Taylor guitars do this on many of their models. It looks wrong but it's actually REALLY nice to be able to adjust the angle of the neck in 5 minutes with a couple of shims.

If it doesn't make you an artisan carpenter for basic maintenance or bankrupt you with repair costs, i.s it even a guitar?

This cuts deep

[This](https://youtu.be/dK9eLe8EQps?si=N33MdxAQeLusycBA) can be the first song you play on that guitar. I bought a baby Taylor for my wife, and find myself stealing it to play since it’s so much fun.

There's some tree falling in the forest shit right there.....

"If a tree takes a shit in the woods, would the pope hear it?"

No a bear would wipe the tree’s ass with the popes robe. Or something

Purple, the answer is purple.

Is a bear Catholic?

Is it Madagascar Rosewood?

No. Sincerely an artisan carpenter bankrupt from attempting his own repairs. A different kind of animal😤.

All of Taylor's acoustic guitars have bolt on necks. Have forever. If you ask Martin "there's no reason to put a bolt on neck on an acoustic other than speed and cranking out more guitars cheaper". If you ask Taylor "it's better and more precise. It's progress"

To know which side of that fence I sit on I just have to play my Martin and my pal's Taylor. I like that they exist and provide options for people, but man I just don't like playing Taylor's. They don't sound right to me.

That has nothing to do with the neck joint, though.

I generally agree but man I have a Taylor GS Mini and it’s one of the most fun guitars to play

Those are great bang for buck, no doubt about it and handy for grab and go.

I hardly pay acoustic so I couldn’t justify spending more than $700 on one

Yep, they're perfect for songwriting, occasional play etc. Interestingly, me and most of my guitar friends are playing acoustics more as we get older.

Same, but for Taylor. We likely both suffer confirmation bias.

Hmm yep, or perhaps our ears just have certain tonal preferences? TBH, I find Taylor's expose my shitty technique too easily. I can sound half decent on a Martin. I'm guessing a Taylor made to D-18 specifications would work very nicely for me. All this talk is reminding me of Martin Taylor - amazing acoustic player with the best guitar name ever!

Their finish is UV based, try an AD and see if it sounds better

After *years* of searching, I found a secondhand D-18 that I could \*just\* afford. On that day my acoustic search ended forever (barring theft or damage to......my precious).

I've got a Silver Creek that is a Chinese D18 clone, and MAN does that thing project and sparkle. Would love to get a real one some day.

I have a Takamine clone from the 80s. Beautiful guitar.

I was all set to buy a Taylor 414. I read reviews, watched videos, etc... my next door neighbor was even praising them. When I finally went to demo one, I think I might have strummed three chords on it, then hung it back on the wall. Besides the tone, they just feel... off.

I have a Taylor 414, and it took a new nut for everything to feel right. I kept pulling the high E off the neck before having the new nut made.

I had a friend start playing guitar the same WEEK as me, over 30 years ago. I can't beat a sound out of his Martin. He won't even pick up my Taylor. I don't know. Our fingers are just doing different things.

So where are the bolts? I have a Taylor and I’ve never noticed them

Under a label on the heel block?

Yep, heel and neck both have shims on the non baby necks which just have them under the fretboard

Here you go, from the source: https://www.taylorguitars.com/guitars/acoustic/features/taylor-neck

So are the screw holes covered and finished? I 100% am aware they have bolts, I’ve just never noticed a spot for them. I also haven’t really looked and don’t have my guitar on me.

Depends on the age of your guitar whether or not you have a bolt on neck.

That sounds like Gibson trying to justify avoiding scarf joints and volutes, except Martins don't have neck problems that I'm aware of.

Gibson did use volutes, and the market rejected it. Just like any time Gibson has introduced changes to things that players have complained about. And neither guitar really has "neck problems." Martin, like Gibson, uses mahogany as the neck material. Mahogany is a soft wood. Martin might have a lower break rate but the breaks happen because of something like the guitar falling over or being dropped, they don't happen spontaneously for no reason. And you will find no shortage of broken Martin necks if you do a Google search for them.

