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I found this 2019 gem in my local music store. The 2020 is $100 more, and I got a sale price for Labor Day weekend. I traded in my Taylor GS Mini to help reduce the cost. I get Andy Powers design, and V-bracing. The GS Mini was a good little guitar, but the Grand Pacific is a much richer experience. Then of course there is the case, and what a case it is.

How do we go about selecting a guitar shop / luthier to perform a setup or other work? This is a decision that can either go great or have unexpected serious negative consequences!!! Taylor Customer Service recommended that I play my new guitar a while before having a setup done. That was wise counsel that I should have heeded! I failed! That is good advice regardless of who manufactured your guitar. I selected a shop that has been in business for 45 years and is a Taylor dealer to go over a new Taylor 814ce Dlx very carefully . What I was left with is heartbreaking and unimaginable. I had asked that they go over it carefully and wanted the string height at the 12th fret to between the Taylor recommended .080 and .090. A pretty small margin. This is my FIRST expensive guitar. I now have to go through unbelievable inconvenience and expense to even get the guitar back to Taylor specifications. A setup on a new guitar should NOT require major modifications, but small adjustments on the trifecta +1 of Action: Neck Relief String Height at the 12th Fret String Height at the Nut Taylor Guitars also have shims in the neck that can be changed to impact action With minor adjustments major improvements can be delivered. BUT, the one doing the work has to be professional and ethical. I believe that any ethical guitar repair shop / Luthier would not deliver substandard work and if they made a mistake they should let you know, correct it and not hide it under the saddle! Let my experience be a cautionary tale about how you go about selecting a Luthier to make repairs or do a setup on your prized guitar. A setup should only require small adjustments to the specific areas above. In the case of a Taylor things are done a little differently because of the Taylor NT Neck with the Taylor neck shims. Like me, you have a lot invested regardless of the price of the guitar. Money invested is one thing, but we have time, effort and emotions connected to the guitar we selected to purchase and play regardless if it is new, used or we have been playing it for a long time. We love our prized guitar! Don't end up in my situation! Choose who works on your guitar wisely! Pictures of the saddle modified by ----------------------- on a new Taylor 814ce Dlx I cannot take a picture of the G string hanging at the nut and popping loudly when it releases when it is tuned up or down. This makes it impossible to tune! -------------------------------------- delivered a guitar with a shim under the High E and B string and a G string that is hanging in the nut making it almost impossible to tune. If you tune the G string down it hangs and the pops loudly at the nut. If you try and tune it up the G string hangs in the nut and the pops loudly. I have been absolutely devastated by the unprofessional, unethical and unacceptable work they performed. When I got home (overseas) the guitar had no tone, projection or sustain. I was in denial, but after three weeks I could not take it anymore and pulled the saddle to compare it to a new Taylor saddle. What I found was extremely upsetting!

https://www.taylorguitars.com/ebonyproject?utm_source=email_tg&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=apr18_insider Bob Taylor on efforts to provide quality wood for guitars today and in the future.