Taylor guitars - saddle sanding...OK or Not?

[mirwa]

Originally Posted by JackB1

Here is a direct quote from a Taylor tech

“If the action is high on a Taylor guitar, it’s never necessary to shave down the saddle. Taylor‘s are extremely well set up from the factory in the saddle was already at the right height.

I actually disagree, and there are Taylor techs and there are Taylor techs.

Taylor guitars are very well setup, the ability to change the neck angle to set desired action is extremely good and makes life as a warranty repairer or general taylor authorised repairer easy.

There are times the action can still not be fine tuned to a customers desired height vee neck adjustments, this is where we tweak a saddle like any traditional guitar.

Many ways to achieve an end result, some better than others.

Steve

[nikpearson]

My understanding from this thread and experience with Taylor NT guitars is that the neck angle is optimised when built but that over time, as with all guitars, this geometry is likely to wander.

So it makes sense to me that providing the saddle was adjusted to suit a particular player when the neck geometry was perfect then if the action changes (notwithstanding improper humidity) the best solution would be to adjust the neck angle with the Taylor shims.

A critical factor here is player preference. Some people have a heavy attack and prefer a higher action, others go the other way. And then presumably string gauge needs to be considered.

I beginning to see why Taylor techs and the rest of us are getting confused!

[calstang66]

I may have missed it, but after reading the above posts, I didn't notice any mention of the potential negative effect of shaving the underside of the saddle. Unless one also sands down the top of the bridge, sanding the saddle will decrease the angle that the strings come off the back side of the saddle, and this as I understand, generally has a negative effect on tone. However, sanding the saddle is a quick easy fix to lower action which anyone can do, without taking the guitar to a luthier (time guitar is gone, money, drive to and fro).

[Rodger Knox]

Originally Posted by calstang66

I may have missed it, but after reading the above posts, I didn't notice any mention of the potential negative effect of shaving the underside of the saddle. Unless one also sands down the top of the bridge, sanding the saddle will decrease the angle that the strings come off the back side of the saddle, and this as I understand, generally has a negative effect on tone. However, sanding the saddle is a quick easy fix to lower action which anyone can do, without taking the guitar to a luthier (time guitar is gone, money, drive to and fro).

Post #17, shaving the saddle changes the height of the strings above the top, which may change the tone.

Break angle has no effect on tone, as long as there is enough, which is about 12°.