214ce issues

[Mr T]

Hi Everyone,

I’ve had a Taylor 214ce for 3 months, and as far as the plugged-in tone and acoustic tone are concerned I love it. I bought it to play in traditional Irish music sessions (acoustically), and in an Irish band (plugged-in) and I play the guitar at least 12 hours a week. I have had a really big issue with breaking strings, the D and in particular the G strings. I have been though at least 10 sets in the past 3 months; having tried elixirs, DR (coated and uncoated), D’addario (coated and uncoated) to try and rectify the problem but nothing works. The string always snaps at the bridge and the elixirs can snap after 6 songs. I always opt for 12’s and I use a 0.60mm Nylon pick. I do play with “gusto”, but I’m not hammering the living daylights out of the guitar.

I had two gigs on Sunday, and during the first set of the first gig a string snapped (big surprise, my band mates actually cheer when it happens now). So I swapped to my Epiphone SST, and finished both sets. This guitar is 6 months old, a quarter of the price of the Taylor and I have yet to snap a string. The strings have been on there for 2 months now and still feel and sound great! After the show I restrung the Taylor and noticed considerable fret wear on the first 3 frets across the G, B, and E strings. I realise that fret wear is inevitable, but I have 8 other guitars which in most cases are considerably cheaper and older than the Taylor and they show far less wear.

Has anyone encountered this?



edited for language -
please review Rule #1

[Nomad]

Have the bridge checked for burrs. They can be difficult to feel, and harder to see, but they'll wreak utter havoc on strings.

[Mr T]

Hi Nomad,
That's the first thing I looked for, and it's really smooth. I thought that was the issue, even the guy in the shop couldnt find a rough / sharp edge. It's really frustrating as I've spent fair bit of cash for a gigging instrument and at the minute it's not reliable at all.

[jjrpilot-admin]

I'd give the Taylor CS a call.  They're wonderful to deal with and am sure that they'll be able to help diagnose the problem.

[S MS Picker]

Is the string breaking on the saddle,between the saddle and the point where it enters the hole, or below the hole. That's where there's a sharp place . You might also try putting all your strings in the holes,and feeling inside the guitar to ensure that all are seated firmly against the bridge plate/ string ground. I'm not sure if the 200's have the piece of metal on the bridge plate for grounding purposes.If so , it could be slightly off and possibly cutting the string.A flashlight inside will reveal if it is. The holes should be perfectly round. If not , the little plate is just stuck on... move it.
Maybe this'll help.
Steve

[Mr T]

Hi S MS Picker
The string breaks just behind the bridge, and I can't for the life of me figure out why! The action is low, much lower than my Lowden, and the guy in the shop reckons that the low action could be causing the fret wear and string breakage. They are sending it back to Taylor for them to look at. What is worrying me slightly is that if they come back and say they can find nothing wrong with it I am stuck with a guitar I can’t rely on. I bought a Taylor to play it live, as my main instrument, but at present the amount of fret wear I’ve got would mean I’d need a refret after a year, which is a major ball-ache.

Cheers for the response, and I’ll keep you posted on what happens as it may help someone else in my situation.

DT

[Mr T]

The Taylor Saga so far…………………….
Well, I left my guitar in to the shop I bought if from on Monday afternoon and when I got back to them today I was told how the saga was unfolding.
The store sent an email to the Taylor rep in the UK explaining the constant string breaking and the fret wear, and the rep agreed this was not good and forwarded the info onto the Taylor Europe Repair Centre. Taylor Europe replied saying that they could return the guitar to him at a cost of £80 for him to look at, but the frets are not covered by the warranty as this is “General wear and tear”. The guy in the shop was obviously annoyed as he wasn’t going to spend £80 and be told the cause is general wear and tear, which he knows it’s not the cause. He has raised it with his bosses who agree that this is not acceptable, and they have gone back to Taylor reiterating that the guitar is not fit for purpose.
So I’m gigging my old cheapo guitars tonight, thanks a million to all the guys who have offered help and support I’ll keep you all posted on what happens next!
Cheers
DT

[jjrpilot-admin]

