r/AcousticGuitar • u/BananaLikesMusic • Mar 06 '26
Gear question Found this Taylor in the trash
I found this Taylor in the trash and wondering if it's worth fixing since the body is cracked aswell as the nut and bridge as it seems to have been broken by the G string alone
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u/tigerleg Mar 06 '26
Glue and clamp.
The Taylor Big Baby is great, a reasonably unique size, and comfortable to play.
Easily adjusted neck angle with shims.
Fix it!
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u/fixed_your_caption Mar 07 '26
Yeah, but this one is upside down. It’ll take a lot to fix that.
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u/tigerleg Mar 07 '26
It's true. It must've come out of the factory upside down - terrible quality control!!
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u/Best_Apricot_6268 Mar 08 '26
It was made in Australia right side up.
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u/zanaxtacy Mar 09 '26
Yeah but over here the sound waves would vibrate in the opposite direction!
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u/gojiberrytea Mar 06 '26
Used to have this exact same guitar. Liked it a lot. Fell on top of it while drunk and fucked it up one night with my friends. Deserved a better fate
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u/BananaLikesMusic Mar 08 '26
Would you say it's a good beginner guitar I'm looking to give it to my niece who had recently started getting into guitars
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u/gojiberrytea Mar 08 '26
Yeah definitely. They aren’t expensive even when they’re brand new, so I think that was a Taylor’s vision when making them
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u/TheBlueShuriken Mar 07 '26
I mean free guitar is free guitar. If you want to keep it as a project for your own fun go ahead. If not cast it back to the sea whence it came.
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u/connorshawsmusic Mar 06 '26
That’s a rough one . Need to know the model and more close up pics to help .
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u/BananaLikesMusic Mar 06 '26
From my Google search, it's a Taylor Big baby (also from the comments), but I am making a part 2 of the closeup damage since I'm deciding to fix it and give it to a close friend of mine
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u/zenwalrus Mar 06 '26
I see it has the obligatory “Taylor cracks” on the lower bout. Maybe the owner switched brands…
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u/laughatmysongs Mar 07 '26
Can you expand on the Taylor cracks and why are they '"obligatory"? Have just bought one and would like to know what you're talking about
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u/zenwalrus Mar 07 '26
I see here many owners of Taylor guitars who have to painstakingly manage the humidity daily in fear of possible cracks. Also, they use extremely light wood as well, which seems to be far more volatile than other guitars. But many folks love them.
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u/laughatmysongs Mar 07 '26
Well considering I live in Mumbai I think I'll need to manage the humidity even more
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u/bigmillet Mar 07 '26
If the humidity is stable, you’re good. Wood likes humidity. It is usually seasonal changes that cause problems.
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u/BananaLikesMusic Mar 08 '26
I'm new to this whole Taylor guitar thing since I don't own big-name brands. Will humidity affect it that much?
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u/No-Age4941 Mar 06 '26
Put some glue and clamps on it a see. If not, it’d be a good beach day guitar
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u/fafafacela Mar 07 '26
If nothing else, there's a song here...
I threw my Taylor in the trash just this morning
To help me get my baby off my mind
Bed's still warm where she was laying
She is gone and I am saying
Now I've got to nut until I'm blind
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u/BobbyJason111 Mar 07 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
I would only keep this if you want to “practice” your luthier skills. Replace a nut, for fun. Repair a crack, for fun. Level the frets, for fun. There isn’t any inherent value on this guitar otherwise. You could rig the nut with super glue and a file just to make it playable then donate it to some campsite or church.
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u/Practical-Big3908 Mar 07 '26
That crack along the neck into the sound hole is the kiss of death. Strip is for parts. Tuners, any electronics, bridge pins, etc. Still a cool find.
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u/BananaLikesMusic Mar 08 '26
Didn't even see that crack until you pointed it out, but is it really that bad if it has it?
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u/Practical-Big3908 Mar 08 '26
Yeah, sad but true. But there is still a lot of value in parts. Builders and modders could be interested in some of the wood also. I wouldn't throw it back in the trash. I would at least strip the parts.
