You might want to post this on the Flatpickhangout and see if there are any luthiers/repairpersons that might be able to help. If you're not a member, it's free to join. Go to the bottom of the page where it says More Hangouts and click on Guitar.

What is the actual measurement of the forward bow?

Has the top collapsed a little. I guess it wouldn't take much.

I concur that posting this in a guitar forum would be better. There are forums for Martin, Gibson, Epiphone, and giant forums for everything like "the gear page" ... in addition to what was already mentioned.

If its a cheap guitar, then you've figured out why it was cheap...like we all have. The neck nut on cheap guitars does very little. The frets also wear out in a year if you play it alot. It may also be you have developed the bad habit of tilting the guitar while you play to see the frets. The guitar bust be held verticle and plucked verticle to avoid strings hitting frets. Pluck softer, hold the guitar correctly could make it go away.

As wooden instruments get older, they sometimes become more sensitive to humidity changes.

It takes time for an instrument to respond to a humidifier. It may take a week or two for the wood to soak up enough moisture for the top to rise up enough to stop the buzzing.

If not, you may have to raise up the bridge saddle or have a new one cut. Some guitars need a winter saddle and a summer saddle.

If the neck is reasonably straight and the frets are level, the measurement between the bottom of the 1st string and the top of the 12th fret will need to be a minimum of 5/64" for the guitar to play. A minimum of at least 6/64" is needed between the 12th fret and the 6th string. That's considered to be low action.  A heavy player will still buzz an instruments set at those figures.

Medium action would be 6/64" at the first string, and 7/64" at the sixth.  Add another 64th of an inch for an aggresive player.
These measurements must be made with the neck nearly straight, with only a tiny bit of relief.

While truss rods have an effect on the action, they are not meant to adjust the action.
Action adjustments should be made by raising or lowering the bridge saddle.
It's not unusual for me to cut 3 or 4 saddles for customers during a winter.


If another week on the humidifier doesn't take care of the problem, get thee to a competent repair person.

Thanks for the input. I will try a guitar forum. The guitar is an American made Taylor, and is only about 6 months old. It shouldn't be fret wear yet, and funnily enough all of my cheaper guitars have never had an issue like this. @GrahamHawker I suppose it is possible the top has collapsed slightly. I'll have to check. If that is the case is there any hope in reversing it? I could try a heavier gauge string for a while and see if that pulls the saddle up I guess?

@rcc56 I'll give it another week of really consistent humidifying. And as others have suggested, I'll measure the forward bow and report back. Thank you!

Sometimes they cut the frets too deep or use hollow frets. This will cause the frets to collapse. When I said cheap I didnt mean price. I meant poor build quality. I have a guitar I paid 60 bucks for in the 90s, made in taiwan, is much better sounding and build than my Martin D18 I bought in 2014!

Get a feeler guage and measure all the fret heights. Make sure one didnt drop 1/32 or more.

If the bridge area collapsed one can buy a reinforced higher bridge to compensate. But luthiers can fix anything. Taylor has a warranty if its only 6 months old.

It should be easy to check whether the top has "sunk" or not -- just lay a yardstick across it, right behind the bridge.

Taylors have bolted-on necks, so if the neck angle needs some adjustment, this is easily done by someone who knows how.

If it's a relatively new instrument, under warranty, you ought to call or email Taylor and ask if they have any factory-authorized repair guys in your area. A visit to one of them may be in order.

Is it properly humidified?

Thanks for the input everyone. I will certainly see if Taylor has any factory authorized repairmen near me and go from there. Perhaps the consistent humidity will help in the meantime.

Yes, if the guitar is 6 months old and under warranty, do nothing outside of waiting for the humidity to do its thing, then go to an authorized service center if more is needed.

If you or anyone else except a factory authorized person attempts any repairs on the guitar, you will void your warranty.

The only buzz you can fix with the truss rod is a buzz that is caused by back-bow. If you've got the right (tiny bit of) relief in the board, quit messing with the rod and look for the buzz elsewhere.

In my very limited experience with them, Taylor was very good about answering questions, and concerned with customer service. If you have a 6-months-old Taylor, call them before you even think about consulting us random folks out in cyberspace.

Don't learn your first guitar set-up lessons on a Taylor.You understand what a warrantee is...right?

quote:

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Originally posted by TScottHilton

I have also replaced the strings to no avail. For the last week I have put the guitar in its case with a sound hole humidifier and monitored the level at 45 percent. It sounds the same. What is going on? Is the top warped? Is the guitar ruined?

