is adjusted properly, then that leaves very little else, unless... they ship with lower tension strings and vibrate more with less effort.

The guitar bracing can't have much at all to do with string buzz on the fretboard.

Well said responses above along with responses of owners who have V Braced guitars are addressing the OP's initial and subsequent posts. Please remember to refrain from comments which are a violation of the rules

[Jambi]

I'm not even much of a Taylor fan however 30 seconds on Google gives you the answer needed on buzzing regardless of your knowledge on guitar.

Back to the official Martin forums with you, sir.

[beninma]

I played another V-class guitar yesterday at the store.. didn't even really take note of which one it was, it might have been a 714ce.

Anyway these guitars are in no way immune to setup issues.

I've played 4-5 high end Taylors lately. One of them was a K14ce Builders edition that Taylor brought to the road show.

That guitar was WAY better setup than any of the other ones I've picked up. Not even close. It had 0 buzz and was super low. It was amazing.. it felt as easy to play as an electric.

I didn't really even enjoy playing the 714ce enough yesterday to really decide if I liked the V-class thing.. my Academy 12e at this point (because it's been worked on) has a better setup than that 714ce did... kind of eye opening.

That said this is all just nut/saddle stuff.. none of the guitars I've tried have seemed to have anything going on at all with the neck or frets. They've all seemed great. It's just that K14ce they were letting people play at the Road show did not have a "factory setup" in terms of nut/saddle/neck angle, it had something way better at least for my preference.