Disappointment... :-(

[Bytor1975]

As some of you know, I had plans on getting a Baby Taylor for my newborn son when he was born. His middle name is Taylor, and it seemed fitting, especially since I love playing my Taylor acoustic.

So a few months ago the plan was put in motion. I was going to have a Mahogany Baby Taylor laser etched with his name and birthday around the soundhole. This had been a free option on them for sometime, you just had to order it through the custom shop. I made some phone calls to make sure all of my ducks were in a row before the birth came. But between communicating with two dealers, a rep, and two different customer service reps at Taylor, all fo the sudden I was getting conflicting information that this was able to be done now. To make a long story short, Taylor moved their Baby and Big Baby production to Mexico, and their old Baby/Big Baby factory was converted to produce the overwelming need for more of the new T5s. Because of the change of factories, the laser etching was no longer available. Ok, dissapointing, but I can deal with that.

So now the idea turned to ORDERING a Baby from the hospital room right after Logan was born, so the receipt would have his birthday on it. So I did that, and then about five days later the guitar showed up. MORE disappointment. While the guitar sounded and played great, the back of the neck had splotch discolorations/stains all up and down it! It also had finish overlaping on the sides of the neck. I wasn't going to have that and sent it back. No problem. Probably just a fluke.

Fast forward to last night. I get home from work and the replacemnt guitar is here at the house. I open it up and damned if it isn't the same way. At first I thought it was the same guitar, but closer inpsection found the splotches were not quite as bad as the previous. I decided right then that it was going back, but before I packed it up I decided to strum it a little and I was horrified at the fret job! EVERY fret end could be felt jutting out down the sides neck! This thing was in Wal Mart/First Act guitar territory I tell you! No excuse, as I have played two of my friend's older Baby Taylor's very often and those guitars have top notch fret and finish jobs.

Well, it is going back and I am going another route. I'm done messing with that and I am very disappointed in Taylor. It this is what we can expect from their Mexican line, then I very well may be through with them all together, American made as well. Is it too late to change my boy's name to Fender?

Here are some photos I took last night right before I boxed it back up. I didn't take any of the first guitar, since I figured it was just a fluke. Judge for yourself. I know it is a $250 guitar, but still, am I just being too picky or what?

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/bytor1975/MahoganyBabyTaylor/DSC07339.gif

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/bytor1975/MahoganyBabyTaylor/DSC07335.gif

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/bytor1975/MahoganyBabyTaylor/DSC07334.gif

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/bytor1975/MahoganyBabyTaylor/DSC07333.gif

[Bytor1975]

More photos... the first guitar was worse than this one!


http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/bytor1975/MahoganyBabyTaylor/DSC07330.gif

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/bytor1975/MahoganyBabyTaylor/DSC07328.gif

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/bytor1975/MahoganyBabyTaylor/DSC07323.gif

[Cat]

Honestly Jason if I had spent $100 on that guitar I still wouldnt be happy with that finish. That is absolutely disgusting. Very very dissapointing effort from Taylor.

Cat

[Justpickin]

Wow...terrible! What kind of quality control is that!? For 250.00 it should be a sweet guitar...leads you to believe Taylor doesn't want to be bothered with a 250.00 guitar, a Walmart guitar looks better! That sucks Jason. Any other alternatives?...luthier custom work or something?

[Bytor1975]

. Any other alternatives?...luthier custom work or something?
Options are open at this point. I am going to call Taylor when they open up today and gripe, but i don't think there is anything they can do at this point. But for an alternative, I still want to stay in that general price range. He may hate guitar on down the road! :yikes:

[Cat]

He may hate guitar on down the road! :yikes:
Somehow I dont think he will be allowed to :) How is the little tike Jason?

Cat

[Bytor1975]

He is great when he isn't crying all night long! LOL!

[OLDWANNABEE]

:( That is Horrible,you can see the saw marks on the headstock! I can't believe anyone would let a finish like that leave the shop and then charge over $25 for it,you really should file a complaint with them. I paid $118 for my Affinity Strat-used and except for a couple of rough frets it was almost flawless. Give em Hell Jason!

[SinnerBoy]

That guitar finish is unacceptable even if it was on a $50 guitar. Sammick are turning out way better finishes than that on much cheaper instruments, what are Taylor playing at? Good luck in choosing an alternative Jason.

Glad to hear that Logan has a healthy pair of lungs :) He might become a lead guitarist AND vocalist - always the most famous combination!

[pit_s_xroad]

Hi Jason,

can only agree the others... bad and disappointing... the name TAYLOR had such a great vibration and now this... :yikes:

250 bucks is a lot of money... I gotta work quite a while for it... so it 's simply only fair to get an OK geetaar... :mad:

curious what happens next when they got back the second git.......