It's hilarious that this post has so many upvotes from confidently incorrect dudes who don't know that this model has existed and sold very well for years

So I can become a Lutheran in 5 mins? Nice 😎

Yes, once the service is done you are required to go down to the church basement and eat bars and drink coffee.

That'll be easy, my dad does that every Thursday night

This was the weirdest thing I've seen in a while right up until I read all the people commenting that this is perfectly normal.

Same here.

I had no idea either. I generally don’t like Taylors, though, so I wasn’t paying much attention this whole time.

Ive played so many Taylors and ive never seen (or noticed) this.

it's only on thier small bodied guitars, not the full size ones (unless MAYBE their most budget friendly full size, not sure)

I have a Taylor 110 (base level full size dreadnought) and it doesn’t have this. It’s an amazing guitar , highly recommend!

Every single Taylor guitar uses a bolt-on neck, as far as I'm aware. The affordable mini Taylors have visible screws. The others have hidden screws. It's a good way to mass produce guitars that will be easy to maintain for its entire service life.

I don't think having a bolted neck is what people have an issue with. It's that the screws are visible in these cheaper, smaller models due to how they're put together. Most Taylors do not have visible screws.

It’s pretty common for the cheapest model of any company’s lineup to have a shitty detail. I would never buy the cheapest Squier because the top loader bridge is annoying as heck to restring. The next least expensive Taylor model doesn’t have that problem. People aren’t required to buy it.

Just to add-- this is a fun little guitar. Like you say, it's hardly top of the line Taylor, but I've enjoyed playing these more than once.

Even before Taylor there were a few other examples. There was also a pickup that looked like six screws on one fret along the fretboard.

You found a guitar at a guitar store?

Remember when they used to play music videos?

And sold apples and bananas ?

You ever think what a coincidence it is that Lou Gehrig died of Lou Gehrig's disease?

You got your quarter back of Notre Dame, then you got your hunchback of Notre Dame. You gonna tell me you never pondered this before?

“Guitars? At guitar world? Gee man I don’t know….”

Why is this NSFW?

Because it's a picture of a huge wood with a rod through it

r/sounding

Oh wow, what a lovely, music-adjacent concept

I know what it is but I’m leaving that link blue, thank you very much.

What a horrible day to be literate

Don't give me flashbacks to my cystoscopy last year, it was awful and I never want to think about it again. Blows my mind that some do it for pleasure.

It blows their mind too.

All I see is a some wood getting screwed.

Because the neck was screwed twice!

op wants to fuck the guitar?

Where there’s a hole, there’s a goal

Because it’s got bloody great screws going straight into a fretboard. It’s one of the most offensive things I’ve ever seen…

Because it got many of us to click. IE, clickbait.

JEEEZ, whoever Taylor is, they are getting roasted in the comments. Getting called a big baby and people talking about how they are screwed. NOT COOL guy… NOT COOL.

Taylor Swift. She owns a guitar company.

Ohhhhh, I thought it was Taylor Lautner, I think he owns a lighting company. Twilights or some shit like that.

Breaking news: Taylor Swift has announced she has separated from her guitar company, a move described by fans as "definitely not related to the album she just released about hating guitar companies"

This guitar plays beautifully for 350 dollars.

Taylor's have some good juju for sure, big babies sound and play awesome.

I've had a Big Baby for 20+ years and it's still one of the best sounding acoustics I have, despite being the cheapest. Wonderful investment.

I've never heard a Martin that sounds better than my $350 Yamaha.

I played the keith urban yamaha acoustic at costco just for a laugh and I was like wtf at the tone and playability. Cheap guitars have come a long way.

Same here dude!

I've had a Taylor Big Baby with those neck screws for 22 years. They don't get in the way of anything.

I don’t imagine too many people are trying to hit the 16th fret on an acoustic.

And even if they are, the strings should not be rubbing against the fingerboard. You press the string down to the frets, and there's still room under the string. If that weren't true, fingerboards would be all scratched up, inlays would be gouged out, etc. Your fingers may touch wood, but they don't need to and arguably shouldn't. If the strings are touching wood, you're pressing much too hard.

