Glad I found this video - many thanks for making it. I have a similar issue with a 714ce and after watching your video I can see that it's a relatively easy fix
Great Video. As an Engineer, I bought my Taylor guitar because of this awesome neck joint system that nobody else has. I'm glad that Taylor helped you through the reset under warranty. I recently saw a video from a professional luthier where he just sanded the shims instead of ordering the correct ones from Taylor, but maybe it wasn't for an original owner.
I would be a little careful with going that route simply because the two shims need to correspond to each other to ensure that not only are you getting the neck angle you want, but that the neck itself is moving forward or backward very slightly to retain the guitar's intonation. They've got everything calculated and sized between the two shim choices and only seem to impart that information to certified Taylor techs. They recommend using a stock (unadjusted) saddle because their calculations are all done to meet that height and scale length perfectly. I don't blame them for not wanting to give out the information because then you'll have a bunch of half-assed luthiers and disappointed players coming back to them saying they messed their guitar up. On the other hand, without the information available, there's a bunch more shittily set-up Taylors floating around out there.
hi tried loads of taylors in the shop new ones ,they all had action of min 3mm on the 12th some higher , ,i believe they make them high so they are all playable in shop,and its up to you from new to ask the Taylor tec to adjust them to your preference i too have same problem also the shop is 100 miles away at least, thanks for the imformation
Thank you for the very informative video. It really would be great if you would measure with your caliper the thickness of the shims, as I myself, and many of us, would probably just make our own shims.
Great Video Jim - exactly what I needed to see - I'm going through the exact same thing with a 355ce 12 string - Taylor sent me about 200 shims from -20 to +30. I think I'm going to need bit more info before I take the neck and strings off - when I put a straight edge on the fretboard it went 1/8" below the top of the saddle.
@@gettyshiloh it worked out perfectly! - I had to use the most ‘extreme’ shim(s). There were a couple of other issues with the guitar I fixed as well - missing X brace. Which Taylor also sent me - I have since sold the guitar for close to twice what I paid for it. The whole repair experience was surprisingly successful!
@@colbyryan4169 I just asked the Taylor support folks nicely - said I was a local (Toronto) repair guy - the kit cost about $100, I have yet to do another Taylor Neck Reset though. I've sort of been looking for a Taylor in need of one for a good price.
Thanks for the video. I tried to get Taylor to send me the shims but no luck. I will try again. Mine measures 12/64" and 10/64". And it's brand new. I've had it for 8 days now. There are no certified Taylor techs or Service Centers in Puerto Rico. But I've been repairing guitars since 1986 and I'm confident that I can do this myself if they could just send me those shims.
I just ordered a set to Humacao and they sent me a TON of them. I have two complete sets ranging from -8 to 30 (so 20 for the heal and then 20 for the top, and then a whole second set of them). I have 80 total shims!!!! Plus they sent me all the tools. It's like 4 screw drivers, some allen keys, and a wrench, and also the Taylor labels. It's a pretty insane package. I think I paid like $50 for it but it's impressive. That said, apparently Guitars Boutique outside of Caguas is a service center but no disrespect, some of the workmanship I've seen on my home and boat made me think to just do this myself. If you haven't gotten your guitar setup yet, def order the set from Taylor now because they shipped to me. Now instead of figuring out which 3 shims to test out, I have to try to narrow it down from 20! -P
@@FStoppers They finally sent me the shims about a year ago. I did the work myself. But I ended up selling the guitar anyway. The humidity raised the top so much that it became unplayable even with the largest shim installed. I stripped off all the good parts and the Preamp and sold them dirt cheap. The body I tossed in the trash. It was coming apart all over.
@@joequintana5546 yikes! Do you remember which model you have? I think I when the opposite problem. My house’s humidity is around 30-40% because I run the AC all day. -P
When you go reaching through the sound hole of such a nice guitar with clunky steel tools, make a cardboard protective mask and tape it down around the edges of the hole. No matter how careful you try to be, you might still damage the top by not taking precautions. Second point: Every Taylor eventually needs this neck reset. It's wrong for them to inconvenience or charge owners for a necessary repair integral to the design of and reasons for this clever bolted neck joint. As another commenter said, you could just thin down the shims that are in the guitar already (on a slight taper) by trial-and-error to zero in on the right neck tilt. You will almost never need a thicker shim for this repair.