Great !!! to hear that the little boy is fine.... :thumbsup:

Greets
PIT

[Alucard]

Okay first off, its a real shame taylor screwed you like that, and it real cool what is being doen for the kid...i wish my parents were as good as you must be. And the laser eching would have been sweet. But dude come on dont rag on first acts.....that is my first guitar.....and i restringed it with ghs boomers, and i have not played a gitar with better tone. The frets and paint job on it are sweet, and it is the best playing guitar i own. I do really hate the fact of them setting you up like that though. Check into a local shop, there are things usaully hanging on the wall about custom guitar work, im sure they could do it, or help set yoiu up with soemone that could.

[WireNWood]

I'm in complete agreement with everyone else here. That thing is awful. Samick, Dean, Oscar Schmidt/Washburn... lots of names certainly offer a much better-quality product than THAT for less money. You can have the engraving done locally and be way ahead.

I suppose it was realistically only a matter of time before Taylor began to rest on their laurels and try to pass slipshod stuff.

What will really count is whether they continue this or correct themselves.

[WireNWood]

Of, course I know the primary point for you was the name "Taylor".

Geez, I could put his name on a headstock. Does he like girlie pictures?

I'm kidding.


You know that.




right?

[Justpickin]

Of, course I know the primary point for you was the name "Taylor".

Geez, I could put his name on a headstock. Does he like girlie pictures?

I'm kidding.

You know that.
right?

Sounds like a plan to me!....I'm sure as he ages, he'll appreciate a "custom WNW Headstock"........ :)

[Jossy]

Sounds like a plan to me!....I'm sure as he ages, he'll appreciate a "custom WNW Headstock"........ :)


Nice idea. Ray's headstocks are very cool. And sadly, that Taylor guitar sure is a dissapointment...

How about a nice Tele or Squier 51 with a WnW custom headstock? He wont hate that for sure...

Saludos.

[Justpickin]

Nice idea. Ray's headstocks are very cool. And sadly, that Taylor guitar sure is a dissapointment...

How about a nice Tele or Squier 51 with a WnW custom headstock? He wont hate that for sure...

Saludos.

And then have a neckplate engraved with "Taylor", and the birthdate....see, we're developing a guitar for the little guy.

[Jossy]

And then have a neckplate engraved with "Taylor", and the birthdate....see, we're developing a guitar for the little guy.

Of course the hardcase has to be customized too...with a nice Bobba Fett engraving, perhaps... :thumbsup:

Gee, that would be a pretty nice guitar for :thumbsup: little Logan, right?

Saludos.

[Justpickin]

Of course the hardcase has to be customized too...with a nice Bobba Fett engraving, perhaps... :thumbsup:

Gee, that would be a pretty nice guitar for :thumbsup: little Logan, right?

Saludos.

I think we're there Jossy!...all we need to do is decide on color!.... :)

[Jossy]

I think we're there Jossy!...all we need to do is decide on color!.... :)

Well, im sure baby Logan would like something classic...how about some nice 3 tone sunburst?

Saludos.

[Justpickin]

Well, im sure baby Logan would like something classic...how about some nice 3 tone sunburst?

Saludos.
Yeah...that works...Dad likes sunburst....what about neck...maple or rosewood?

[Jossy]

Yeah...that works...Dad likes sunburst....what about neck...maple or rosewood?


I'd go for the maple one, but rosewood looks nice too.

Saludos.

[nothin but the blues]

:WTF: ...... not to worry, he'll just be a Martin lover :rockon:

[Bytor1975]

Thanks for all the posts guys. It is strange how this has affected me. It really got me feeling down last night... and I realized how much guitars mean to me. I needed to step back and get a grip and realize we are talking about pieces of glued together wood.

Anyhow, I am still on a crusade. I called and talked to Taylor's customer service today, and the lady requested my photos to be emailed to her. I went ahead and emailed them to Bob Taylor with an explanation as well. You see, Taylor has a little quarterly magazine that they send the owners called Wood & Steel, and this past issue Bob addressed the new Tecate, Mexico factory and reassured Taylor fans that there would be no drop in quality from the guitars coming out of there. He needs to see these pictures.

Maybe nothing will come out of this, maybe something will. Who knows.

[Justpickin]

Maybe a Freebie!! (hush wood)

[SinnerBoy]

:lol: Ya neva neva know. But you are right to submit the pics and follow through Jason. If I owned a company such as Taylor I'd want to know if one of my plants was turning out shoddy gear. They have a solid reputation to maintain.

[shrinkme]

Good luck with this Jason. I bet you are going to get at least some satisfaction on this deal.

[Jossy]

Good luck with this Jason. I bet you are going to get at least some satisfaction on this deal.

