To those who have felt that the action on their new Taylor is too high leading to some hand fatigue, difficult fretting and disappointment with an otherwise beautifully crafted instrument, my experience at (Taylor certified) Brothers' Music in Wind Gap PA was enlightening.
As I suspected, the setup of the instrument (612e) was precisely to Taylor spec vis-a-vis string height at the 12th fret. etc.
What the gentlemen told me was that nut and saddle issues are usually not what need to be addressed in a brand new Taylor. Filing the saddle down reduces the string angle and reduces the downward pressure on the guitar resulting in loss of vibratory transmission. Filing the nut would definitely invite buzz issues.
What he did note was slight angling of the fingerboard relative to the top of the bridge, which could have been a result of environmental changes (on its way from California) or just the way it was 'born'.
The answer? Not truss rod adjustment but shim replacement (the one under the heel) that slightly changed the angling of the entire neck unit (i.e angled more toward your body if you were to hold it in playing position). The remarkable thing is the tight tolerance of the shims. The top of the shim is thicker than the bottom. The replacement shim that fixed my string height issue has the same width at the top (has to in order to maintain scale length and intonation) but is thinner at the bottom than the original one (by about 5/1000"). In your mind's eye, you can see how this changes the angle of the neck and subsequently brings the strings closer to the finger board. And no buzzing.
Crucially, Rich at Brother's Music asked about my playing style. I'm not a heavy strummer. It helps to know these things when setting up a guitar.
Lastly, I still think that the Elixir 80/20 Lights' E,A, and D string gauges are a tad 'fat', but I will make one change at a time. The shim adjustment really helps. If your repair person doesn't consider how you play or tells you that the guitar is fine, have a nice day or that you'll get over the discomfort, go to Brother's music in Wind Gap Pa. The guys there used to work at Martin and are extremely competent.
Cheers.
