Official Luthiers Forum!

A friend of mine that lives on the east coast has a Taylor 714CE and has a G string that have become very problematic (hey...no jokes!) I told him I would get some ideas of how to fix the problem. So what do you think?

Below is his descritpion:

Thanks!

PROBLEM: Bright sounding G-string when played open, especially apparent when amplified. The sound seems to also be closer to the Saddle. Becomes less of an issue when fretted, and pretty much goes away the further up the fretboard. String is NOT touching any frets.

Model: Taylor 714CE
Electronics: LR Baggs iMix (disconnected the ES system, left it in the guitar)
Strings: Elixir Nanoweb light guage

Recent work by a local luthier.
- general setup, adjustment of Truss Rod.
- Bone Nut
- Bone Saddle

Other thoughts:
- I'm wondering if there could be something loose inside the body that is causing the sound? Or maybe something like the Truss Rod cover or even the pick guard?
- That actually would surprise me, because the bright sound really emanates from the string itself

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Brad
Avon, OH

Does putting the original tusq saddle in solve the problem ??? Hopefully he still has it (got it back for the luthier). Hard to say what it is, but thats a good place to start. Sometimes with undersaddle PUs getting the bottom of the saddle ot contact the PU evening is a real bear ... you end up with some strings louder than others due to the different pressures applied. As well, it may just be a roque string .... change it ...

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

sounds like a 'wolf note' to me;
don't know what or how to remedy but I believe it's caused by the top or back plate being 'tuned' to or close to the offending G string tone;
I'd get Alan Caruth's input.

I'd tell your friend to take it back to the local luthier that did the set-up and ask them.

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Dave White
De Faoite Stringed Instruments
". . . the one thing a machine just can't do is give you character and personalities and sometimes that comes with flaws, but it always comes with humanity" Monty Don talking about hand weaving, "Mastercrafts", Weaving, BBC March 2010

In this order
- try a new string, sometimes you just get a funky one

- check the saddle and nut where the string bears against it for burrs, rough spots, too deep or tight slots

- if string balance through the pickup is the issue, check the bottom of the saddle and bottom of the saddle slot for flatness, and for mystery crud. Balancing pickup output can be a real pain, sometimes you will need to re-rout the bottom of the saddle slot. The pull of the strings causes the top to belly up, sometimes this includes the bridge, and the slot takes on the curve as well. Sometimes, the slot was never flat to begin with. This causes the saddle to bear unevenly on the pickup, giving lame, uneven sound, with dramatic difference in string output. I would think this to be unusual for a fairly new taylor, so i would suspect the new saddle that just went in first.

- loose washers on the jack, wires touching the top, bits of crud in the guitar, loose braces, these can all do very strange things if they vibrate at just the right frequency.

if the problem started after he had the work done, suspect the new saddle and nut

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Jordan Aceto
Ithaca, NY

What Dave White said.

Sounds to me like your friend is using some peculiar subjective descriptions that can only really make sense to him. I could think of a whole lot of potential depending on how he is using the word "bright" (and trust me, people use this word for a lot of totally different things that I normally wouldn't). Bad nut, bad fret, bad truss rod adjustment, bad string, sympathetic something or another...., your friend needs to take this problem to someone who can experience and evaluate it in person.

Take it back to the tech for a follow-up appointment.

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Eschew obfuscation, espouse elucidation.