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A Fret Question or others. Acoustic guitar tops.

Posted on 8/6/22 at 10:49 am
Posted by LSU alum wannabe
Katy, TX
Member since Jan 2004
27590 posts
Posted on 8/6/22 at 10:49 am
I have a beautiful 1995 Taylor 810. The topwood is amazing!. I have never held a better looking piece of topwood. Lacing etc. or Cross Grain or Medullary Rays.

Here is my issue. I think the pieces are too thick. It can be a bit muddy. I know looking at soundhole edges is not an accurate picture as it has extra support. When I change strings and can reach down in it it "feels" thick. I do not have a caliper that can reach down into the bout of the guitar.

Just wondering if this is anything anyone has ever come across and if anything can be done about it? By a luthier... Not me. I love tinkering with guitars, but not this one and not that.

Is this a known issue with Taylors of that era?

Don't worry I am not taking a Dremel into the soundhole to remove some material.
Posted by LSU alum wannabe
Katy, TX
Member since Jan 2004
27590 posts
Posted on 8/6/22 at 10:53 am to
Replying to myself to add.

I've never taken it for a real setup. Maybe that is it or wrong strings for the guitar. If you were closer Fret and could fit me in you'd already have had it on your bench.

You need a van and a mobile service. Like a dog groomer. Big van shaped like a guitar body. Guitar groomer. Mobile guitar groomer. You're welcome for the new business model.
Posted by auggie
Opelika, Alabama
Member since Aug 2013
30957 posts
Posted on 8/6/22 at 3:57 pm to
You don't like how it sounds?
Posted by LSU alum wannabe
Katy, TX
Member since Jan 2004
27590 posts
Posted on 8/6/22 at 9:03 pm to
Yes and no. Maybe I just have the wrong strings on it? I’ve played it and loved it and I’ve played it and “meh”.

My blue ridge sounds better sometimes. Lighter, and brighter, and louder.
Posted by auggie
Opelika, Alabama
Member since Aug 2013
30957 posts
Posted on 8/6/22 at 9:45 pm to
Try some woodtone strings.
Posted by LSU alum wannabe
Katy, TX
Member since Jan 2004
27590 posts
Posted on 8/6/22 at 11:36 pm to
Try some woodtone strings.



Never heard of those?
Posted by SidewalkTiger
Midwest, USA
Member since Dec 2019
66942 posts
Posted on 8/6/22 at 11:46 pm to
quote:

Try some woodtone strings.






I got some of these recently, they're okay but turn green on me

To OP, if you feel the top is too thick, your only option really is to sell it and buy something that works better for you..
Posted by auggie
Opelika, Alabama
Member since Aug 2013
30957 posts
Posted on 8/6/22 at 11:54 pm to
quote:

To OP, if you feel the top is too thick, your only option really is to sell it and buy something that works better for you..


He needs to trade it to me, for somethin I have layin around. I'm sure I have his dream guitar, with thin topwood.
Superthin even..
This post was edited on 8/7/22 at 5:41 am
Posted by TheFretShack
Member since Oct 2015
1347 posts
Posted on 8/7/22 at 9:49 am to
So you want to shave a soundboard thinner? LOL

First we remove the neck, then the bridge removed, the ribs and kerfling removed, the soundboard separated from the box, the soundboard planed, then the ribs reinstalled, a rosette installed, the bridge reinstalled, the soundboard reinstalled, the kerfling replaced, the neck reinstalled, and then a pro refin.

I feel safe in saying you won't cough up the $$$, so I ain't even going to quote the job. But you get bonus points for being the first person in over 35 years of working on guitars to even ask about a job even remotely similar to this haha.

I personally like the darker sounding Taylors more than their standard fare, but if you want to brighten it up, experiment with different string alloys. 1/100th of the cost of the modification you propose.
Posted by LSU alum wannabe
Katy, TX
Member since Jan 2004
27590 posts
Posted on 8/7/22 at 9:59 am to
quote:

you want to shave a soundboard thinner? LOL


Now I’m starting to think strings are the way to go.