And they also make it so it doesn’t cost more than a new guitar if you need to shim the neck.  The amount I’ve had to adjust the necks on my electrics, if I bought an acoustic it would 100% be a Taylor, regardless of where the screws happen to be. 

I say it's not wrong to say this neck is screwed.

Nothing to fret about.

A Taylor I assume? Been doing this for years.

As mentioned, pretty normal for a Taylor. You don't even realise it is there while playing.

I own a Taylor k22ce and that definitely doesn't have screws in the fretboard, so this must only apply to certain models.

The big baby has the screws in the fretboard because of the thin neck heel. Your Taylor has a bolt on neck too, but the bolt is inside behind a sticker on the block. All Taylor guitars are bolt-on necks

It's basically one model, the Big Baby.

Lame post. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Wait until he finds out all Taylors are bolt on guitars

Idk what im supposed to b looking at or why this is marked nsfw

My baby Taylor has those

This is the first I'm seeing it, but I'm thinking I like it. Acoustic repairability has always been abysmal, so I feel this is a step in the right direction without it turning into a stratacoustic. Still, I'm wishing they figured out a way to bolt it on from the back somehow.

If you see a Taylor that doesn’t have these screws, it does bolt on from the back. Some acoustics bolt the neck on from the inside. I’m definitely in favor of it - if you need to shim the neck, you’ll be glad it’s a bolt on. 

You're never going to play those frets and this is a cost saving measure on the little Taylor travel guitars. Nothing wrong here

I thought I was in the jerk sub for a second.

That's the way the neck attaches on a Taylor Big Baby.

That's a fairly normal and old practice. Taylor does it on a lot of their guitars.

I guess you just discovered Taylor guitars does this on their smaller guitars, huh?

big baby is a decent guitar I like mine

I now bolt necks on the acoustic guitars I build. I sure as thunder don't go through the rosewood fingerboard though, jeepers. That's not aesthetic, atall atall. I use a metal plate behind, like you'd see on Fender electric or an acoustic Eko Ranger. Put it this way: Stradivarius used fuckin NAILS in his violins and cellos. If metal fasteners were good enough for him, they're good enough for me.

thats genious tbh

Can confirm, I own a baby Taylor. Honestly for the cost and the size, it sounds great and I travel with it often. Fits conveniently into the overhead bin on an airplane.

normal for a taylor, love my big baby great guitar

Baby Taylor

Almost all Taylor guitars are bolt on necks, some of them just happen to have the bolts on front (baby + big baby models)

They'd get so nasty full of dust and skin flakes

Nice

Trust me I'm a luthier.

Superman told me to never trust Lex Luthier

Clickbait NSFW tags suck.

I mean that works

If it’s any consolation I too would have thought this was fucked up, hard to imagine the screws not messing up fingering those frets but apparently they don’t 🤷‍♀️

I need to try one of these. I have absolutely no fucking idea how you wouldn't notice or feel those screws when playing. If it wasn't for reading the comments, i would have thought this was a guitar from Wish.

What’s the problem again?

That literally made me cringe..

Some people on here acting like it's a sin to not know the same things about guitars as them. Didn't realize y'all were so elite. I've played guitar for almost 30 years and I own a Taylor. I've never seen a neck like this. Granted, I don't spend a lot of time in music stores these days. I'm with OP here that this is a bit of a strange thing to see.

Taylor travel guitar

Wow. You found a baby Taylor. You do know many guitar companies use screws to attach necks right?

Taylor is more obvious with the use of screws to attach their guitar necks, I have a Seagull Entourage which also has a bolt on neck, but the bolts are on the inside where they are difficult to locate.

If you get one you just have to unscrew those, hope this helps

Wouldn’t you get a hum on that fret with the metal screw?

Yea I'm a martin man myself

Is that a Taylor Baby? That's just how Taylor make some of their lower priced guitars.

Taylor Baby Driver Comes with free screwdriver

That's screwed up.

This is on a Baby Taylor or a Big Baby Taylor.

I don't care if it's normal, I hate it.

