Randy120

@FThomas I think and hope he made no change to the nut at all. He may have thrown on "some strings" instead of the specific Elixir strings which Taylor uses. The right strings with a little Nut Juice to lubricate may solve any binding issue at the nut. It seems the saddle will need to be replaced. Taylor's service is excellent, and you may find the tech can fix the problem in 30 minutes. Good luck I hope it works out for you.

@Eracer_Team-DougH I think it needs a new saddle and no shims under the saddle. Of course he may have screwed up the nut also. Too many people think they should adjust nut height. Greg Voros recommends you leave the nut alone. I am sure Taylor can put it back to specification, but it will cost him. @FThomas You should bring this dealer to the attention of Taylor. They are incompetent at best.

I agree with Blue Dog about the small speakers. I would recommend at least a 10" speaker, and a 12" is better for air movement. In your price range I might recommend something like this. At 40 watts into a 12" speaker the Fender Champ might be too loud for small spaces. Fender Champ 40 Marshall Code 25 Vox VT40X Same thing as 20X with 10 inch speaker and more power. Vox Superbeetle The Superbeetle is a little more expensive, but I like it.

@FThomas I do my own setups on my guitars. I learned from the Greg Voros' Guitar Setup and Maintenance DVD and a few other videos from the internet. Acoustic guitars need string changes, cleaning, good humidity, and the occasional truss rod adjustment. The only thing I need a luthier for is real repairs. Taylor's are different. String height (action) is not adjusted at the saddle and nut. The NT neck has two shims at the body to adjust height and angle. I have two Taylor guitars. I own a GS Mini and a NS24ce nylon string. I wanted to lower the action, but I didn't think the saddle should be shaved as recommended by some. Luckily, we have Pat Diburro a highly rated luthier who only works on Taylor, Martin, and Collings guitars in the area. I took the guitars to him to lower the action. He asked me if the guitars had the original strings? I told him the guitars are 5 years old and I do my own setups. He recommended I continue doing the same, and he even complemented me on the way I tied the nylon strings. He said the action could be a little lower. He lowered the action on the GS Mini the NT way by changing the shims at the neck, and it took less than 5 minutes without changing of the strings. He told me if I had shaved the saddle then he would have needed to install a new saddle. He found a small defect in my NS24ce body which he said was "delaminating...and it would get worse" which was a warranty repair. I left the NS24ce with him. A few weeks later he sent me an e-mail. Taylor had sent a new base level body, but he rejected it because it wasn't equal in quality to the original. Taylor then sent an upgraded body. He transferred the electronics from the original body to the new one, and put on new strings. When I got the repaired guitar home I checked the nylon string and found he tied the nylon strings just the way I did. I would consider Pat DiBurro a top quality luthier and this is the kind of service you should expect. As for your guitar it seems you did not get good service. It seems from your description the repair person shaved the saddle which is not Taylor recommended service. There are no shims under the saddle. Unfortunately, I think your best course of action is to send the guitar directly to Taylor. If all it needs is a new saddle then the cost should not be too expensive. Your Taylor 800 series guitar is an expensive instrument so it is worth spending the money.

I use fretboard conditioner once or twice a year for unfinished fretboards. I use Professor Greens Fretboard conditioner, and I have lemon oil when the discontinued Professor Greens is gone. I do it just before the winter string change, and again the in the spring.

@Nutty 1 It is fun once you get the timing right. Listen to some of your favorite songs to see how background vocals make the song.

@Nutty 1 I actually meant the vocal harmonies ABBA is so famous for. You can always do multiple tracks singing along with yourself if you have a DAW which is fun and challenging.

Nice! I always wanted a white Strat also.

@Eracer_Team-DougH Well done! I have been playing the main riff and the rhythm part for a while now, but you are ahead of me with the lead. @NeilES335 Nice! It has a sweet gentle sound to it. I would recommend some compression to bring up the soft parts. @Nutty 1 Good one! I haven't heard this song before. Now all you need is the multi-part harmonies.

@NeilES335 The monthly recording challenge awaits you.

Some Pro Tools tutorials for beginners. Get Started Fast with Pro Tools | First — Episode 1 Get Started Fast with Pro Tools | First — Episode 2 P.S. They show you using the cloud for saves. This is optional. I just save to my local hard drive. There are more videos in this series so check them out.

@Oldjock I never heard of him before either, but I like his sound.

@NeilES335 I started out with Ableton Live Lite, but I never figured it out. I found a version of Pro Tools on sale for a good price which gave me a perpetual license. I upgraded it once when they had a sale. I am probably a couple versions behind at this point, but I have great capabilities to spare. I added a keyboard controller so I could enjoy exploring the built-in synth which is nice to have, but not needed. It makes perfect sense to go with a single product and stick to it so it becomes second nature.

Exercises from Joe Gore for the little one. Joe Gore's The Subversive Guitarist: Power to the Pinky!

Pro Tools is pretty easy once you setup the IO and audio interface. You can make a session template and load it each time with your custom settings. It has an awesome synthesizer which you can spend days exploring the amazing sounds. You are limited to 4 audio tracks which is not a limit for guitar players just starting recording. Pro Tools First is not time limited so you can use it for free as long as you want.

@NeilES335 The main limitation is the number of tracks you can record so it isn't limited for beginners. Yes the file is large so the download will take a while.

@Dave White Yes the Colin Hill method is a good way to go if he is available.

How to Demo an Acoustic Guitar

Nir Felder

@Texaspackerfan This is really good! You really are a good old boy in the best possible way. @Wim VD1 Finger pickin' good mash up. @IanD Nice start Ian. I would add some compression to bring up the soft parts.

Mark Knopfler on Guitars

https://www.cnn.com/2018/11/15/entertainment/roy-clark-dies/index.html Roy Clark - Malaguena (The Odd Couple)

@Oldjock Yes he is a funny guy. You can see him in many of the Anderton videos. He is pretty good player and he seems to know his gear. Fender Player Series

Here is a Paul Davids lesson I found recently about this subject. One shape for all arpeggios | Master the fretboard!