Hello hymn1984, TaylorTeng and all readers,
I am glad to hear the resolution of this matter. I had every reason to believe that Taylor Guitars would do what they did, offer a new replacement.
I am the member who forwarded this thread to Glen Wolff with TaylorTeng's ok. Here is the correspondence I had with Mr. Wolff.
Feb 5
Subject: Sloppy brace glue on new 914ce
Hello,
A recent post on the Unofficial Taylor Guitar Forum showed pictures inside 4 guitars (Taylor, Martin, Gibson and Lakewood) owned by one Chinese person. The Taylor showed very messy gluing and what appears to be a broken brace. It was so bad that many on the forum (me included) thought it must be a knockoff or a poor repair job. I said I found it hard to believe this got past your quality control. The owner says he bought it new and then posted many more pictures. They show the label, electronics and other views of the top, side and back braces.
He was advised to email Taylor with his concerns. He claims he did but received no reply. The owner doesn't speak English and uses a "Google Translate" type service so his communications are somewhat disjointed. I offered to contact you for him and he said that was ok. As a courtesy to the owner, would you please view this thread and contact him? Many Taylor owners visit the forum and have seen this. It would be very helpful and informative to us if you would post your views, explanation or comment there, also.
Feb 9. (Mr. Wolff) Thanks for forwarding this to us. I recall a message coming in from the owner and I replied personally asking for more details, and did not hear back from him again. The guitar in the pics is a genuine Taylor, and it's not as clean as it should be on the inside. I can't make excuses but I can tell you that our guitars are generally much cleaner inside as you can see in the thread with other members photos.
I've shared the photos with production management and they've addressed this with our body department.
You're welcome to tell the customer he can contact me directly with any questions or concerns at glen.wolff@taylorguitars.com.
Feb 9 (me) Thank you for responding to my email. I agree. All the Taylor's I have seen have been much cleaner than that one. If it had been a Baby or Mini it wouldn't have raised the comments that it did.
What is you opinion about the top brace (picture 10 on page 1) that looks cracked? I guess it could be a line in the wood but it sure looks cracked to me. If it is a crack, how did it get through quality control?
In closing, I have no relationship with the owner other than reading his posts on the forum. I will send this to him via pm and hope he gets it.
Feb 10 (Mr. Wolff) That brace does not look normal either. I can't explain it or imagine how it got through quality control either.
I'd love to help the guy so I hope he contacts me.
Feb 10 (me) Thanks for the quick reply. The brace does look "iffy".
I haven't posted anything on the forum about this (other than to alert him that I sent him a pm) . In the pm I included my original contact with you and your reply. I told him he should find someone who speaks English to type his correspondence to you. I told him his computer translator was no good. I hope he takes my advice.
Many people have viewed the thread (over 1900 now) and are curious about the guitar. Do you mind if I post your reply on the forum? If you don't want me to I won't.
Feb 13 (Mr. Wolff) I have no problem with my reply being posted, I imagine we get quoted regularly without our knowledge so I appreciate you asking. We're pretty easy to contact, but please keep in mind we don't monitor the forums so I wouldn't be aware of any follow up questions or comments left on the thread.
That was the end of my communications with Mr. Wolff.