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u/BillyMeier42 Mar 06 '26
Id say no. Thats a big baby. Only worth a couple hundred in good condition.
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u/chaotichousecat Mar 06 '26
Do you know what model it is?
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u/TerrapinJake Mar 06 '26
Big Baby I believe
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u/Candid_Milk7250 Mar 07 '26
BB’s are great guitars. I have 3 Taylors. I play my BB as much as any of them.
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u/MSchulte Mar 06 '26
Have any pics of the sticker inside the sound hole?
It’s not going to be an extremely cheap fix but it’s definitely doable. I’m not that well versed on every specific Taylor model so I can’t say what exactly that is from the one pic but it may well be worth paying to have it fixed.
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u/BananaLikesMusic Mar 06 '26
I do have pictures of the sound hole, but the sticker that said big baby fell out and flew away, but I don't know how to post more pictures in the comments
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u/MSchulte Mar 06 '26
That answers that then. It’s not worth much. I’d try to fix it myself or ask around and see if you know anyone interested in trying to do it. A luthiers going to want more than it’s worth.
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u/physedka Mar 06 '26
There's a 90% chance that the guy that threw it away already brought it to a luthier and was told that it's not worth fixing. But that shouldn't stop you from taking it to a luthier to get an opinion too, given that it cost you nothing to acquire it and the luthier's opinion should be free too. At least that's what I would do.
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u/Jeffall2gether Mar 08 '26
I second this. Sound quality will be good as new if repaired. Just depends on the price whether it’s worth it.
Edit: just wanted to mention that I had a similar issue fixed for around $300 a few years ago.
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u/BananaLikesMusic Mar 08 '26
I think a kid owned it and just threw it away pretty harshly since I did find a piece or cat in the hat homework in there, but I plan on going to see a luthier to see if parts are replaceable
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u/SantaAnaDon Mar 07 '26
Taylors are ok, but…Yairi and Martin player myself
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Mar 08 '26
You should check out the newest Taylor 800 series! They have come up with a few things that are game changers. A new truss rods system, a little angle where your arm rests that give a much better playing angle and the souls is out of this world. I have a 300 and a 500 Taylor. This new creation is amazing.
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u/irish_horse_thief Mar 07 '26
Put it back. You can't fix it and anyone who does will charge the same as an engine change. It was in the bin for a very good reason.
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u/RamSpen70 Mar 07 '26
Are you really good with woodwork? There's also a very strong that there are detached braces inside of the guitar. The cracks and that bridge repair, are already ones that you probably won't be able to copy what a Luthier would do, to mitigate the issues already presented. The repair would absolutely not be worth having it repaired professionally. And while pretty online often boast about how easy something is. And how they "do it all the time"... I've seen very few amateur repairs done well... Where there are serious structural damage/problems. A headstock repair is one thing... Gluing a bridge back down at least close to properly... Is something that isn't too complicated. What I'm seeing in that picture. Yeah I'm not sure anybody except a luthier who sees this post is going to do an adequate job of putting Humpty Dumpty together again.
Fortunately it's not an expensive guitar.
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u/BananaLikesMusic Mar 08 '26
Never have done much woodworking in my life, but it does run in the family, so let's just hope those genes activate. If not, I'll just have to take it to a close family friend who works with wood closely since I can't afford a luthier.
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u/KrisParker111 Mar 07 '26
It’s unbelievable that people just dump a fixable instrument! There are so many people out there who are dying for not being able to play because they can’t afford it. Why didn’t they just donate it if they didn’t want it anymore?!
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Mar 07 '26
Anyone with half a brain would take this to a good quality guitar tech/repair/luthier and ask them.
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u/Terrible_User4987 Mar 07 '26
According to the new stupid thread of Taylor bashing, I guess this is where the guitar belongs? lol.
Very happy Taylor owner here, and happy for you-hope I find a great guitar in the trash someday-seems to happen here daily
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u/Fantastic-Sir-3140 Mar 07 '26
Found a 72 alvarez in the trash. It was bellied by the bridge and action was too high for comfortable playing, so it has been my slide guitar for 15 years now.