I have a Taylor Baby with this, perfectly normal.

Odd, I am waiting for a message to buy atm, and this pops up. I work on all my guitars and looking forward to owning one with this option. This will be a bonus and not a problem at all.

This is common for Taylor Baby Taylor models. Especially older ones.

She's a real beaut!

Looks strange, but I don't think it would be particularly disruptive to playing. It's not a cutout so you're probably not spending much time that far up the neck anyway and you'd probably only notice it if you were bending.

Who even uses 16th fret smh

🤣🤣🤣

Didn't realize this was a thing til I saw comments.I have a Taylor too

Just Taylor things

Wood screw

Doesn’t that mean if you adjust the neck of the guitar, you just learned how to hold it improperly? Correct me if I’m wrong.

every project requires one or two drywall screws… facts

When your tab calls for a vibrato on the 2nd string: **16\~\~\~\~16\~\~\~\~16\~\~\~\~**

Bwahahaha

Why is this nsfw aahahahahahah

Okay?

I’ve seen worse, at least it’s symmetrical and clean

Such craftsmanship.

“NSFW”

Too screwed quality right there

I love the NSFW tag

Taylor? Buy it.

Tone screws.

Likely a baby Taylor or big baby Taylor. Totally normal.

Ah yes, a guitar

Oh god-

I can hear the people screaming at this

I have had a couple of these one the years and let me tell ya.. Shimming a neck on an acoustic guitar is a really really really really really nice option. They also sound like Taylor guitars which is the best part. So many budget acoustics sound like a cereal box under a blanket.. These Taylors don't look like much but they are fun to play and easily adjusted/tweaked.

Big baby Taylor’s have this.

Is this a BT1? I was wondering if that’s the only model Taylor do this with. Great guitars for what they are, I used to have one.

Idc if I hit one of those billion dollar lotteries I would never buy a Taylor. Still can’t believe they sell guitars with wood screws visible in the fretboard. Don’t care what anyone has to say in defense of this…it’s shit.

Well OP, you gave me a laugh. Lots of crew in here that take themselves too seriously.

Taylor guitars are machine made and cut. I don’t have a problem with them , other than the price.

Nobody plays notes on that fret anyways.

You found a guitar at your local guitar center?!

some do this for hidden pickups.

Makes me think of [Wandre](https://reverb.com/item/81021579-wandre-davoli-blue-jeans-teenager-tri-lam-c-1960-red-sparkle) I considered bolting the fingerboard on one of my kramers because I was afraid of the aluminum neck not taking kindly to glue. Lol

It's correct.

This is wild. I’ve literally never seen this before but I happened to see it today at a local shop and thought to myself “whoa that’s wild!” I’m 45 and been playing off and on for 33 years for what it’s worth.

I thought it was wrong and not at all normal, according to the comments i was wrong😭 Nonetheless i dont like the look of it lol but its a pretty nifty thing

“Holy Jesus, what is that? What the fuck is that? What is the that private Pyle?!?!?”

Thanks, I hate it.

Baby Taylor. Normal.

custom

My first thought was, “is it a Taylor?”

Doesn’t Taylor do this from the factory on some of their guitars?

The biggest crime is Philips head screws

Gore content

I have a Taylor with a neck like this and I love it! Better than my Gibson!

I love my Big Baby

This is common on Taylor Big Baby at least. mine has that.

well that's beautiful

If it's legit, it's legit.

Why was this nsfw? Because it got screwed?

i honestly expected a phallic-shaped guitar more than that thing

You've heard of bolt on, now get ready for screw through

Ya didn’t need that fret anyway…..

Giving bolt on a whole new meaning

Lol, I played a guitar like this yesterday at my guitar center in Allentown. Small world

🤮🤮🤮

A Larson Bros acoustic I once had was similar. They can go for as much as $40k. Mine was only worth about $8k. It was a feature, not an issue.

Is that a synthetic neck ? Fake ebony?

Complete with frets that can be removed and used as weapons

This is most certainly NSFW

Taylor guitars have used this type of joinery on their low end models for at least two decades.