Old/New Taylor Owner

[David Pickard]

Hi everyone,  I'm new to this forum, so this is my first post.  I've owned a Taylor 810 (dreadnaught) for about 35 years, and it has been awesome.  I use it mostly in a church group.  About 6 months ago I decided to treat myself to a new 814ce, just to get a different sound/feel and have the ability to plug in.

I don't yet know if this is the time or thread to share a problem, so I'll go ahead.  Sorry if it's not the appropriate place.

Although I'm enjoying the different sound compared to my old 810 (the 814 ... with V-Class bracing!? ... is more vibrant and lively ... amazing for a smaller guitar!), I'm disappointed that there seem to be a few abnormally "dampened" frets ... F# and G on the 6th string. They seem to die out in about half the time of all the other frets.  I took it to local Taylor-recommended repair shop, and then to the Taylor El Cajon factory itself for a consult (since I live in SoCal), but in both cases was told that those frets were "within spec".  Needless to say, I'm quite disappointed, as those frets are quite prominent in my flat-picking style, and the dampening seems very noticeable to me.  I guess the factory spec range is not what I would have expected  .

Has anyone had this problem, or any other suggestions about what might be done?

Thanks,
David Pickard

[Earl]

Welcome, David.  What you described are often called "wolf notes".  You can do some forum or Google searching for more discussion.  A guitar is a very complex vibration problem, and there are certain frequencies that can become subdued when unfortunate resonances occur.  The main air resonance of the guitar often falls right in that F# / G frequency.  (Air resonance is the tone that you get when blowing across the opening of a soda bottle).  It is nothing inherently wrong with your guitar -- all guitars have this to some degree -- only bad luck that it is so noticeable to you.  Sorry.  One thing you could try is to tune down a half step and put a capo on the first fret.  If the problem persists it is an artifact of the body volume and nothing to do with a specific fret.

BTW the GA / x14 is not much smaller than a DN / x10.  The overall body length and lower bout width is about the same, but the x14's have a narrower waist.  In fact Taylor sells the same case for either body.  To me, the narrow waist adds some clarity and focus to the tone, which works well for my 75% bare nails finger picked playing.

[Rene Asologuitar]

Hi everyone,  I'm new to this forum, so this is my first post.  I've owned a Taylor 810 (dreadnaught) for about 35 years, and it has been awesome.  I use it mostly in a church group.  About 6 months ago I decided to treat myself to a new 814ce, just to get a different sound/feel and have the ability to plug in.

+++++++++++++
Hi David,
Welcome to the forum!
Glad to have you with us.
And congrats to your new 814ce, with a bit of issue, sorry to hear.
See you in the forums!
Happy Holidays.
Rene

[TaylorGirl]

Hi everyone,  I'm new to this forum, so this is my first post.  I've owned a Taylor 810 (dreadnaught) for about 35 years, and it has been awesome.  I use it mostly in a church group.  About 6 months ago I decided to treat myself to a new 814ce, just to get a different sound/feel and have the ability to plug in.

Welcome to the forum, David!