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  #1  
Old 02-06-2020, 01:23 PM
meredith meredith is offline
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Default Taylor 114e twisted neck

Cleaning/tweaking my Taylor I discovered a bit of neck twist... Higher on the bass side than the treble.

It's still very playable, but of course not ideal. I've had the guitar for about 11 years (it was a few years old when I bought it) and I'm pretty attached.

How expensive is repair? Is a new neck inevitable? Tia.
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Old 02-06-2020, 01:30 PM
meredith meredith is offline
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PS, I'm not a luthier and though I do a lot of maintenance and small repairs on my guitars I know I'm not equipped to do this... If I'm out of line playing "ask the luthier" I apologize.
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Old 02-06-2020, 04:50 PM
charles Tauber charles Tauber is offline
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What indicates that the neck is twisted?

If it plays fine, I wouldn't worry about it.
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Old 02-06-2020, 05:39 PM
PaulieDC PaulieDC is offline
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Meredith, call Taylor customer service and find out who the closest authorized dealer is near you. I'm almost sure the warranty is lifetime so they MIGHT fix it at no cost. If not you will at least get a quote to know if it's reasonable. But definitely go to a Taylor authorized repair shop, they are set up to deal with the bolt-on neck.
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Old 02-06-2020, 06:03 PM
mirwa mirwa is offline
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The frets can be removed and the fretboard planed to make it flat again, its not a big deal.

If its playing fine then just leave it alone.

Steve
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Old 02-07-2020, 05:08 AM
meredith meredith is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by charles Tauber View Post
What indicates that the neck is twisted?

If it plays fine, I wouldn't worry about it.
I noticed the action on the bass strings is higher than the treble strings. And looking down the neck, the nut is slanted relative to the bridge. It plays all right now, but higher action on the bass side isn't doing me any favors.
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Old 02-07-2020, 05:14 AM
meredith meredith is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulieDC View Post
Meredith, call Taylor customer service and find out who the closest authorized dealer is near you. I'm almost sure the warranty is lifetime so they MIGHT fix it at no cost. If not you will at least get a quote to know if it's reasonable. But definitely go to a Taylor authorized repair shop, they are set up to deal with the bolt-on neck.
I live in West Africa so the nearest authorized dealer is probably a few thousand miles away... Also having bought secondhand, I would doubt there's any warranty.

If the fretboard is removed and the neck planed, will that not weaken the neck so it could potentially happen again? Or is that standard procedure?

Thanks for the information.
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  #8  
Old 02-07-2020, 05:17 AM
meredith meredith is offline
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*frets, not fretboard...
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  #9  
Old 02-07-2020, 08:49 AM
jonfields45 jonfields45 is offline
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If you depress the low E at the 1st and 14th frets what is the clearance over the 7th fret? Repeat for the high E.

Feeler gauges from an auto parts store are useful but even a business card can tell you, in business card thicknesses, how different they are.

I think we need some data before giving you advice.

I have chased this problem on several Gibson SGs over the years as they have a very long neck. My guess is you would be best off not attempting to get this fixed but rather set the truss rod for the slightest 7th fret clearance on the high E string and then adjust the action at the nut and saddle for best possible action. The extra relief for the low E can actually be beneficial if you want low action with minimum buzzing.
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  #10  
Old 02-07-2020, 09:31 AM
charles Tauber charles Tauber is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by meredith View Post
I noticed the action on the bass strings is higher than the treble strings. And looking down the neck, the nut is slanted relative to the bridge. It plays all right now, but higher action on the bass side isn't doing me any favors.
I'm not entirely sure that that is an accurate way of assessing neck twist.

I'd suggest using the equivalent of "winding sticks". Remove the strings and place two short straight edges on the fingerboard parallel to the frets. Place one near the first fret and one near the highest fret. From the head, look across the top edges of the two straight edges. If there is "wind" (i.e. twist) in the neck, the top edges of the the straight edges will not be parallel. The arched/domed fingerboard surface might make this a little more difficult, but it should still work.



The other thing to check is whether or not the neck, itself, as a whole, is twisted relative to the plane of the guitar top. Depending on the model of Taylor, there are two bolts holding the fretboard extension area to the top. One of these could be loose, allowing tilting of the neck relative to the top. You should be able to measure the vertical distance from the top to the top surface of the fingerboard - or similar reference - to determine if the entire neck is tilted relative to the guitar top. Alternatively, you could use the winding sticks, placing one on the fingerboard and one on the surface of the top in front of the bridge.

If the neck, itself, is not twisted, and the neck is not twisted in the neck/body joint, I'd lower the bass side of the saddle to get the string heights you want. If necessary, I'd lower the string individually from the top of the saddle.

Last edited by charles Tauber; 02-07-2020 at 10:34 AM.
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  #11  
Old 02-07-2020, 10:20 AM
Black-n-Nan Black-n-Nan is offline
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Default Frets removed, then fretboard planed. Done

Quote:
Originally Posted by meredith View Post
I live in West Africa so the nearest authorized dealer is probably a few thousand miles away... Also having bought secondhand, I would doubt there's any warranty.

If the fretboard is removed and the neck planed, will that not weaken the neck so it could potentially happen again? Or is that standard procedure?

Thanks for the information.
It once on my Ibanez Artwood. Pretty well done. Still in good conditions. Set up action really low, less than 1,8 mm on low E. No buzz, plays excellent.
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  #12  
Old 02-07-2020, 12:30 PM
Howard Klepper Howard Klepper is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by meredith View Post
I noticed the action on the bass strings is higher than the treble strings. And looking down the neck, the nut is slanted relative to the bridge. It plays all right now, but higher action on the bass side isn't doing me any favors.
So far you have not described symptoms of a neck with a twist. It's normal for the action to be higher on the bass side, and for the nut to be taller on the bass side (although the nut slots should all be at the same height).

You may just need the action adjusted more to your liking.
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  #13  
Old 02-10-2020, 11:30 AM
meredith meredith is offline
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"If you depress the low E at the 1st and 14th frets what is the clearance over the 7th fret? Repeat for the high E." jonfields45

Using a StewMac string action gauge... both are a hair over .25.

Well I trust the knowledge base here and I'm hopeful that with some more aggressive truss rod work I can get much better action. I guess looks can be deceiving! Thanks for the advice!!
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