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Taylor acoustic guitars ; ajustable neck /stings action

171 views 8 replies 6 participants last post by  Amp Mad Scientist  
#1 ·
I don't know if this topic has already been published.
That seems like a very interesting development.

Instant Action Control

The other important design difference is that tapered shims are no longer needed to set the neck angle. Instead, the neck angle and string height can be adjusted after the neck is bolted in place simply by using a quarter-inch nut driver (or standard truss rod wrench) on a nut in the neck block, accessible through the soundhole. This ease of neck angle adjustability is a huge innovation because of how it simplifies the process, as Andy explains.

“As the adjustment bolt is tightened, the heel rocks backward minutely, tilting the neck away from the top of the guitar and pulling the strings closer to the fretboard,” he says. “Because this adjustment can be made while the guitar is tuned up to pitch, it completely eliminates the trial-and-error adjustment method of setting a neck angle with the strings off and hoping the guitar body responds to the strain of the strings the way you hoped.”

With the Action Control Neck, players (or a trained store salesperson or a service technician) now can adjust the guitar’s string height on their own to suit their exact preference if they choose. Neither the strings nor the neck needs to be removed to do this (remember, no neck angle shims are needed), and if you have a quarter-inch nut driver with a flexible extension shaft, you can access the adjustment bolt without even having to slack the strings. (To make it even easier to make the adjustment, you can also pick up a quarter-inch bit holder like this one.)


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#2 ·
It's a welcome innovation, and solves the Taylor problem of Joe Average not having access to their neck/fingerboard shim sets. Current Taylors have the elegant solution of easily changed shim sets, but restrict access to the parts. They're certainly miles ahead of the cost/effort of traditional neck resets. I'm in the middle of resetting the neck on a 12-string, and it has a very unusual neck join system. More slow-downs to repair a guitar that was not designed to be repaired!
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#8 ·
And I do. Or profile theirs. Or slightly mod StewMac shims. But Taylor (like Apple, and others) puts this barrier up between their innovation and the end user. I always redirect my clients who bought Taylors new to go to the certified shop (singular) in my area to honour the conditions of their warranty. And guess what? $150 and 6 weeks later (if they're lucky), they get their guitar back. It's a 20 minute job.