Does your Taylor have a "Thud" Fret?

[Veloz]

I've had quite a few Taylors, and in fact just purchased a new one (812e 12 fret, which I love overall).

One thing I've noted across many of them is what I call a  "thud" fret.  That's a position on a string that, when fretted and played, doesn't have near the sustain as other fretted strings (or even this same string, fretted at a different position). Instead, its tone decays noticeably faster and produces something closer to a "thud" than a nice long ring.

I've consistently noticed that if there's going to be a "thud" fret on a Taylor, it's on the 5th string, 5th fret.

Try it on yours. Fret the 5th string/5th fret with your finger, and pluck the string. Now play other frets on the same string (or nearby frets on adjacent strings), perhaps fret at the 3rd fret or the 6th.  Try counting how long you can clearly hear the tone of each.

Do you notice more sustain on all the positions over 5/5?

My new 812e-12 Fret thuds on 5/5, but only when capo'd. In other words, if I put a capo on fret 2, then finger fret at 5, on the fifth string, it thuds. If I don't have the capo on, I don't get a thud on 5/5

I sent Taylor a letter about this a year or so ago and did not get a reply.

I don't think I'm crazy. I've compared *many* guitars at local shops, and have seen this problem on other makers, so I know it's not *just* Taylor (though it seems more consistent on Taylors)

Any thoughts on this -- and possible remedies?    Some might say I'm being too picky. You would not notice this probably when playing chords. But when playing finger style or flat picking, it can stand out like a sore thumb.

Michael

[flaggerphil]

Nope...never had that.

[MB]

I have had that on different guitars over the years. It's never been the 5th fret for me....but it's nothing a good set up shouldn't cure.

[Christhee68]

An easy fix would be to do what I do--play only on the first three frets. 

[George]

Hi Micheal. I'm a little picky too, but I've never noticed that on any of my guitars.  If it's annoying you, you could probably tune it out with an adjustment to your set-up or even a bit of fret work if that's where the problem lies.  Or (maybe controversially) could it be your playing style - does the "thud" disappear when you change the pressure or otherwise adjust your left hand?

[ntotoro]

Mine have always been the B at the 7th fret of the low E-string.

Nick

[Veloz]

Mine have always been the B at the 7th fret of the low E-string.

Nick

Yeah, I've always noticed these occur on the 5th or 6th strings, never in the treble.

[RussD]

My 201e seems to suffer from that but my 810 doesn't.  Both have mahogany necks w/ebony fretboard if I'm not mistaken. 

[Guitarsan]

This is not a Taylor guitar thing per se, but it is a real artifact that can happen to any (but not all) guitars. Wanna spend a few hours on this topic? Google something like "dead fret sustain guitar". Yeah, see what I mean?

Most often is has to do with the natural "system" resonance of a given guitar relative to the note being played. The resonant frequency of the guitar has a dampening effect at that resonant frequency. You can change the resonant "system" frequency of a guitar, but I'll let the internet speak to the details. And changing it might not do anything other than change which "fret" is "dead".

Any of you who have never "heard" of this - you're not playing or listening hard enough. 

[milo_otis]

There have been a good amount of 14 fret GA and GS Taylor's that I've experienced this on that have been built within the past couple of years. Ironically, one shop seemed that most of their GA's had this issue. It usually occurred on the E3 note on both the fifth and sixth strings. I own a 2013 K26 and it happens there in both places to slightly different degrees, (not so with my 522 12 fret or any of my previous 514s.) It was recently set up by the Taylor factory so with this one, it's likely cancelling frequencies. When I contacted CS a while back, the young man pretty much told me that it is what it is and to sell it if I didn't like it. So it seems that Taylor is at least partially aware as well.

A second brand example is my '99 Gibson 335 that cancels out the A5 note on the second string, but not the first string. That one is likely fret work related. 

Yes, it's very real and its very annoying is you play on the whole neck.

[Earl]

Gotta agree with Guitarsan, above.  Guitar top vibrations are an extremely complex situation, easily worthy of a PhD dissertation (or several).  Just google "Chladni patterns".  There will always and unavoidably be some resonances and cancellations in different areas of the top and at different frequencies.  The more I've learned about vibration in my 32 year engineering career, the more surprised I am that acoustic guitars work as well as they do.  It comes from trial and error, not analysis.

This of course is different issue from an improperly seated fret..... 

[Guitarsan]

There have been a good amount of 14 fret GA and GS Taylor's that I've experienced this on that have been built within the past couple of years. Ironically, one shop seemed that most of their GA's had this issue. It usually occurred on the E3 note on both the fifth and sixth strings.

With Taylor's focus on quality (and a byproduct of that being consistency guitar to guitar, save for differences in the characteristics of the actual wood sample in question), one could consistency on which note it might be in the same model, guitar to guitar.

I discovered this phenomenon a few years ago. For a few minutes I thought, WTF, is my guitar faulty? Then I went to Google and then I thought... "misery" loves company.

[Tele 2K]

I recently bought a new GS Mini, and thought I had the thud on the 5th string, 5th fret.

I had to slightly add some relief to the neck, it was too flat when I got it home, and now the thud is gone.

Maybe that is what is needed when this happens.

I had a Taylor 110e back in 2007 with a thud fret, but never thought to adjust the neck, so I don't know if it would have corrected it.

VW

[Gordo in OZ]

Never really noticed it and as I play a lot in drop D that 5th fret gets a lot of hits. All my new (and new old) guitars get a set up by a great luthier before they are 12 months old. Maybe thats why its never been an issue.

[ShaunCavanaughPorter]

No,I do not have any problems with any of the notes on my 2014 812e.The notes seem to be quite equal in amplitude and i do play across the entire length of the fret board.