Fixing Taylor Big Baby guitar action with clarinet reed shims
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- I am not a professional guitar repair tech, but I decided to try my hand at resetting the neck of a 2016 Taylor Big Baby guitar. It had an upward angled neck (which lead to some up-bowing also) I used 1.5 cm from the thin tips of clarinet reeds. A sliver of credit card would work too as is discussed on various guitar forums.
I was most inspired by this video from a pro:
• Taylor Big Baby Neck S...
He had more tools and experience than myself so he didn't mind planing down the neck ~1+ mm to get a taper that would compensate the neck mounting angle. Adding a shim is easy enough for an amateur like me and also works great! I decided to upload my experience as it might help others.
Corrections: I mentioned spruce as a "hardwood", and I just googled it and it is not. Also the bridge is probably made of ebony or something other than rosewood as I mentioned. I don't really know my woods. I also refer to the white piece in the bridge (the saddle) as the "bridge" a few times, but I know it's called a saddle. Sorry.
Hope this helps a person or two. God bless everybody. And stay home if you can (in 2020). Play your self-fixed guitar!
P.S. Please, don't break your guitar and sue me. You do have to have a slight bit of guitar neck adjusting experience (and luck) to pull this off on the first try as I did. Only try it if you feel comfortable, and are willing to alter your shim a few times to get it right. Do NOT over-tighten your wood screws.
EDIT: Months later I reattached the neck once more not shown in the video. Clarinet reed material was ultimately only used in the gully behind the factory shim to bring it up to the height of that factory shim. It plays even better ever since. I am seeimg 400+ views (wow, never expected) so I felt obligated to add this edit. If I were to advise on anyone's particular guitar I'd have to look at it but would probably lean toward just filling that gully behind the factory shim and not add above the factory shim itself resulting in a slightly Les Paulian angled neck.
Nice job, I think you might have made it a little more complicated than it had to be. If it works its good! End result looks good. This neck reset seems to be very common with the Taylor Big Baby - Taylor guitar should make these shims available to all the Big Baby customers. 2mm is good action!
Good job. If you have a string winder, there is a groove in it used to pull out the bridge pins. Also, in a pinch, you can reach into the sound hole with the strings slackened and push them up from inside the guitar.
My Bigbaby is so old that it was made in El Cahone here in the states and takes a long truss rod wrench through the sound hole like their nylon string guitars. Every year it seems to darken up on color and sound a little bit better, that started after it was 6 or 7 years old.
I've made it standard practice to rehumidify guitars before setup work. Two of my Taylors including my Bigbaby only have Taylor gig bags and are very hard to keep up to proper humidity. So I'm using a winter saddle and a summer saddle in them now. Nice vid thanks for making it. A pair of side cutters using the bridge/saddle as leverage lifts the bridge pins rite out no problems, easier than plastic built in pullers on string winders.
Good point. I recently started paying more mind to humidifying my whole dwelling due to guitars (but it has good side effects on humans and sleeping well as well). The room that I sleep and have solid woods guitars I try to keep up above 40% and then we are all happy.
interesting, creative!
Hello thanks for uploading this helpful video is the screw hole direct to the wood or there is metal or plastic inside the hole to support the screw? Looking forward for your response
The screw hole is direct to the wood. This is kind of the industry standard for electric guitars where 4-bolts for a bolt on neck (really like wood screws, not what we more often call bolts which thread into other metal pieces). So Taylor was going with the flow here. It is possible to use threaded inserts in a guitar design and some Luthiers do but mostly big companies don't. Anyway just be careful not to overtighten and the neck can come off and on many times (if it's less than 5 in the life of the guitar I'm sure it should be fine, maybe more).
@@luckyj4358 thanks for the quick reply so helpful
Fyi all big baby’s come like this. It’s really odd they haven’t fixed it. It’s been a known issue for almost 16 years.
I didn't realize it was that common. Although getting 2000+ views on an amateur video slapped together as an afterthought had me wondering.
@@luckyj4358 yeah mine is about 2 months old and it has the same gap under the neck , nearly 1/8” , luckily I’m a craftsman so today I shaved the neck down on a slight angle and re adjusted the truss rod. Now it’s playable. I’m gonna sand down the bridge saddle about 1/16” maybe a little less and it should be good. Such a great guitar but this is a massive issue they have had since the early 2000’s.
I have an issue on mine, got it 7 days ago, and I hear this wood creack coming from where the neck join the body, is this normal ?
Cause It feel it may break at any time, and thats not a nice thing to feel on a brand new instrument thats twice the price of what any other entry level top solid wood guitars are.
Thank you
Again, I'm not a luthier, but my knowledge of this is that all bolt-on necks are inherently wiggly but usually shouldn't make audible creaks, at least once the string tension is fully set. I know it's probably disappointing paying ~500 USD for a new guitar and having issues out of the box with the neck joint, but from other comments on this video I think it might be common. I'd have to look at your guitar to be sure (and a pro luthier could say even better) but if the action and neck angle are good and it just creaks sometimes while playing, then maybe the screws need slightly tightened, probably with tension off strings. Careful not to over-tighten and strip wood. Also check for no hairline cracks in the wood, but it's probably motion at the neck joint itself. It may settle with time into this unfortunate up-angled neck I'm told lots of Big Baby's have, or it may be nothing, since all bolt necks wiggle a little. It probably won't suddenly break suddenly if it's holding decent neck-angle/12th-fret-action and just creaking sometimes. Oh, and if your humidity is less than 40% where you live (or much higher like 90%) that could be it too. It was built at about 45%. I'd think a sudden shift to dry area would loosen the neck more (drying wood retreating slightly from screw threads if that makes sense).
