Taylor Guitars has just unveiled its Action Control Neck – a patented new neck joint that allows the acoustic guitar’s string height to be micro-adjusted in seconds, all without removing the neck or the strings.
The new feature was first rolled out with Taylor’s Gold Label Collection earlier this year and continues to build on the brand’s knack for neck innovations, following the likes of the “NT” neck, introduced back in 1999.
“With this new neck design, you're getting the most precisely built, easily adjustable guitar we've ever made,” says Taylor Guitars CEO and master builder Andy Powers, the designer behind the neck.
“I love the idea that a player can simply pick up and play one of these guitars and be inspired by the way it sounds and feels. And, while you're at it, you happen to benefit from an accurate and adaptable neck that can be easily adjusted to suit your particular playing preferences.”
So how does the Action Control Neck differ from your standard guitar neck? The new design features a long tenon that extends deeper into the body’s neck block – and, with no shims, enables players to adjust their action on the fly with a quarter-inch nut driver through the soundhole.
The result, according to Taylor Guitars, is “more low-end resonance and a deeper, warmer, more open sound in the Gold Label guitars.”
The firm goes on to note that this “breakthrough” will be especially useful for touring musicians, whose instruments travel through different climates, environments, and conditions.
For studio musicians in particular, it enables a “quick transition between playing styles – from fingerstyle to slide,” without the need for a whole separate guitar or a setup. And for the recreational guitarist, it allows for hassle-free adjustments over time, counteracting environmental or seasonal changes that “impact the neck angle geometry.”
The Action Control Neck is currently exclusive to Taylor’s Gold Label Collection – which the brand released this January in time for NAMM – and features a ’30s- and ’40s-inspired Super Auditorium design that builds on the company’s Grand Auditorium body shape.
Judging from this recent PR blast, however, we wonder how long it will be before the design trickles down to other Taylor releases…
