Fettling string height....

Niallmo

Tonight I've sorted the string height/action out on my two acoustics. What king of action do you prefer? Electric kinda low or a bit of fight?

Johnson 000-15

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v375/Niallmo/55FDFEE7-5E6C-46C1-A651-594908ACED0D_zpsc51xdyzr.jpg

Epiphone AJ-120

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v375/Niallmo/BE1BBDBB-E2AB-4B61-820F-63B9388507DF_zpswtzqp5by.jpg


Took quite a lot (approx 1mm on the Epiphone and 2mm off the Johnson) from the bottom of the saddles and put the truss rods dead straight (as I expect the to settle ever so slightly with relief) and it's like night and day. Both are now about 1.8/2mmmm treble, 2.5mm bass at the twelfth.  Down from about 3mm all round. The bass side of the Johnson was nearer 4mm.

its made a humungous difference, they both feel like guitars I would love to play. They still ring cleanly but it's just a joy to noodle about on. 

Should gave done it years ago....

Nitefly

That Johnson is a lovely-looking guitar!

I'm with you on low action, too - I don't get "fight", I want it to be as easy to play as possible, within the bounds of actually getting a sound out of it...

Lewy

Nitefly said:

That Johnson is a lovely-looking guitar!

I'm with you on low action, too - I don't get "fight", I want it to be as easy to play as possible, within the bounds of actually getting a sound out of it...

I don't think anyone in their right mind wants "fight" for the sake of it, but there are certain factors when trying to get as loud and strong a tone out of an acoustic guitar as possible that could be seen to be in conflict with the goal of making the instrument as easy to play as possible.

My experience is that the tone potential (I say potential because it's not tone until a player's technique makes it tone) of an acoustic guitar is affected not by action per se, but by things like the height of the strings off the soundboard (ideally around half an inch right in front of the bridge), and also break angle over the saddle (minimum is that you shouldn't be able to move the strings on the saddle when tuned to pitch). Lowering the saddle of the average production guitar to super-low action measurements would likely compromise those key measurements and detract from the tone potential of the instrument. Some players won't miss it, others will. 

thomasross20

I'm getting ICBM to look at mine and lower height - it's going to make a big difference to me

Niallmo

Actually I just checked, the Johnson is a JO-16 according to its soundhole label.

RandallFlagg

What do you use to sand your bridge saddles down, any tips?

Niallmo

A flat surface, 80 grade sandpaper and elbow grease. I used a metal ruler to draw a pencil line to get the right kinda height and started sanding the bottom to get to that point.  I constantly checked how much I was removing and test fitted a couple of times.

http://acousticguitar.com/checking-and-adjusting-saddle-height/

Sassafras

I use a DMT diamond sharpening stone. They're absolutely flat and cut quickly.

RandallFlagg

Thanks

RandallFlagg

Finally got round to adjusting my Martin D28 today action today. The action had crept up to 8/64ths 6th string to 5.5/64ths 1st string and was getting quite uncomfortable.

I bought a pre-shaped replacement bone saddle from Martin (keeping the original as is, just in case of mishap) and sanded the bottom on some 100 grit paper. It was quite time consuming and tricky to get the bottom properly flat but I got there and the action is now 6.5/64ths to 4.5/64ths and feels a lot better.

I won't go any lower as I can play quite hard bar chords around the 7th fret, Pete Townsend style and hate any hint of buzzing and this action is just high enough to prevent that.

much happier now.