Members bjorn-fjord Posted July 20, 2007 Members Share Posted July 20, 2007 I just returned from a trip to my town's equivalent of Guitar Center and I was shocked to see the new Baby Taylor guitars that feature black painted phillips screws sunk right through the fretboard. Obviously the use of these screws is a cheap way to affix the fretboard extention to the headblock. But has Taylor gone too far in sacrificing aesthetic appeal for utility? I'm fine with low gloss finishes, and even the omission of binding. But this is just too much for me. Bob Taylor, I'm offended. What say you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JasmineTea Posted July 20, 2007 Members Share Posted July 20, 2007 They've been doing that for quite a while, man. You gotta get outta the closet more often. I think it's a crime, possibly a waste of good wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Freeman Keller Posted July 20, 2007 Members Share Posted July 20, 2007 The "normal" NT neck has a couple of screws on the inside up into the extension (and its little laser cut shims) - this looks like a cheap way to do the same thing. Probably much easier to assemble, eh? Maybe even by a robot? BF - as you know, but many others probably don't, the fingerboard extension on many resonators have screws (5, if I remember correctly) from the fretboard extension down thru the neck block. But National and Dobro cover them with nice little pearl dots. To bad old Bob couldn't at least do that. And what do I say? I say it would be fun to post this on the old Taylor forum AGF and see what those boys say. Of course, with their rules, they are not allowed to say "this is bulls**t", opps, sorry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted July 20, 2007 Members Share Posted July 20, 2007 I've seen something similar on a few old Samicks with bolt-on necks. Haven't played enough Taylors to know how long they've been doing it but it seems a shame. Sad to think Taylor is now in the same league with Samick. I wonder if it would be possible to move the screws down between the 16th and 17th frets, countersink them, and cover them with position markers? Yeah, I know you don't normally see dual position markers at the 17th fret but at least it would look better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bjorn-fjord Posted July 20, 2007 Author Members Share Posted July 20, 2007 JT -Yes, I should probably brush off the dust and lurch out into the light of day a little more often. I thought this was a new thing. FK- Exactly what I was thinking. National has been covering up their screws for 80+ years. It would be nothing to countersink the screws a little deeper and at least plug the holes with wood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bjorn-fjord Posted July 20, 2007 Author Members Share Posted July 20, 2007 Yeah, I know you don't normally see dual position markers at the 17th fret but at least it would look better. This is what Freeman and I were referring to (there are screws under the position markers at the 15th and 19th frets): Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DonK Posted July 20, 2007 Members Share Posted July 20, 2007 They've been doing that for quite a while, man. You gotta get outta the closet more often.I think it's a crime, possibly a waste of good wood. Yeah, mine is over 5 years old and it has them. At the time I bought it, I didn't think much of it because there weren't any good competing travel guitars as far as I could tell. The BT sounded good, was small and rugged, and at $300, was pretty cheap (there weren't quite the flood of good quality Pac Rim guitars there are today). Sure wouldn't want to see them on anything other than a travel guitar, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Vasco Posted July 20, 2007 Members Share Posted July 20, 2007 Just think of them as a custom 'industrial-style' 16th fret inlay... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Cripes Posted July 20, 2007 Members Share Posted July 20, 2007 There's art, and then there's production. The notion of maxmizing profits pertains to both but each one draws its own line in the sand where that's concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JasmineTea Posted July 21, 2007 Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 Oh man, drawing lines in the sand... -PUI. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MattSkibaIsGOD Posted July 21, 2007 Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 I don't like it one bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members VengefulTikiGod Posted July 21, 2007 Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 Sacrilege! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members eflat Posted July 21, 2007 Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 Sure wouldn't want to see them on anything other than a travel guitar, though. +1 You get what you pay for. I personally don't have a problem with them - I've played my friends as well as a couple more baby taylors, each time they have been countersunk perfectly flush with the rest of the fretboard, and for a travel guitar thats ok with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Queequeg Posted July 21, 2007 Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 I bought one in 1998. It too, has the screws on the fingerboard. I bought it as a travel guitar to take down to the Caribbean for an extended period of time. It fits nicely in the overhead of an aircraft, too. The guitar held up quite well. In fact I still have it and it is in good shape, despite 2 years of very high temperature & rain forest humidity. At that time my options were the Baby Taylor and Martin's Backpacker. I don't regret this decision. ' alt='>'> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members OldGuitarPlayer Posted July 21, 2007 Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 Well...after all it is a "travel" guitar". My issue with Taylor guitars isn't so much about this topic. It's more about why they charge so much for their guitars when they have bolt-on necks and are cranked out using CNC machines by the 1,000's. I have played some of them... really nice guitars I just don't feel they are worth it. It seems to me that there is a company here in Canada named Godin/Seagull and they make fabulous guitars (under various other names) with bolt on necks made with CNC machines selling for much much less than Taylors. Just my