Pick wear on a Cedar top? Yikes!

SeattleCard · #1 09-07-2005, 01:40 PM

A friend of mine has an older (1999 or 2000) Taylor 714ce. He usually uses a light pick to play rhythm at church on Sundays. He showed me what has happened to his Taylor after years of playing: The cedar wood around the sound hole was very very very worn where his pick comes down. It's badly worn off the finish all the way across the inlay.

I was shocked and have never seen a guitar exhibit this so badly. My questions for the group: Has anyone else had this issue with their 714ce? I don't think my friend strums particularly hard (he's just a normal player), but he's pretty upset that the Taylor isn't holding up to a couple years of playing. Does anyone know if Taylor is aware if this and might have addressed this in newer models? Is this just a problem with Cedar wood, because it is a 'soft' wood? I am aware that using an aftermarket pick guard would help protect the guitar, but would still like to know if folks had similar experiences...

Jim Tozier · #2 09-07-2005, 01:50 PM

Well, not to sound critical, but it sounds like your friend's strumming technique is mostly to blame for the condition of the guitar.

Cedar is softer than spruce, and will ding, scratch, and wear easier. Cedar tends to be sweeter, darker, mellower, and more complex sounding tha spruce--which makes it a great choice for fingerstyle or a light strumming touch.

Spruce is better suited to more aggressive players--or players whose strumming technique puts the pick in constant contact with the wood near the soundhole.

'Course, laminate tops are always an option in that case, too . . .

I've had many cedar topped guitars, and have occasionally strummed them--and none have shown wear from playing. (I have dinged a couple of tops, though, by bumping into things.) I'm sure there are others who do much more strumming than I do, and who still have cedar tops in pristine shape. The key is to either avoid constantly smacking the pick up against the soundhole (which just sounds like poor technique to me!), or to live with the fact that strumming like that will show wear on the guitar. This is true of any guitar, but cedar will show it quicker.

ljguitar · #3 09-07-2005, 02:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SeattleCard

...Has anyone else had this issue with their 714ce?

Hi SC...
Not my (former) 714CE which I played for 5 years, but that is probably because I corrected my technique after doing a similar wear at the edge of the soundhole of my Olson Dreadnaught (Rosewood/Cedar). And I don't use picks. I was doing a percussive drop strum with the backs of the nails of the 2nd & 3rd fingers on the right hand, and it was clipping the edge of the soundhole. No finish there to worry about!

My luthier jokes he can't even look at Cedar while he works on it or it will dent...and Cedar is not ''a little softer than Spruce...'' it's a lot softer.

The new bullet-proof UV finish on Taylor guitars protects them pretty well, but anybody who hits something often enough in the same spot or area (even softly) will eventually create wear, including through the finish and into the wood.

sprayfe · #4 09-07-2005, 02:29 PM

I would just roll with it! Shows that the guitar has been loved,
Rafe
I had a cedar topped avalon for about 7 months and took a huge loss because of the damage I did to the top, and I'm pretty darn careful.

Andromeda · #5 09-07-2005, 02:36 PM

I have a friend who has a ceder topped Seagull...I admit having the top with a satin finish hasn't helped but in 7 years the top now looks like hell. He does have a very heavy strumming technique. Cedar is a soft wood more geared toward finger style in my opinion.

dahn8 · #6 09-07-2005, 02:57 PM

I had a cedar topped seagull as well. Cedar is a far softer wood than spruce. It got pretty beat up and was one of the reasons why i decided not to buy a cedar topped guitar as a replacement to my seagull. it does sound wonderful though, so if your friend likes the sound, i'd say just live with it. After all, you dont see Willie Nelson complaining about his guitar's appearance!

UncleShish · #7 09-07-2005, 03:12 PM

If your friend decides it's too ugly to live with drop me a line.

I love a nice guitar that's pre-dinged!

Jeff M · #8 09-07-2005, 03:36 PM

Cedar is a softer wood, more prone to dings/wear. Yes, Taylor is aware of this, as is every other builder out there and most players.

The top ain't wearing away all by itself. Your friends technique is the culpret here.
Doesn't matter who makes the guitar, what woods are used. Over time a pick wielded wildly will wear away wherever it hits.

See Willie Nelson's "Trigger"
http://j-walkblog.com/blog/images2/wntrigger.jpg

(BTW, how do people not know this? I just shake my head when I walk into a guitar store and see "new" guitars scarred with pick marks by folks who come in and try out their "Pete Townsend" arm flail. What in the world are these people thinking?

)
.

Jim Tozier · #9 09-07-2005, 04:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeff M

(BTW, how do people not know this? I just shake my head when I walk into a guitar store and see "new" guitars scarred with pick marks by folks who come in and try out their "Pete Townsend" arm flail. What in the world are these people thinking?

)

Are you implying that they are thinking?

ljguitar · #10 09-07-2005, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Tozier

Are you implying that they are thinking?

Touché!

Jeff M · #11 09-07-2005, 04:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim Tozier

Are you implying that they are thinking?

Excellent point.

DM3MD · #12 09-07-2005, 06:08 PM

i wouldnt go blaming technique and all that mumbo-jumbo. cedar, as we all are well aware of, is a very soft wood, and is subject to pitting and little divots from thumb picks, finger picks, and flat picks. i have a 714 whose soundhole is pitted and marked and gouged. none of my other guitars even have a mark. so, i really wouldnt say its technique. it just happens, and as they say in the umgf.com, it's "MOJO BABY"!!!

amberzombie · #13 09-07-2005, 06:19 PM

well my friend's 1 year old 814-ce is the same. spruce i might add

wood's starting to chip off. he's even gone on to rip the pickguard off. it just look very... worn now.

btw he is one of the biggest hardest strummers you'll ever find

Brian 710CE · #14 09-07-2005, 06:22 PM

my friend's 710ce with cedar is worn like crazy

Jeff M · #15 09-07-2005, 07:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DM3MD

i wouldnt go blaming technique and all that mumbo-jumbo. cedar, as we all are well aware of, is a very soft wood, and is subject to pitting and little divots from thumb picks, finger picks, and flat picks. i have a 714 whose soundhole is pitted and marked and gouged. none of my other guitars even have a mark. so, i really wouldnt say its technique. it just happens, and as they say in the umgf.com, it's "MOJO BABY"!!!

On the other hand, if you play so that you don't whang the top with those picks, you won't get pick wear around the sound hole.