I agree.

Saludos.

[romdos]

Best of luck with it Jason... I toyed with buying my son a Baby Taylor several years ago for his first guitar... best price at the time was close to 300.00, but they were nice... I ended up buying a Yamaha for him for less than half that cost, and it' appears to be a much nicer instrument than the Taylor they sent you... Give em' hell.....

[Spiritinthesky2k]

Sorry to hear about your troubles Jason. That really sucks. The worst part is that it was a really cool idea in the first place. Is there any way yopu could have a luthier do the engraving? Assuming that is, you can get a half decent one from the factory.

[Time Pieces]

Buy him another 'baby' instrument. A baby grand piano! He might not even like the guitar!

Just kidding.....I totally agree. Tayor should be notified of this shabby bit of work.In todays age, with the internet and all these chat rooms, it's a hell of alot easier for a company to get a bad rap, real fast, unlike say 20 years back. If they are what I hope they are, this will be resolved and who knows Jason, you might be in line for some kinda kick-back.......till then I got my fingers crossed.

[Bytor1975]

The guys over at the Taylor forum are pretty mortified by this guitar as well. Still waiting on a response, but I am betting they had the holiday off today.

[Brew]

They might be mortified, but I doubt that this is any real surprise to them, to be honest. I think that your experence is only "reinforcing a few suspicions" they might have had over the quality of these budget Taylors.

If I can take this very slightly off topic… On the back of totally OTT rave reviews in the UK guitar mags, a couple of years ago, I decided to buy a Taylor Big Baby, and am sorry to say that this standard of QC seems to be more common than you might think. I checked out over a dozen guitars in seven different shops – and incidentally, these were all USA made.

My over-riding memory is one of impossibly high action, low quality tuners, cheap looking woods - with lots of filler and streaky finishes, roughly finished seams, rough frets, badly fitted necks (although they are bolt-on, so that could have been fixed!) and – worst of all - crappy over bright tin-like tone.

Talking to the sales' guys when they realise you arent buying it - I asked "Are they ALL this bad?". More often than not - you would recieve a grimace followed by "er....no Comment!".

I actually bought the “best” one that I found, because I wanted something that I could leave at my mother in law’s in France – and I thought that it might be “improve-able”. It wasn’t. It is still quite possibly the candidate for my personal “Worst P-O-S Ever” award.

It was eBayed after two weeks… and I really wished that I had bought the budget model I preferred – a “fibre board” OOO sized Martin… (Yes! Really!) that I had tried in GAK Brighton.


I don’t know what guitars the likes of “Guitarist” and “Guitar” magazines were trying out “on our behalf” – but the models that I tried and tested bore no resemblance to those reviewed. A little bit of corporate incentive might have been at work somewhere… perhaps?


DISCLAIMER:
All of this is an account of my own experience and not the opinion of the Fenderpick board!! :)

[TexMexMike]

Man! What a huge let-down! I so remember your plans on getting the Baby Taylor.

To me. There is no excuse! Come on. So it is made in Mexico! You tell me that Taylor dumps millions into a new factory in Mexico, and doesn't have someone from here over seeing it? Making sure that quality control is in check before they start shipping? GEESH!

$250.00 is $250.00. And not chump change. I have seen better quality guitars in Tijuana for $30.00 dollars!

EDIT: I should stress, "finish wise" on the above TJ comment.

[Bytor1975]

Interestingly enough, over on the Taylor board where they are appaled as well, a gentleman emailed me and said that he bought one two weeks ago and it is nothing like mine. I asked him for his serial number at it appears to have been made two days earlier. I am kicking myself for not writting down and shooting pix of the first guitar, but I figured it was just a fluke. The main problem on this guitar seems to be the neck, not the body. So I guess someone may have been sleeping at the wheel in the neck line that day, maybe?

[Justpickin]

So I guess someone may have been sleeping at the wheel in the neck line that day, maybe?

And at final assembly? and at final inspection? and at packaging?

[Bytor1975]

And at final assembly? and at final inspection? and at packaging?
Good point. And Musician's Friend supposedly checks them out too. I could tell my the box end that it had been opened before since it had left Taylor.

[Slowhand]

sorry I am way late on posting here. Jason, that is a disgrace. It almost looks like someone intended to send it out that way. Either way, Taylor has to make good on this. It will be interesting to see how they respond.

[Brew]

Yeah. sorry to read of all this, Jason. And apologies for my "rant" hijacking your thread. The shame of all this, is that this has soured the fantastic gesture you made, to celebrate the birth of your son. I hope sincerely that this all sorts itself out.

[Bytor1975]

An update: I recieved an email today from both one of Taylor's customer service reps, as well as Bob Taylor himself. The customer service rep told be that she has forwarded the photos of my Baby Taylor to the Production Manager at the Tecate plant, and is waiting for a reply from him.