This is actually my guitar so wasn’t worried about it. I would definitely take precautions with a guitar that isn’t mine. Just to clarify…Taylor backed off on charging me. I think once they knew there wasn’t an authorized service provider in my area they decided to just mail me the shims. Thanks for watching and commenting.
@@jimhollis41 Thanks Jim! So happens I'm working on a friend's Taylor right now and got some helpful info from your video. Exact same issue really. He wanted a basic cleanup/setup/restring but when I got into it I found after adjusting the truss rod that there's just not enough clearance at the saddle to really get the action right without a neck reset too. Taylor's bolt-on system sure makes it easier. I bet you most people think they're glued together like Martins, Gibsons, etc. So tomorrow I'm going to have 'the talk' with my friend and see if he wants to pay me to go the extra mile and make it right, or settle for okay and call it a day. Anyway, enjoyed your video so thanks again.
Thanks for clear explanation and how to. I need to reset neck on a GS Mini I just bought used, but can’t get Taylor shims so must diy. Hard to tell from the video, Are the Taylor shims totally flat-level, or are they angled slightly to make an angle. Thanks.
@@jimhollis41 thanks for your info on the shims being tapered. This has me thinking. As the shims increase the fretboard angle, and as the acoustic guitar neck pivots at bottom of the guitar, with greater distance being at fretboard slot, won’t that slightly increase the total distance from nut to saddle, causing intonation problems?
I 100% agree about measuring things in thousandths. It’s more precise, gives you more “psychologically satisfying”, easy to remember measurements. Whenever I hear guys speaking in 64ths, my brain goes “huh? just give it to me in thousandths...” I have absolutely no idea why guys do 64ths anymore. It must be some holdover from a time when it was easier to acquire tools with that subdivision
Hi Jim, Great video - more informative than Taylor videos. One question - why did you feel a neck reset was necessary, when Taylor recommend that a straight edge along the neck should be exactly level with the top of the bridge, which yours appeared to be? I underatand that tilting the neck back allows for a taller saddle - was that the main reason?
Ian...I reached out to Taylor about this because I noticed that I had no break angle over the high E and B strings. The tech from Taylor told me their spec with an unaltered saddle installed is to have a string height at the 12th fret of 4/64 on the high E side and 6/64 on the low E side. The string height at the 12th fret on my guitar prior to doing the reset was 8/64 on the high E and 10/64 on the low E...so not within their specs. Doing the neck reset brought my guitar back into Taylor spec which allows proper break angle over the saddle. I hope this helps answer your question. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Also the taller the saddle the lower the action in reference to the neck angle. You also will get some string buzz if your a hard strummer. So be careful how far you go. Basically you lower your action to. Were a short saddle will give you higher action in reference to the neck angle.
Thank you for this video, Jim. I was able to follow your instructions to successfully reset the neck on my 2017 816ce I bought second hand. What a difference! Question for you...my workbench had a washer on it after I finished the reset. I double checked and all three neck bolts have their washers on. 1 washer on each bolt. Yet this leftover washer is the same size as the washers on the 2 larger bolts. Coincidence??? Could be from another project I suppose. How many washers did you have? Thanks again!!!
Hey D Fab...there are actually 4 washers. Each of the neck bolts has one and the fretboard screw has 2...a larger and smaller washer. The smaller washer goes closest to the head of the bolt and then the larger washer goes on. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I did the same thing on my GS Mini with the same results. Almost full height on a new bridge, good break angle and action. But I’m concerned about the neck angle being too steep. With a straightedge on the neck, it is about 2.5mm above the bridge. Doesn’t an overset neck cause other issues?
Awesome video bro! You really know how to explain and demonstrate these procedures for us non-luthiers out here to clearly understand. I am no longer afraid to try and reset the neck on my $4,000 Taylor guitar. Can you buy those shim sets from Taylor directly? Thank you!
Thanks. Glad you liked the video. You can contact Taylor and find out about buying shims but their guitars are lifetime warranty so they should send the shims to you no charge if you send them the measurements. At least that’s how it worked in my case. Good luck and happy playing...
I am actually doing the same thing for a customer here in St. Louis but this guitar is out of warranty and he is not the registered owner. Is there a way to get a hold of those official neck shims from Taylor as I can’t seem to find them online? Great video thank you!
J Nelson...the shims will have to come from Taylor. You might try contacting a Taylor service center and see if they will order them for you. We don’t have a Taylor service center anywhere near me so Taylor sent the shins directly to me after I sent them measurements.