The Taylor Saga so far…………………….
Well, I left my guitar in to the shop I bought if from on Monday afternoon and when I got back to them today I was told how the saga was unfolding.
The store sent an email to the Taylor rep in the UK explaining the constant string breaking and the fret wear, and the rep agreed this was not good and forwarded the info onto the Taylor Europe Repair Centre. Taylor Europe replied saying that they could return the guitar to him at a cost of £80 for him to look at, but the frets are not covered by the warranty as this is “General wear and tear”. The guy in the shop was obviously annoyed as he wasn’t going to spend £80 and be told the cause is general wear and tear, which he knows it’s not the cause. He has raised it with his bosses who agree that this is not acceptable, and they have gone back to Taylor reiterating that the guitar is not fit for purpose.
So I’m gigging my old cheapo guitars tonight, thanks a million to all the guys who have offered help and support I’ll keep you all posted on what happens next!
Cheers
DT

Thanks for the update DT!  I know that Taylor will come through with some type of solution. 

[Herb Hunter]

… Has anyone encountered this?

I've been playing Taylor guitars since 1992 from the least expensive to the most expensive guitars in their standard production lines and have never encountered the problem you described not only with all my Taylor guitars, but with any guitar I've ever owned.


While fret wear isn't covered, the fact that the guitar has only three months of use and has not only a fret wear problem but a string problem should suggest to the folks at the Taylor Europe Repair Centre that shrugging the issue off as beyond the scope of the warranty is ill-advised. I would be surprised if a they don't ultimately agree to look at it without charge but if they don't change, I'd suggest to your dealer that he contact the Taylor folks at the factory in California.


Keep us posted.

[Mr T]

Hi Everyone,
I said I’d keep you all up-to-date and the latest is……………………… nothing! Zip, zilch, nada, inside of a doughnut, in short - nothing. They guys in the shop are fighting my corner (thankfully) and Taylor Europe aren’t exactly being proactive. So I’m guitar-less now for nearly 3 weeks, and I have 6 gigs in the next 4 weeks. After spending A LOT of money I feel a little annoyed and hard done by.
What perplexes me even more is that no one else seems to have had the problems that I have had with either the guitar or dealing with Taylor as a company. I have a mate who runs a folk club and he has checked with five or six Taylor players and they haven’t encountered anything like the issues I’m having.
Thanks again for all your comment and when I get a resolution I’ll let you all know
Cheers
DT

[MexicoMike]

Sounds like the string angle from saddle to the pin is too sharp and the string is not able to distribute it's tension correctly.  I know you said the saddle was checked for burrs, etc but how is the back-side angle of the saddle?  It should curve smoothly.  I can't imagine a factory saddle was made incorrectly but I guess anything is possible.  It should also be nicely polished so the strings can "slide"as necessary as tension is changed.  If the strings are breaking at the saddle, then that's where the problem is.  The strings are "hanging" up at the saddle.

I would look at that saddle very closely and, if it doesn't appear to be a problem, I'd make a new one of bone (or have one made) and give it a try.  But I'd bet money it's totally a saddle issue - angle, smoothness, etc.

In any case, good luck!

[Mr T]

Hi Everyone,
After much hard work and effort from the guys in PMT Bristol I’ve got my guitar back!! I can’t recommend this shop high enough, the guys really know their stuff and their customer service as A1. They got Taylor to replace the nut and bridge and they have re-crowned all the frets. The guitar feels and sounds a lot better than it did. In fact after playing it for a while last night I found the bass response to be a lot deeper, and the overall tone to be more even.
I’ll keep you all posted on how everything else works out. My band is now running a sweep stake (or a sweep break if you will) on how long it will be until I break ANOTHER string.
Thanks a million for all your comments
Cheers
DT

[MexicoMike]

"My band is now running a sweep stake (or a sweep break if you will) on how long it will be until I break ANOTHER string."

Glad to hear it got sorted out; Hope it never breaks another string! 



But on the offf-chance it does, how do we get in the sweepstake for a few bucks? 

[Mr T]

Well the sum total of no more than 4 hrs playing on a brand new set of 12 Elixirs and the d string snapped (see the pic). So after a full setup and replacement bridge and nut nothing has changed. I'm giving the guitar the benefit of the doubt, and I've changed the strings and reverted to d'addario PB's.
I have resigned myself to the fact this problem has to be the way I play.

[sachi]

That's a bummer, Mr. T.