Bad neck angle on a brand new Taylor?

fishwithlegs · #1 06-07-2005, 08:11 PM

I just bought a brand new 414-L7. it came with a very high & heavy setup. After setting up the truss rod to standard Taylor specs (0.010") and making sure the nut is at least reasonable, I sat down to measure and lower the saddle. Uh-oh... as it is there is very little saddle poking out of the bridge at the high E string. In fact, there's already too little for my liking - the high E string has almost no angle to it whatsoever. And if I were to lower it to a standard medium-strumming setup for me, which will involve cutting a full millimetre off the saddle, there will be more or less nothing left of the saddle at all at the high E-string (about a millimetre will remain above the wood, by my reckoning).
Meanwhile, on another Taylor that I've had for a while that is already set up beautifully, there is way more saddle sticking up out of the bridge than this one has even now before I touch the saddle to lower it.
What's going on here? Did Taylor ship off a guitar with a bad neck angle? Is it possible the store I got this from decided to reset the neck themselves... the only reason I wonder is that it didn't have the stock Elixir strings on it in the store.
I'm pretty miffed - not a great way to have to break in a new guitar... taking it to the nearest Taylor warranty centre.

reags · #2 06-07-2005, 08:15 PM

I'd definitely enquire the boys @ the store which you purchased it from. No stock Elixirs usually means it has been tampered with. Hope it works out!

Jeff M · #3 06-07-2005, 08:54 PM

I would imagine that Taylor would cover a neck re-set in this situation...brand new guitar and all.

pollajak · #4 06-07-2005, 09:28 PM

Was this a mail order? Did you played this guitar before buying? Did you notify the seller that the set up was abnormal?

You have got to work with the seller (a dealer?). I hope it turns out well. If it is proved that either the seller or the manufacturer is default, you should ask for and get a free repair, new instrument, or refund.

reags · #5 06-07-2005, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pollajak

Was this a mail order? Did you played this guitar before buying? Did you notify the seller that the set up was abnormal?

You have got to work with the seller (a dealer?). I hope it turns out well. If it is proved that either the seller or the manufacturer is default, you should ask for and get a free repair, new instrument, or refund.

I'd go for the new instrument or upgrade to a higher model at a discounted price (would be quite unjustified to have to send a brand new guitar in for repairs especially when it isn't your fault...a brand new guitar should be just that - brand new and quality controlled)

Bob Womack · #6 06-08-2005, 05:51 AM

I've sent back at least one Taylor with the NT neck for a reset as soon as I got it. Stuff gets through. The NT reset takes about five minutes. Did you measure the saddle height? Mine also had a high saddle height.

Bob

Edwin · #7 06-08-2005, 07:29 AM

I called GC yesterday inquiring about a couple of Taylors currently in their possession. The guy was a bit of a hard seller. Asking what time I was gonna come in, and what my phone number was etc. and if he wanted me to hold a used Taylor that just came in. blah blah blah. I asked him why he wanted to know when I was gonna be there, and he said he wanted to make sure that the models I was gonna audition had new strings on them. Since the some of the guitars they had in were a couple of months old. One of them just came in a few days ago, so its fine.... blah blah blah...Huh? First off, Taylors come equiped with Elixirs that are highly touted as "long lasting". Also it takes a little bit of stretching of the strings to make sure they are in tune. I "never" change my guitar strings the same day of a performance because of this. I change them a few days in advance, prestretch them, tune it up, check it the next day and tune it again, then check it right before the performance. The worst thing to do when selling a guitar is to hand a badly tuned instrument to a customer. Unless this guy is trying to steer me away from Taylors and more towards Martins. I'd think he was badly informed. Also if they are in the habit of changing strings on these Taylors every time someone wants to demo a guitar, I'm wondering if Elixirs are still on these guitars.

fishwithlegs · #8 06-08-2005, 07:37 AM

Sounds like he just doesn't know what Elixir nanowebs are. Those things sound obnoxiously bright for months. First thing I do when I buy a Taylor is rip them off - they seem to be great for keeping a guitar in a store, but not much else. (I dunno... maybe they're okay fingerpicked).
Good to know that the NT reset takes about 5 minutes - I'm taking it to the Taylor warranty guy but it's a 1.5-hour drive, and I don't particularly want to have to leave it there. I'm thinking of angling for the store to pay gas and what-not.
Yeah, I'm pretty miffed that I could spend $2000 (CAN) on a guitar and have to do this.

Taylorplayer · #9 06-08-2005, 08:06 AM

Hope this all works out well for you. If it has a different brand of strings on it, then I'm guessing someone at the shop did that...

Diagoras · #10 06-08-2005, 01:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishwithlegs

Sounds like he just doesn't know what Elixir nanowebs are. Those things sound obnoxiously bright for months. First thing I do when I buy a Taylor is rip them off - they seem to be great for keeping a guitar in a store, but not much else. (I dunno... maybe they're okay fingerpicked).

I couldn't agree more.

Dglsj · #11 06-08-2005, 02:27 PM

For what it's worth, I bought a new Seagull (made in Canada) 20th Anniversary model for my daughter at Christmas year before last. Turns out it had a bad neck. I took it to the dealer who sent it to the factory repair facility (US) for repair. It took about 8 months for the work to be performed. To their credit they put a new neck on it and the playability is much improved. But it does not now look like a new factory guitar. It looks like somebody put a new neck on it. Thankfully, my daughter is satisfied with it. Personally I expected much more from a factory repair. I would guess that yours will be much quicker and much cleaner (see curren thread on NT necks). Good luck.