String action or height is really a personal preference. If I was setting up a guitar for myself I would set the action at the 12th fret to 2 mm on the bass side and around 1.5 mm on the treble side.
Thanks for sharing your video. I want to neck reset my taylor 214 ce. But they don't have support in asia they can't send me shims..can i buy your extra shims?
There is no belly bulge in this guitar and no need for a bridge doctor. And Chechen?? No clue there. New shims fixed the neck angle and the guitar is still playing great. Taylor uses the shims by design.
The beauty of TH-cam is you can jump ahead in the video or even go watch a different video if you don't need the explanation as to why this guitar needs a neck reset. This video is to help those who might not know why the geometry of a guitar is important to how it plays and sounds.
Finally!!! thank you bro.
Thanks for the video, the information helped eliminate a lot of unnecessary trial fittings I would have had to do.
Glad I found this video - many thanks for making it. I have a similar issue with a 714ce and after watching your video I can see that it's a relatively easy fix
Great Video. As an Engineer, I bought my Taylor guitar because of this awesome neck joint system that nobody else has. I'm glad that Taylor helped you through the reset under warranty. I recently saw a video from a professional luthier where he just sanded the shims instead of ordering the correct ones from Taylor, but maybe it wasn't for an original owner.
I would be a little careful with going that route simply because the two shims need to correspond to each other to ensure that not only are you getting the neck angle you want, but that the neck itself is moving forward or backward very slightly to retain the guitar's intonation. They've got everything calculated and sized between the two shim choices and only seem to impart that information to certified Taylor techs. They recommend using a stock (unadjusted) saddle because their calculations are all done to meet that height and scale length perfectly. I don't blame them for not wanting to give out the information because then you'll have a bunch of half-assed luthiers and disappointed players coming back to them saying they messed their guitar up. On the other hand, without the information available, there's a bunch more shittily set-up Taylors floating around out there.
Thanks for making a video about this. I did one of these today and found it helpful watching you do one first.
3/16 " allen for top bolt , 2- 7/16 ' bolts in heel. Needed that, thanks.
dobrodave123...glad there was something helpful to you in the video. Thanks for watching and commenting.
hi tried loads of taylors in the shop new ones ,they all had action of min 3mm on the 12th some higher , ,i believe they make them high so they are all playable in shop,and its up to you from new to ask the Taylor tec to adjust them to your preference i too have same problem also the shop is 100 miles away at least, thanks for the imformation
I love .80 and .70 as well. I have had more problems getting set ups that are still too high. I am going to do the next one myself. Great info!
Thanks for an excellent video with many interesting info .
Thank you for the very informative video. It really would be great if you would measure with your caliper the thickness of the shims, as I myself, and many of us, would probably just make our own shims.
I am about to have this done to my old 314CE, thanks for sharing
Steve Wohlford ...Taylor makes a neck reset super easy. I’m really happy I did mine. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Great Video Jim - exactly what I needed to see - I'm going through the exact same thing with a 355ce 12 string - Taylor sent me about 200 shims from -20 to +30. I think I'm going to need bit more info before I take the neck and strings off - when I put a straight edge on the fretboard it went 1/8" below the top of the saddle.
I hope you get yours playing again. That's a pretty bad neck angle. I hope this helped a little. Thanks for watching.
@@gettyshiloh it worked out perfectly! - I had to use the most ‘extreme’ shim(s). There were a couple of other issues with the guitar I fixed as well - missing X brace. Which Taylor also sent me - I have since sold the guitar for close to twice what I paid for it. The whole repair experience was surprisingly successful!
How did you get Taylor to send you these shims?
@@colbyryan4169 I just asked the Taylor support folks nicely - said I was a local (Toronto) repair guy - the kit cost about $100, I have yet to do another Taylor Neck Reset though. I've sort of been looking for a Taylor in need of one for a good price.
@@colbyryan4169 I just asked them, didn’t say I was an authorized dealer or anything. Just said I fixed friends guitars.
For the two hex head bolts, did you remove the sticker or cut access holes?
Thank you....
Sorry, you answered my question at the end.
Thanks for the video.
I tried to get Taylor to send me the shims but no luck.
I will try again.
Mine measures 12/64" and 10/64".
And it's brand new. I've had it for 8 days now.