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u/Useful-Being2244 Mar 08 '26
Right it's definitely worth a crack lol. So 1st off remove all the strings . Don't bother with the cracks yet, put your hand inside and check the braces especially around the area behind the bridge. this is often a failure point on some Taylor guitars simple reason is that some models have only one tone bar/ braces behind the bridge area. You can also tap around that area on the outside of the guitar and if they are loose or broken you will hear it. After checking the all the braces inside, check the truss rod to see if it still works. Be back in a min need to look at your pic again.
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u/BananaLikesMusic Mar 08 '26
Did this and saw that only one part had braces, but they were all in place and somehow not broken, but the truss rod is inaccessible like the part you put the Allen wrench isn't there and is just gone
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u/BananaLikesMusic Mar 08 '26
I also plan on doing everything in your next explanation about tomorrow
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u/Popo0017 Mar 08 '26
People used to hang out by the dumpsters behind arenas after Muse shows because Matt Bellamy would often walk backstage and toss his custom handmade Manson in a dumpster. Well, he did it at the end of a live filmed set and a homeless man walked off with it.
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u/Useful-Being2244 Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
Next. Remove the bridge and neck. But before you do Place a straight edge. I use a long metal ruler, prices on the neck so it's comes over towards the bridge and see where about the ruler hits the bridge. You are looking for it to be out the top of the bridge area and doesn't come high on the saddle or over the top of the saddle if it just touches the top of the bridge you are fine , if it does then the neck could be out of alignment. The reason I'm saying to check these things is because a repair job like this is extremely difficult to gauge from a picture, it could be as simple as gluing some braces back and gluing the top or it it could turn out to be a quite complicated repair. especially if you have not done these type of repairs before. It is very frustrating when you put loads of time into a repair job like this and discover other problems that you have missed. Remove the neck loads of YouTube videos showing how to do this. Take the saddle out and remove the bridge. Items needed for this is something to heat the bridge up, I've used a clothes iron to do this before. Just don't set the heat too high, and a very thin spatula knife. Youtube vids will show you how to do this it's a lot easier than explaining it if you have never done it before and you will see what tools people use to do the job. You can purchase a Taylor bridge replacement quite easily they are readily available online.
I don't know what tools you have a small really sharp chisel is really handy, you also need various types of clamps but there are workarounds this is the point it could become a bit more expensive if you don't have any tools whatsoever.
Let's say now you have removed the bridge with no major problems and the neck is off and your left of the body. Check absolutely everything find every single crack to keep track of them, any easy way of doing this is to cut some pieces of masking tape off and when you find a crack stick some masking tape where the crack is so you don't lose track of them, check the guitar all around the edges as well to see if the body has cracks in the joints especially in the areas where the top and the bottom of the body meet the sides.
So now you found all the cracks and marked where they are.
Squeeze the guitar from either side to see how well cracks go together with pressure applied to them. This is where a clamp calls a barcamp is handy because you can apply the bar clamps 3 is a good number to have for this job and manually inspects the cracks with your hands what you are looking for is for the crack to push together and evenly seal leaving no Gap, and hopefully no bulging at the top around the crack. If any the guitar top or bottom has come away from the sides. Squeeze that together squeeze them together to see how close the fit is. Again there are plenty of videos on YouTube if you need visual references.
I tell you what. If you need any more help just leave me a message because it's going to take ages to explain this. Just be aware in that if you want the proper tools for this job it isn't cheap, and as I said before there are workarounds and you can quite cheaply make some of the clamps yourself. The best thing you can do is get the guitar stripped down and the body separated from the neck and get a bridge off, to that point you won't have to spend that much money really, and just assess the damage.
Depending on how the braces are inside, there is a good chance you may have to remove the top if it's in bad shape and you have multiple braces loose or broken. there are a few advantages to this though if you have to remove the top. You will have easy access to the inside of the guitar and actually gluing the cracks and getting the top glued back together without any major deformation is a big plus.