@@luckyj4358 I can't thank you enough for taking the time to answer me. Thank you soo much!!!
According tot he serial number the guitar was made n september 2021 in México. I do not know when it was shipped to my country (Argentina), how long did it stay on a warehuse or on the dealer shop.
Do you know what size is the phillp tip I need to use to fit perfectly on this screws?
Today I took it back at the dealer shop, and of course, I move it around and the salesman put some preasure on it too, and it didn't creak at all. He told me he could send it to the repair tech, but if it was his guitar he would not touch (try to fix) a brand new guitar that feels, look and work ok. So I took it back home.
The creak is manily when I move the guitar around, for example when I take it out of the wall stand/or the floor stand and turn it horizontal to put it in my lap to play, or vice-versa.
About the price, it was more, first cause is the "e" model BBTe, so I paid around u$900, because of import and internal taxes.
Right now humidity is stable in here.is usually between 40% and 65%, unless of course is raining or something exceptional.
Anyways, thank you and sorry for my english
@@rodrirm Your English is fine. My BBT is with someone else right now so I can't check the bit but I think it's Phillips #2 or #3. May have been PZ3 even (pozidrive ... phillips veriant with 4 extra little wedges on side). I don't remember. I just checked the video and don't think the phillips I was using even seemed to fit perfect but the ultimate torque required is so low anyway. Anyway, I would agree with the store salesman a little bit. Just go with it awhile and see for now. Of course, paying so much, I understand you feeling a little concerned and sympathize.
@@luckyj4358 Thank you, when I get some free time to do it right, I will loose the strings unscrew the neck and let it rest in parts for a few hours, then I will put it back togheter.
I am concerned cause I had/have 4 other, 2 were a piece of crap :-), and the other two 2 were very "decent/budget" ones and never had a similar issue with any of then.
One is a Fender CG-11e which is +22 years old (probably close to 25) and it plays like a charm, a warm sound (even though is a laminated body) and stay in tune without a problem (this one wont let it go). 2nd was a Cort CR 200 which I sold last year and the guy who got it still can not believe how good that guitar sound and plays, nothing to be shame vs any Gibson LP (unless for very expensive and/or old models of course).
I will of course keep an eye for hairline crack, I hope I never see one lol.
Once again, thank you, stay well, and keep playing!!!
@@rodrirm I don't think you need to let it rest a few hours, but you can. Just having it snugly and firmly reseated is important. Actually if the action and play-ability are just right now I would leave it alone. Things can be just slightly different and action could even be worse when it goes back on. If it's creaking because of too large tolerances it could seat differently than it is now. Simply tightening the screw a little would be more likely to keep the present seating of it. Again it's all my amateur opinion.
Ì have the same Taylor and it has 2 cracks on the top surface that open and close depending on the humidity. Does anyone have the knowledge about how to fix this issue? It does not affect the playability but it would be nice to know how to fix it as there are no luthiers close to me.
Thank you for your response.
The common fix for cracked top is to add "cleats". These are little squares of wood, or sometimes strips, that are glued along the crack to hold it together. Usually you do this when humidity is holding the crack together already or you steam it shut. Often people use the same type of wood for the cleat (spruce for big baby), and often grains placed at a 45 degree angle to the crack to provide both strength along the grain and some ability to expand with the wood around the crack. Other protocols are used. To clamp it, if the whole crack is near enough to the sound hole (within 6 or 7 inches) and Ibex-style bridge clamp could be used to clamp the cleats. If it's further from the sound hole I would use a big C-clamp or two with stiff sheets of material over the clamping feet to distribute weight to keep the top and back from pulling apart while putting a tiny screw-jack inside the guitar to clamp the cleat internally. That might be best done one-cleat at a time, one day at a time if doing yourself, until the whole length of the crack is cleated. Another trick, which I have also used is strong (Neodymium) magnets, one inside, and one outside the guitar, to clamp the cleat down. I have tried all of the above tricks once or twice in the last 5 years and all cracks are still holding shut. Anyway, simply search for "crack repair with cleats" and you will find more and better info. I'm personally a fan of shaving the cleat to a minimal size with a pyramid slope on the edges so it adds minimum weight to the top -- and also not using too much glue for the same reason. I am not a pro at guitar repair so take my advice with a grain of salt. Thanks for checking out my video.
Do you still have it or did you sell it because my action is well at 6. Did i end up buying it lol. I hate that guitar center wants to charge when they sold it to me online that way
I still have it (although as mentioned in description edit I tweaked the neck joint one time after video). I do not recommend you to buy this guitar with 6mm action unless you have a specific plan to fix it yourself, and it probably involves resetting the neck. However I still have it and love it after resetting the neck, and the instability of the 2-screw neck joint makes Ted Greene style neck wiggling effects possible. I don't know any other acoustic that does that effect so nicely.
@@luckyj4358 i was able to do mine last night! Its perfect now! Thanks for the video. And man that is so smart im gonna go try that shit rn
I have one that’s two months old. It came from
The factory worse than yours in this video.
My 2012 307GB Big Baby has Nooo truss Rod.
That is a bit concerning. I'm glad mine has a truss rod.
@LuckyJ .They say one is not needed on the older USA 307 big baby
@@dannymccoy1783 I can believe it. If woods in the neck are high quality it should be fine I think. To me (not being afraid to adjust the neck joint) having the quick unbolt option offers a higher degree of adjustment / maintainability than a mere truss rod.
@@luckyj4358 I agree with you