There are no certified Taylor techs or Service Centers in Puerto Rico.
But I've been repairing guitars since 1986 and I'm confident that I can do this myself if they could just send me those shims.
I just ordered a set to Humacao and they sent me a TON of them. I have two complete sets ranging from -8 to 30 (so 20 for the heal and then 20 for the top, and then a whole second set of them). I have 80 total shims!!!! Plus they sent me all the tools. It's like 4 screw drivers, some allen keys, and a wrench, and also the Taylor labels. It's a pretty insane package. I think I paid like $50 for it but it's impressive.
That said, apparently Guitars Boutique outside of Caguas is a service center but no disrespect, some of the workmanship I've seen on my home and boat made me think to just do this myself. If you haven't gotten your guitar setup yet, def order the set from Taylor now because they shipped to me. Now instead of figuring out which 3 shims to test out, I have to try to narrow it down from 20! -P
@@FStoppers
They finally sent me the shims about a year ago. I did the work myself. But I ended up selling the guitar anyway. The humidity raised the top so much that it became unplayable even with the largest shim installed. I stripped off all the good parts and the Preamp and sold them dirt cheap. The body I tossed in the trash. It was coming apart all over.
@@joequintana5546 yikes! Do you remember which model you have? I think I when the opposite problem. My house’s humidity is around 30-40% because I run the AC all day. -P
@@FStoppers
It was a GS Mini-e Mahogany piece of crap.
When you go reaching through the sound hole of such a nice guitar with clunky steel tools, make a cardboard protective mask and tape it down around the edges of the hole. No matter how careful you try to be, you might still damage the top by not taking precautions. Second point: Every Taylor eventually needs this neck reset. It's wrong for them to inconvenience or charge owners for a necessary repair integral to the design of and reasons for this clever bolted neck joint. As another commenter said, you could just thin down the shims that are in the guitar already (on a slight taper) by trial-and-error to zero in on the right neck tilt. You will almost never need a thicker shim for this repair.
This is actually my guitar so wasn’t worried about it. I would definitely take precautions with a guitar that isn’t mine. Just to clarify…Taylor backed off on charging me. I think once they knew there wasn’t an authorized service provider in my area they decided to just mail me the shims. Thanks for watching and commenting.
@@jimhollis41 Thanks Jim! So happens I'm working on a friend's Taylor right now and got some helpful info from your video. Exact same issue really. He wanted a basic cleanup/setup/restring but when I got into it I found after adjusting the truss rod that there's just not enough clearance at the saddle to really get the action right without a neck reset too. Taylor's bolt-on system sure makes it easier. I bet you most people think they're glued together like Martins, Gibsons, etc. So tomorrow I'm going to have 'the talk' with my friend and see if he wants to pay me to go the extra mile and make it right, or settle for okay and call it a day. Anyway, enjoyed your video so thanks again.
Thanks for clear explanation and how to. I need to reset neck on a GS Mini I just bought used, but can’t get Taylor shims so must diy. Hard to tell from the video, Are the Taylor shims totally flat-level, or are they angled slightly to make an angle. Thanks.
They are definitely tapered shims. The 2 shims work together to get the correct angle. Good luck on the DIY.
@@jimhollis41 thanks for your info on the shims being tapered. This has me thinking. As the shims increase the fretboard angle, and as the acoustic guitar neck pivots at bottom of the guitar, with greater distance being at fretboard slot, won’t that slightly increase the total distance from nut to saddle, causing intonation problems?
@@ericbennett1172 my neck angle was way off and I haven’t noticed any intonation issues with mine at all.
I 100% agree about measuring things in thousandths. It’s more precise, gives you more “psychologically satisfying”, easy to remember measurements. Whenever I hear guys speaking in 64ths, my brain goes “huh? just give it to me in thousandths...”
I have absolutely no idea why guys do 64ths anymore. It must be some holdover from a time when it was easier to acquire tools with that subdivision
manifestgtr...thanks so much for watching and commenting.
Hi Jim, Great video - more informative than Taylor videos. One question - why did you feel a neck reset was necessary, when Taylor recommend that a straight edge along the neck should be exactly level with the top of the bridge, which yours appeared to be? I underatand that tilting the neck back allows for a taller saddle - was that the main reason?