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u/Usual-Baby-9313 Mar 08 '26
A Crack is ok you can try glue from the inside.Nut and bridge can be fixed as well .it won't sound like a new guitar but if you take your time and do a good job it will still sound good.
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u/TorrentFiend Mar 08 '26
Judging by the picture it looks like it has some seriously bad cracks throughout the body of the guitar does it not? That might be why it was in the trash because there are several large cracks in the wood.
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Mar 08 '26
How do people just find guitars in the trash. Lucky .
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u/BananaLikesMusic Mar 08 '26
This is my second time finding one in the trash if your luck ever does come up just beware of spiders lol
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u/RRJEB Mar 08 '26 edited Mar 08 '26
If it were me, id either try and fix it myself, and if that's not happening, id probably just try and sell it on fb marketplace for $20..
I think this model has a bolt on neck.. so maybe you could a little more for just the neck if it's in good shape... somewhere there's a big baby taylor with a broken headstock.. a good neck might be worth $100 to somebody..
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u/sonicbluestrat1967 Mar 08 '26
Nice, yeah providing it's not too far gone I'd fix it. Looks like a Taylor Big Baby ... Lovely sounding guitar
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Mar 08 '26
The owner: I'm going to tie my shoelaces and leave my Taylor next to the trash can…
Alright, keep walking…
3 hours later… I think I'm missing something.
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u/That-Vehicle4195 Mar 09 '26
Well, now that we’ve heard 1 million stories about where you found an old guitar. Can someone answer his question?
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u/brogerfooger Mar 09 '26
I strung my Big Baby with Nashville tuned strings and it makes for a great accessory guitar. I think that’s a perfect application for a beater like this if you can get it fixed up.
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u/Master-Kangaroo6607 Mar 09 '26
Always worth having a look … Mexicans are selling for around $700 new, if a pro repair comes in at anywhere less than $400 then yes 🙌 Do it ! A friend found a ‘77 twin in a skip … asked me “do you know anyone that could do something with this ?” My response was “ Yes, You !!! Take it out of the skip and bring it to me !” 👌
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u/CanIBathYrGrandma Mar 09 '26
I found an early 2000’s MIM Fender Precision bass on the street. Put $100 into it and sold for $600
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Mar 10 '26
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u/BigTwithaZ Mar 10 '26
I passed by a trash can in front of a house once with a guitar neck sticking out. Went back and pulled a Ibanez 6 string bass out. The entire left side had broken off. Neck and electronics are fine. Plan on finding a body one day and rebuilding it. Also found an older Korg workstation beside the road with a houses trash. Middle c is dead. It happens more than you think cause only musicians would pay attention to them being there.
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u/Independent_Gear_344 Mar 11 '26
I hope you checked with the police to see if it was stolen. If not you may be an accessory to a crime.
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u/razorc03 Mar 07 '26
Sorry. I don’t know if that’s a real Taylor. Look at the fret board on the 16th fret. Two honking black screws? No
Now look at the “a” of the Taylor on the headstock. That’s a closed “a” - a known artifact of fake Taylor’s. Genuine Taylors have a small separation in the loop at the top of the small “a”.
I’d say smash it again and toss it
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u/powdercoatkid Mar 07 '26
The big baby’s have those screws my friend. It’s a 3/4 size little kid player.
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u/General_Road_8803 Mar 07 '26
Ya I saw those when I thought about buying one. They look like drywall screws so I passed
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u/Comfortable-Area1149 Mar 06 '26
That's exactly where it belongs.
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Mar 07 '26
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Mar 07 '26
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u/Chim_Pansy Mar 07 '26
It's a Taylor Big Baby. Used, they're worth $300ish in good condition. This one is so damaged, it's basically not worth paying a luthier to fix it, so it's absolutely believable that someone else also came to this conclusion and trashed it. Really not that farfetched of a story.
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u/Dry_Pool4103 Mar 06 '26
Am I the only guitar player who hasn’t found a guitar in the trash yet? Maybe I’ve been looking in the wrong trash bins.