Taylor & Guitar Center Woes - At least it's being taken care

john w · #1 04-03-2002, 03:24 AM

In February, due to some financial constrictions, I had to acquire some cash for my ever rising property
taxes. I VERY reluctantly sold my 6 mo. old Taylor 410ce. I got nearly what I paid for it, but it was like aucctioning off a kid. Anyway, the financial picture improved with my tax refund, and off I went Taylor shopping. Obviously, GC could beat the Mom & Pop stores on price & selection, plus they had same as cash financing til 2003. I generally dislike chain stores due to the lack of care for their stock. Out of 4 414ces, I found ONE that was nearly perfect. I was so keyed on scouring the body, back & sides, I neglected to give the fretboard the same attention(BAD GAS!). *Well, I got the guitar home, wanted to polish it up, put new strigs on it etc. and was very surprised to find 3 seperate cracks in the ebony fretboard. *All I could figure was that either the ebony wasn't cured correctly, the guitar snuck past Taylor's fairly decent quality control, or it was stored in a desert like environment infront of a heating duct. There was no evidence of "drying" anywhere else on the guitar. For the record, I haven't bought a guitar from GC since the 80's, too many hassles and bad experiences. I figured (from past experience) that GC was going to give me one helluva fight over this. Again, much to my surprise, they appeared to be as surprised as I was that this had happened. Anyway, I guess the point of my rambling here is to say that all GCs aren't the same, and they guys at this one are taking care of the problem. I hope to have a factory fresh 414ce here in 2-3 weeks straight from Taylor. I have the utmost in confidence in these guitars, and they are, IMO, the best mass produced acoustics out there, and well worth the $'s involved. It was like a wake, lots of store employees checking out the cracks and walking away
shaking their heads after offering condolences. Hopefully I'll have a happy conclusion to add to this post in a couple weeks.....

John W

jem7vwh · #2 04-03-2002, 05:29 PM

I love Taylors. *They make some of the nicest production model acoustics. *Plus, you don't have to deal with a baseball bat neck

*I've found the GC guys become a bajillion times nicer when they figure out that you're not just the next flogger looking to buy the new Blink 182 strat. *

john w · #3 04-04-2002, 12:59 PM

LOL! I think I actually SAW one of those there! I was like "WTF?" Nothing like ruining a guitar with a bunch of BAD graphics....... I just want this whole thing to work out, and not have to reject another reject guitar. They never made me feel like I was being too picky, especially with the cracks. Good for their health, as well as mine....

John W

Sevenstringer · #4 04-07-2002, 10:21 AM

I used to work in a music store that sold Taylors. NOTHING passes thru their quality control. They are a great company that makes great guitars. The guitars are very sensitive and the NEED to be kept at 55-60% humidity are ALL times. If I don't keep my 1999 410 humidified I can start to feel the frets get a little sharp, but, bringing back up the humidity will make that go away. I am very pleased with my guitar and it sounds better everyday I play it. It is just starting to break in now and I hope that I will never have to used the liftetime warranty the guitar came with. Best of luck on your guitar and dealing with Guitar Center. If you run into any brick walls there ask for Diane Magonia (sp) at Taylor. She was the rep I dealt with. She is also the Vice Presidents wife, so needless to say she has some pull there. haha *

(Edited by Sevenstringer at 9:22 am on April 7, 2002)

john w · #5 04-08-2002, 01:59 PM

Thanks for the info. Since I can't prove it one way or another, I didn't want to blame GC's bad storage
on Taylor, and I know how ****
they are about things over there (in El Cajon). Tomorrow marks week 1, 1-2 weeks to go, I'm jonesing BAAAAD! I bought my now departed 410ce BLIND on the conditions I could return it if it was flawed. That guitar was in better shape than 4/4 at GC! Should this surprise me?
Probably not! I've jotted down her name should this situation spiral out of control. I'm hoping it gets taken care of promptly, and without incident. *Thanks again for the contact info!

John W

Sevenstringer · #6 04-08-2002, 08:25 PM

No prob John W. Best of luck in your endeavor

john w · #7 04-17-2002, 04:53 PM

Ok, the unopened box is waiting for me at GC. It oughtta be perfect! I can't wait to get out of work now!
Brand Spankin' new from Taylor........More later!

John W

Entropy · #8 04-19-2002, 10:24 AM

And the verdict is? *

Did they "do you right" ?

I hope so!

john w · #9 04-19-2002, 05:51 PM

Yep, I got it straight out of the box, unopened. Cosmetically, it's PERFECT. I do have an issue with a buzzy d string from fret 1-5 that is either a high fret or maybe a nut/bridge issue. I tried to adjust the trussrod a bit for a little more bow, but it didn't seem to make a difference to the buzzing. I already contacted Taylor about this, and I'll speak to one of the few people I trust with my gear this weekend.
Either way, it'll get repaired without sending it back to CA, and I don't find it to be a major issue (so far). As for all the Taylor vs Martin bashing etc., to each their own, it's all apples and oranges. I LIKE the tone of my Taylor, and when I was shopping for my first one, I thought it surpassed every Martin in the same price range. *So everything considered, GC took good care of me, and Taylor, while they could have probably replaced the fretboard/neck, DID actually send me a brand new guitar *
The guitar was literally made on 3/14/02, so at least they didn't try to pawn off any old stuff on me.
This is exactly what I wanted to happen, so soon as the the buzz gets fixed, I'll go from 90% to 100% satisfied with the whole ordeal.

John W