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Taylor guitars have bolt-on necks. Make sure the fasteners are tightened to the factory specifications. 
You mentioned you have replaced the strings. If you have changed the gauge of the strings it can affect your set-up. 
If your guitar top has "bellied" or bulged because of humidity changes it might take a bit to humidify it to a point where it normalizes. As guitars age a small belly is considered normal wear depending upon the string gauges used and the intensity of the top bracing.

If after you properly humidify the instrument and verify that it is set up to factory specifications, then I would contact Taylor or a qualified repair person depending upon the warranty situation. 

 

If it were my brand-new Taylor I would first contact them.
The last thing I would do would be to try to remedy it myself on the advice of strangers who do not have this guitar in hand.
It would be too bad to void a perfectly good warrantee.

Once more: If anyone except for a factory authorized repair person executes or attempts any repairs on a new instrument that is under warranty, you will void the warranty.

If something serious is going on with the guitar Taylor would replace it.

Clear in lower frets and buzzy in middle and high fret is a symptom of too much relief with too low a saddle. 
 

Evidence of too much relief is that the poster has turned the truss rod all the way and still can't get any more relief. 
 

Question:  what are the string heights above the frets at the 5th and 12th fret, for first string and sixth string?

Question:  What is the neck relief, measured at the 6th fret, with the string fretted at the first fret and between the twelfth and thirteenth fret?

Stop turning the truss rod to unknown locations.

I think the assumption has been made that I have been recklessly cranking the truss rod back and forth to extremes as though this would somehow fix the problem. This is not the case. I have made minor adjustments which did not provide enough relief to affect any noticeable change. The Taylor truss rod is not adjusted with and alan key as many rods are. It is a nut at the headstock which is tightened and loosened. No need to tighten. I loosened maybe half or three quarters of a full turn in increments, and at that point the nut loosened to the point that it was no longer adjusting the rod, just unthreading. I then adjusted it back to its original position. The top to my eye has not sunk any. There is an ever so slight bulge just behind the saddle. The extra time in the case hasn't seemed to make a difference. The relief measurements are as follows:

Low E height:
@5th fret: .07"
@12th fret: .09"
@6th with 1st and 12th fretted: .02"


High E height:
@5th fret: .05"
@12th fret: .05"
@6th with 1st and 12th fretted: just shy of .02"

I will contact Taylor, but I'll likely have to drive out of town to get to someone factory certified. If there were a simple explanation or something I was missing, I would like to know before loading up and driving the guitar somewhere, leaving it, and then having to return to pick it up. That's why I posted. Thanks!

Low E height:
@5th fret: .07"
@12th fret: .09"
@6th with 1st and 12th fretted: .02"


High E height:
@5th fret: .05"
@12th fret: .05"
@6th with 1st and 12th fretted: just shy of .02"
 

Very valuable information.

The relief is .020.  For a guitar, it should be in the .005-.007 range.  Therefore, less relief is needed, not more.

The 12th fret action height on the low E is .090.  This is on the low side, although not extreme if the relief is in the typical .005-.007 range.

The 12th fret action height on the high E is .050.  This is extremely low regardless of relief.

What is happening with the high relief is that the true effective string height when fretting high up the neck is reduced, although the action height might measure OK when the strings are open.  Luthiers call this the "next fret clearance".  High relief and low action means that when fretting high up the neck, the string is coming off the fret at a very low angle on  its way to the saddle, and consequently is much more likely to plunk against higher frets when picked.

The initial solution is first to set the relief to a typical range, .005-.007.   This will involve decreasing the neck relief -- i.e., straightening the neck a bit (not to completely straight, but still maintaining the .005-.007 relief).   Then remeasure the action height.  Likely will find that the action height is then extremely low on all strings.  After that, then can raise the saddle height to get the action height that you want.

Hope this helps.  Once we get the geometry coordinated in sequence and the saddle height adjusted, I'd bet that the guitar will play nicely.  It is a well made instrument.

Maximum bow was achieved with the total backing off of the truss rod.
I measure bow by capoing the 1st fret and fretting the last fret while slipping a feeler gauge between the 7th fret and string or using a straightedge on the fret tops.
Is your .07 and .09 measured without fretting and capoing or using a straightedge?

How did it play when you first got it?

Thanks Alex. This makes perfect sense. I appreciate it greatly.

its possible playing with that rod you may have broke it....happens when you try for that last little tweak adjustment....then when your playing your fret hand may be pulling the neck around (slightly) without being aware whats happening.....time for a pro check out. good luck

PS I had an old Stella guitar back in the day where I had to keep pressure on the neck with  my fret hand to keep it playing single notes in tune....lol....no truss rods in that thing