Nut question?

[Airborne]

When barring an F major chord on the first fret, I find it difficult and get muting of strings. When placing a capo on the first fret and barring an F major shape on the second fret, I find it easier with little to no muting. Does this mean the nut is too high? The guitar in question is the Academy 12, which I thoroughly enjoy. Thanks in advance for any comments.

[Edward]

While the guitar "may" be in spec as per Taylor, it may be --or apparently is-- too high for you.  If you purchased the guitar new, you have a lifetime warranty which "may" cover the cost of a tech cutting your nut slots a bit lower to give you lower action.  BUT, this is at the discretion of the tech and Taylor since they "may" determine that the action is "in spec" and simply tell you that you prefer it lower than the factory specifies (which in truth, may be the case).  No way to know until you try: call the factory and get the name of an Authorized Taylor tech nearest you, and proceed from there.

If it's any help to you, Taylor is very good (I've seen no one match their stellar service to customers) at supporting their customers.  Worse case is you pay the setup costs and get the guitar to play as you like it.

The other thing to also consider is bar chords are what they are, and do require technique, practice, and time to get the notes ringing cleanly, so keep that in mind, as well

Edward

[DennisG]

Barring an F shape at the second fret will always be easier than barring the same shape at the first fret, due to the proximity of the nut.

What you haven’t told us is whether or not you’re able to play a barred Fmajor chord cleanly on other guitars.  That would be useful to know.

By the way, playing a barred Fmajor frustrates a lot of guitarists.  There’s a reason that chord begins with the letter F.

[Ohio Tom]

I found it much easier to just leave out the base F note. Give up on trying to make it a Barr chord.
Move my index finger from a barr, to the B and High E strings only
I just use the "C" shape moved up one string. with the pinky added.
It's a much more natural position for my hand and sounds just as good. 
Alot easier when switching chords quickly.

Some folks do the thumb wrap to get the base F into the chord.

That is one thing I have learned over the years, my hands are only so capable. I have to do alot of "cheating" to play things clean.
in the end, it's fine because the listener just hears better music.

[gscratchutay]

one up-vote for playing F with thumb over to fret F on the E string, then you only have to fret the two highest strings with your pointer finger
I changed to this a few years ago, when my hand got too tired barring F.  the only time I barre F now if if I have to play F then F7

I use the same technique to play F#m

I'm trying to figure a way to play Bm without having to barre.