Setting up an acoustic guitar help?

Fuengi

I think I've got the basics but want to check the procedure really, plus there is an issue with the action.

It's an Eastman PCH OM, sounds great but needs a bit of work:

The nut is ok, probably not worth my fiddling with but I might try to bring down the G & B a fraction. Open chords are easy to play.

The action at the 12 fret is around 3mm which is much too high I think, I'd like to bring that down to 2mm. 

Going up to the 17th fret I can hang a small coat off the E string and still clear the board.

There doesn't seem to be hardly any relief in the neck.

No buzzing anywhere.

I'm thinking I need to put a small turn in the truss rod to get a smidgen of relief, then file down the saddle until the action is barre chord friendly. 

Sound like a sensible plan? 

Tips very welcome.

Andyjr1515

"Hardly any relief in the neck" is a good thing...as long as there is perceptible relief.

Hold down the top E at the 1st fret and the 17th.  Tap the string down at the 8th.  If there is "just perceptible" movement, then that is good.
Repeat on the bottom E.  Choose whichever has the lesser of the two gaps.

  If the string is hard against the fret, the truss rod needs loosening a touch.  If the gap is business card thickness or higher, it needs tightening a touch.

For the action, fret down at the first fret to eliminate the effect of the nut and measure the heights at the 12th fret from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string.  Action heights vary to suit the player, but 1.5mm at the top E, progressively to 2mm at the bottom E is not a bad starting point.

Adjusting the action, after the truss rod has been checked, is about adjusting the saddle height.  The amount it would need changing is 2x the height change you need at the 12th fret.  It is quite important this is done correctly, especially if there is a piezo element fitted.  So, unless you've done it before, I would take it to a reliable tech or luthier.

And worth it.  Getting the action right on an acoustic will transform the guitar's playability and intonation.

Hope this helps. 

Fuengi

The neck may be ok, there is no perceptible gap at the 7th fret but the string sounds out when tapped so it's not lying hard against the frets. 

If it's a case of filing off 2mm from the saddle I think I'll have a go at that myself. Worst out is a new saddle which I'll have to get a tech to do anyway. 

ICBM

File 1.5mm off the saddle, not 2mm! The action almost always changes by *more* than half the amount you take off, because the lower saddle puts less turning force on the bridge, so the pull-up of the top is reduced. If you take off as much as you think you need to first go, you’ll probably make it too low.

Fuengi

ICBM said:

File 1.5mm off the saddle, not 2mm! The action almost always changes by *more* than half the amount you take off, because the lower saddle puts less turning force on the bridge, so the pull-up of the top is reduced. If you take off as much as you think you need to first go, you’ll probably make it too low.

Thanks! Can I get the saddle in and out without taking the strings off? 

ICBM

Fuengi said:

Can I get the saddle in and out without taking the strings off? 

No - or not without slackening them so far you may as well, and even then it's easier to capo them at the nut (to keep them from unravelling from the machineheads) and pull the bridge pins.

Unless it's a vintage-style 'through' saddle slot, anyway...