[Chris P.]

Okay, so I'm frustrated! My first two (used) guitars have had bent necks. Now that I am getting more experience and using more of the fingerboard, I am finding out what a huge disadvantage this is. My fingers feel like they are sliding down ski slopes on some chords. Yikes! With six months for guitar playing behind me, I am totally hooked and ready to get a 'real' guitar.

So what's the deal with the Taylor New Technology neck? Presumably it is very resistant to warping. Is this really too good to be true? Any of you have any experience with this? The evil thing about my house, in terms of guitars, is that we have no central anything. We heat with wood in the winter, and only have a window AC during our very humid summers. So the air is our house is either dry or damp depending on the season - not a happy thing for guitars.

And... I am thinking that a cut away will provide more flexibility in what I can eventually play. Any pro or con thoughts about this?

Thanks,

Chris

[6string]

Taylor necks are designed to resist warping but so are other brands like Martins and other brands.
The technology for building guitars has advance over the years and a well build guitar won't warp like the old ones used to. One good thing about Taylor guitars is if there is a problem with the neck, its designed to be easily replaced thus saving a lot of labour cost. IMO for your situation a guitar humidifier and a dehumidifier should protect the guitar wether its inexpensive or top of the line.

[allthumbs]

I agree with 6. You can get small gizmos from the guitar shop for each of those problems. Once your into the 400 buck range for guitars, the necks are pretty consistently stable.
A way around it is to buy a composite guitar like this.
http://compositeacoustics.com/care.html
Google for them. You should find some links.

[6string]

Here's a link for a homemade humidifier

http://www.bryankimsey.com/humdifier/index.htm

not sure about its pros and cons

there's probably homemade dehumidifiers out there also

[737blues]

Originally Posted by 6string

.... there's probably homemade dehumidifiers out there also

Throw in a bone dry sponge instead?

[solidwalnut]

Well, the deal is that the NT neck was originally designed to eliminate the problems associated with joining the neck with the body. In traditional guitar building the neck dovetails into the headblock and then the fingerboard is glued down. So there is always a hump at the 14th fret. Check it out. Most guitars have fretbuzz at the 12th through the 14th fret. Check out the info and the video at Taylor's website.

The NT neck does resist more problems associated with humidity. But the neck is not the part of the guitar that suffers badly from dry and wet guitar symptoms. The best defense against these problems is to just be sure to keep your guitar in it's case when you're not playing. But good preventative measurements can be taken very easily. Check out the Tech Sheets collection at the Taylor website.

Also, you might be interested in a vido of Bob Taylor called Understanding Humidity. It's all pretty fascinating stuff!

Yes, yes, I'm biased. I own a 714ce. Unfortunately, it's a 1999 and pre-NT technology! But trust me that even pre_NT Taylors don't have that hump at the 14th fret!

Steve

[Ben_Sir_Amos]

As much as I like buying new guitars for next to no reason, I'm a bit concerned that you are rushing out to buy another because you've had two guitars with bent necks. Are they really bent? Or do they just have "relief"? They are meant to be bent (a little anyway).

Have you had a look at this thread?
Buzzz! strings too low? Too high? READ THIS!!

I hope my post doesn't stop you buying a new guitar - but when you do, you won't mind practising a little guitar maintenance on your old ones, will you? You can practice getting the relief just right.