Or it can just be my half or whole step down guitar or pick any “dark” alternate tuning.
Posted by TheFretShack
Member since Oct 2015
1347 posts
Posted on 8/7/22 at 10:01 am to
We explored the idea of a mobile Fret Shack on wheels that would tour to provide services across the Gulf South years ago. But I don't have enough time or energy to timely service what is in the repair shop, the pickup shop, and the custom guitar and bass shop on a daily basis as it stands. Plus it would take a substantial investment to create a mobile operation before it even pulled out my driveway. Price simple cargo vans you can stand up inside and work inside for starters.

People already ship us guitars and drive in their work from several states away. I bend over backwards to accommodate my out-of-staters to reduce their time and $$$ investment. I couldn't count how many Texas clients have received same day work-while-you-wait service. It's the best I can or will do.
Posted by LSU alum wannabe
Katy, TX
Member since Jan 2004
27590 posts
Posted on 8/7/22 at 10:24 am to
Yeah. I guess if your heads down staring at your bench and winder 8-12 hours a day, you probably don't need more work.
Posted by LSU alum wannabe
Katy, TX
Member since Jan 2004
27590 posts
Posted on 8/7/22 at 10:29 am to
quote:

I got some of these recently, they're okay but turn green on me


Probably a one time trial for me too then. Elixir nanowebs turn green and the coating "frays" on me. After about a week. I can use and get longer results out of uncoated strings.
Posted by Clint Torres
Member since Oct 2011
2833 posts
Posted on 8/7/22 at 11:06 am to
This surely doesn’t help, but I have a guild that i got for Xmas in 1994 and it sounds so good right now that it’s hard to believe..
Posted by LSU alum wannabe
Katy, TX
Member since Jan 2004
27590 posts
Posted on 8/7/22 at 11:52 am to
Hell yeah man. Like wine. They age. Take care of them and they never go “bad”.

I have played a birth year Guild d-55 (think I have the number right). 1973. Thing is awesome. 1970’s seemed to be Guilds decade to shine. Martin had a rough decade. Gibson? No idea.

Maybe mine never got played enough? Maybe my strings suck for that guitar?
Posted by SidewalkTiger
Midwest, USA
Member since Dec 2019
66942 posts
Posted on 8/7/22 at 1:32 pm to
quote:

Probably a one time trial for me too then. Elixir nanowebs turn green and the coating "frays" on me. After about a week. I can use and get longer results out of uncoated strings.


To be fair though, I have very sweaty hands and I've only tried one set.

I've experimented with several different strings types on my Martins and such but keep coming back to the standard D'addario coated strings.

When I previously had a Taylor though, I always ran Elixirs
Posted by TheFretShack
Member since Oct 2015
1347 posts
Posted on 8/7/22 at 2:50 pm to
1970’s seemed to be Guilds decade to shine. Martin had a rough decade. Gibson? No idea.

Do some Googling on Norlin-era Gibson's "double X" soundboard bracing system in the 1970s. I have a Norlin-era Hummingbird that sounds incredible, but my soundboard is apparently the exception, not the rule. Because many guitar forum corksniffers, "experts," trolls and their Echoplexing lemming regurgitators bash the hell out of the double-Xes. On a good note, it keeps that era's vintage prices somewhat in check.
Posted by LSU alum wannabe
Katy, TX
Member since Jan 2004
27590 posts
Posted on 8/7/22 at 4:44 pm to
quote:

some Googling on Norlin-era Gibson's "double X" soundboard bracing system in the 1970s. I have a Norlin-era Hummingbird that sounds incredible


Damn it. That’s 3. It costs $$$ just talking to you.
In order of “need”.

1. Peavey Classic. Think the 30 makes the most sense. Or a Delta Blues

2. Benz amp.

3. 70’s Gibson.
Posted by LSU alum wannabe
Katy, TX
Member since Jan 2004
27590 posts
Posted on 8/11/22 at 4:38 pm to
Bump because Fret Shack is right.

Yanked off the strings. Which I love on 2 other guitars. Black Diamond “Sliver Line” strings. Replaced them with some cheaper phosphor bronze GHS strings.

Sounds great. I will have sore fingers by bedtime.
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