opinion... OGP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bjorn-fjord Posted July 21, 2007 Author Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 Well...after all it is a "travel" guitar". My issue with Taylor guitars isn't so much about this topic. It's more about why they charge so much for their guitars when they have bolt-on necks and are cranked out using CNC machines by the 1,000's. I have played some of them... really nice guitars I just don't feel they are worth it. It seems to me that there is a company here in Canada named Godin/Seagull and they make fabulous guitars (under various other names) with bolt on necks made with CNC machines selling for much much less than Taylors.Just my opinion...OGP Agreed. The difference between Chinese imports and domestic factory instruments is getting pretty hard to discern. With the amount of mechanization and computer tooling combined with the fact that the materials are the same, what is the real difference between a Taylor and an Asian import? As for the screws in the Taylor I must reiterate: 10 more minutes of production time and 10 cents worth of material and those screws could be hidden. I think this particular cost-saving measure is false economy. I bet they'd sell more of those guitars if the screws were not evident. I think I actually gasped out loud when I first saw them.Judging from the reactions here (people either hate them or don't care) I think it's safe to say that, given the choice, everyone would rather not see the screws. Also, the Big Baby is not a travel guitar and it has the screws. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guit30 Posted July 21, 2007 Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 Hey, you are paying for a name these guys have always used screws on their babys and big babies down in the Mexican plant, get a Martin little guitar if you want the competitionhttp://www.musiciansfriend.com/product/Martin-LXM-Little-Martin-Acoustic-Guitar?sku=515880 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members riffmeister Posted July 21, 2007 Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 I just returned from a trip to my town's equivalent of Guitar Center and I was shocked to see the new Baby Taylor guitars that feature black painted phillips screws sunk right through the fretboard. What say you? Change them out for solid brass screws. MUCH better tone with those babies!!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members DeepEnd Posted July 21, 2007 Members Share Posted July 21, 2007 This is what Freeman and I were referring to (there are screws under the position markers at the 15th and 19th frets): Yes, I know, and I'm agreeing with you. But A: I don't know enough about how the Baby is constructed to know if it's possible to move the screws, even though it seems like it would be. And B: Regular acoustic guitars typicaly don't have dual position markers at the 17th fret. Resonators are a different animal and, IMHO, shouldn't be used as a yardstick in this instance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bassred Posted July 22, 2007 Members Share Posted July 22, 2007 Uh, dude, it's a Baby Taylor, you can stop right there with your expectations... don't buy one if you don't like it... they've been there as long as I can remember, and I'm a music store junky, spend way too much time checking out what's on the wall....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bjorn-fjord Posted July 22, 2007 Author Members Share Posted July 22, 2007 Uh, dude, it's a Baby Taylor, you can stop right there with your expectations... don't buy one if you don't like it... they've been there as long as I can remember, and I'm a music store junky, spend way too much time checking out what's on the wall....... It's also the Big Baby which is a full-size guitar. I wonder if Bob Taylor is "feeling the water" with these guitars to see just how much (or how little) the public is willing to accept. And in this thread I am saying to Mr. Taylor, "Hold it right there, pal."He's an innovator. He's pushed the envelope in a lot of constructive ways and I respect and admire him for it. But, in my opinion, he's taken it a little to far with the drywall screws. What do you think (about the screws in the fretboard, not my opinion)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JasmineTea Posted July 23, 2007 Members Share Posted July 23, 2007 JT -Yes, I should probably brush off the dust and lurch out into the light of day a little more often. I thought this was a new thing.I guess if I could build my own guitars I'd be brushing the dust off myself. You got anything like a website yet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members knockwood Posted July 23, 2007 Members Share Posted July 23, 2007 He's an innovator. He's pushed the envelope in a lot of constructive ways and I respect and admire him for it. But, in my opinion, he's taken it a little to far with the drywall screws. What do you think (about the screws in the fretboard, not my opinion)? I feel the same way about BT. He's a brilliant manufacturer. I guess my issue is that I may just prefer the output of builders who are more the artist and less the manufacturer. And I definitely don't want the manufacturing part to be center-stage on the finished product. There's sort of a "How did they do it?" facet to good execution, and a lot of that is contained in the pains taken to avoid leaving sloppy clues about how the thing was put together. I'm not about to lose any sleep over exposed fretboard screws, but I just don't see the point in leaving them visible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bjorn-fjord Posted July 23, 2007 Author Members Share Posted July 23, 2007 I guess if I could build my own guitars I'd be brushing the dust off myself. You got anything like a website yet? Yeah, I've had one for a while. My web-designer turned out to be a flake so it hasn't been updated in a LONG time. http://www.rovereguitars.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JasmineTea Posted July 23, 2007 Members Share Posted July 23, 2007 Yeah, I've had one for a while. My web-designer turned out to be a flake so it hasn't been updated in a LONG time. http://www.rovereguitars.com Wow! Those are great, bjorn. I had'nt seen this site. Thought you had a different one a while back? Anyway, we'll have to talk again about you building me a guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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