Bob messaged me to let me know that he has the pictures, but is unable to view them on his remote Palm while he is out of the country. He said he would go over them when he got home.

Anyhow, just thought I'd update you guys.

[Bytor1975]

Well, I haven't heard anything else from anyone at Taylor. It has been several weeks since the first emails went out. The bad Baby Taylors are gone, and I got my refund, so I was back to square one.

Since getting a Baby Taylor at birth is impossible now, I was on a hunt for a guitar for his first Christmas. I made some calls yesterday and tracked down one Mahogany Baby Taylor, new. Much to my surprise, when I asked the serial number of it, it was one built in El Cajon, California at the old plant before they switched to Tecate, Mexico (where the two I had trouble with were from.)

So today I took the day off, Mama, Logan, and myself went shopping for Christmas and see Santa Clause! At first we went to a small German store to buy this years nutcracker, which is a tradition that my wife and I have started. Every year we buy a German nutcracker to symbolize each Christmas together married. I guess cause were both nuts. LOL! Anyhow, after that it was to the mall to visit Santa, do some shopping, and then to the guitar store!

This Baby Taylor is what the others SHOULD have been! Made just like the ones I had played before! No glue running, no splotchy finish! So I bought it, and it looks like this will be in Little Logan's stocking this year!

The guitar is more like the first pic. They came out a little 'redder' in the other shots that it actually is:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/bytor1975/MahoganyBabyTaylor/DSC07457.gif

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/bytor1975/MahoganyBabyTaylor/DSC07470.gif

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/bytor1975/MahoganyBabyTaylor/DSC07472.gif

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y40/bytor1975/MahoganyBabyTaylor/DSC07484.gif

I'm happy with this guitar, still not happy with Taylor's Customer service though. But hopefully Logan will want to play when he gets a little older, and he will have a nice little guitar to start out on!

[Justpickin]

:thumbsup: ...very cool...glad all turned out well Jason......so when it was your turn to sit on Santa's lap, what did you ask for??......... :smoke:

[Slowhand]

Glad there's a happy ending to this story. :thumbsup:

Nice little guitar you got there! Logan should be very happy. What is the age range for playing these Taylors?

[Bytor1975]

I had a 7 year old girl that I taught a few years ago playing one. Within a year she was on a full sized Strat.

[Bytor1975]

:thumbsup: ...very cool...glad all turned out well Jason......so when it was your turn to sit on Santa's lap, what did you ask for??......... :smoke:
LOL... this is no shit, about two years ago I was at the same mall, and it wasn't Christmastime. I had to take a leak so I was at the urinal and out of the corner of my eye I swore I saw someone I recognized. And of course, using proper urinal etiquette, I looked to see who it was.... and damned if it wasn't Santa! Or at least it was someone that looked like Santa. So as I flushed and went to wash my hands, I looked in the mirror at his back and he had jeans on and a leather belt that had SANTA embossed into it!

Then another story... I used to play a bar in this little one horse town way up in the mountains of West Virginia. Took us four hours to get there, and they had a little trailer we could stay at out back after the show. Well, the owner looked like SANTA! So after the show me and a guitarist was talking with him and he said his name was SANTA! He whipped out his drivers license and damned if that guy didn't legally change his name to Santa Clause and he drove his Harley in parades and did stuff for Toys For Tots!

[SinnerBoy]

Looks really nice Jason, pity you had to go "round the houses" as we say here. It'll be great for little Logan to have such a sweet guitar to hand when he gets older.

Athair agus a mhic ag seinm ceol le céile
A father and his son playing music together (in Irish)

[pit_s_xroad]

Hi Jason,

...glad to hear that a long frustrating story found it's happy end finally.... it's a nice looking guitar... congrats for the find....

Cheers
PIT :-)

[TexMexMike]

Glad that the right guitar fell into your hands! Keep us updated as to anything else heard from Taylor! :music-smi

[WireNWood]

Well, a happy ending.

A little too much work along the way - but at least the desired end result.


:)

[romdos]

Great find Jason... I always like the mahogany myself... nice to find a USA made guitar as well... :thumbsup:

[romdos]

Glad there's a happy ending to this story. :thumbsup:

Nice little guitar you got there! Logan should be very happy. What is the age range for playing these Taylors?


The 3/4 size guitars make great travel instruments for adults as well, as great starter guitars for children... I know several people who have purchased 3/4 size intruments to carry with when they go out of town. They pack into a smaller area making them easier to take along...

[Jossy]

Great, a happy ending. I wonder if those guys at Taylor would do anything about it. It doesn't seem likely.

Saludos.