Ian...I reached out to Taylor about this because I noticed that I had no break angle over the high E and B strings. The tech from Taylor told me their spec with an unaltered saddle installed is to have a string height at the 12th fret of 4/64 on the high E side and 6/64 on the low E side. The string height at the 12th fret on my guitar prior to doing the reset was 8/64 on the high E and 10/64 on the low E...so not within their specs. Doing the neck reset brought my guitar back into Taylor spec which allows proper break angle over the saddle. I hope this helps answer your question. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Also the taller the saddle the lower the action in reference to the neck angle. You also will get some string buzz if your a hard strummer. So be careful how far you go. Basically you lower your action to. Were a short saddle will give you higher action in reference to the neck angle.
Dove si acquistano gli spessori ? Grazie
Good job, thank U !!
Thanks so much for watching and commenting...
Thank you for this video, Jim. I was able to follow your instructions to successfully reset the neck on my 2017 816ce I bought second hand. What a difference! Question for you...my workbench had a washer on it after I finished the reset. I double checked and all three neck bolts have their washers on. 1 washer on each bolt. Yet this leftover washer is the same size as the washers on the 2 larger bolts. Coincidence??? Could be from another project I suppose. How many washers did you have? Thanks again!!!
Hey D Fab...there are actually 4 washers. Each of the neck bolts has one and the fretboard screw has 2...a larger and smaller washer. The smaller washer goes closest to the head of the bolt and then the larger washer goes on. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Okay.......thank you so much for that information. I will install that now. Great video, thank you so much!
I did the same thing on my GS Mini with the same results. Almost full height on a new bridge, good break angle and action. But I’m concerned about the neck angle being too steep. With a straightedge on the neck, it is about 2.5mm above the bridge. Doesn’t an overset neck cause other issues?
Yes. Oversetting is an issue for sure. With your straightedge under 3mm above the bridge, you should be good.
Awesome video bro! You really know how to explain and demonstrate these procedures for us non-luthiers out here to clearly understand. I am no longer afraid to try and reset the neck on my $4,000 Taylor guitar. Can you buy those shim sets from Taylor directly? Thank you!
Thanks. Glad you liked the video. You can contact Taylor and find out about buying shims but their guitars are lifetime warranty so they should send the shims to you no charge if you send them the measurements. At least that’s how it worked in my case. Good luck and happy playing...
@@jimhollis41 Thanks Jim!
Question for you, were the 6/12 shims thinner than the ones Taylor sent you? Thanks for the video I'm getting my measurements now to send to Taylor.
Dos his name was Jonathan?
I am actually doing the same thing for a customer here in St. Louis but this guitar is out of warranty and he is not the registered owner. Is there a way to get a hold of those official neck shims from Taylor as I can’t seem to find them online? Great video thank you!
J Nelson...the shims will have to come from Taylor. You might try contacting a Taylor service center and see if they will order them for you. We don’t have a Taylor service center anywhere near me so Taylor sent the shins directly to me after I sent them measurements.
Great vid and it’s helped me a lot
poshbit...thanks for watching.
Consider using mm.
is 2.5 mm action okay? cuz my hand hurts a lot. I think I really need this tho.
String action or height is really a personal preference. If I was setting up a guitar for myself I would set the action at the 12th fret to 2 mm on the bass side and around 1.5 mm on the treble side.
Thanks for sharing your video. I want to neck reset my taylor 214 ce. But they don't have support in asia they can't send me shims..can i buy your extra shims?
This alone is the reason I wont spend more then 1000$ on any other brand. Neck resets can easily throw off a martin or gibsons sound. Taylor +1
Taylor does make the neck reset process pretty easy. Thanks for watching and commenting...
Take the belly bow out of it and the Chechen you set up first I had one the the bridge doctor fixed withou shims
There is no belly bulge in this guitar and no need for a bridge doctor. And Chechen?? No clue there. New shims fixed the neck angle and the guitar is still playing great. Taylor uses the shims by design.
6/64 for a dobro
@@PaulZimmerman-t4k this isn’t a dobro video but ok. Dobros can be much higher actually depending on the player.
the most ludicrous thing i have ever heard of is dividing an inch into base 10:...why not just bite the bullet and use mm?
Yes you ramble and it would be wonderful if you would get to the point.
The beauty of TH-cam is you can jump ahead in the video or even go watch a different video if you don't need the explanation as to why this guitar needs a neck reset. This video is to help those who might not know why the geometry of a guitar is important to how it plays and sounds.