Low Action

Mickey

I want to lower the action on my Fender semi-acoustic. The strings are too high over the fretboard. The guitar is brand new. Any ideas? Thanks

V8

Mickey Nut height, Saddle Height and Truss rod adjustment - these are your three basic variables to getting a setup dialed in on a acoustic. Though...I'd recommend someone with some experience doing the work OR if you want a go (it's all doable if you are inclined) do practice on a instrument you're not overly fussed about making mistakes on

If you do decide to have a go - try and keep the original saddle & nut and get replacements to work on. Graphtech do upgraded nuts n saddles, you can find no-name brand replacements parts online or you can make your own from bone (can be a messy business)

Mickey

Scary. I'd rather seek professional help. Anyone in and around Durban or KZN south coast?
Great advice. Thanks.

V8

Mickey On a acoustic it's only really scary when there's a undersaddle (piezo) pickup involved - because you need to keep the underside of the saddle perfectly flat to make as much contact with the pickup - do-able if you are DIY inclined and have a little patience. It's a fettle, fiddle, and fit process - re-iterate until you're happy or exhausted.

I lack patience - but thankfully graphtech/tusq make replacement parts that I can source easily, so mistakes are made and parts are subsequently bought and taken to someone who has ?

morph

Here is good video of what needs to be done

Keeping the bottom of the saddle perfectly flat is not too complicated but you will need a vise and a hand file. Once you have worked out how much you need to take off the saddle mark it with a pencil. Now put in a steel vice upside down with the piece sticking out that needs to be removed. I am assuming the vice is in a good condition where the jaws are perfectly line up with each other. Clamp it nice and tight and then take down the excess using a file until it is perfectly even with the top of the vice jaws. This way there is no possibility of taking off too much and the finish will be perfectly straight and square.

I would start in smaller steps, Say you need to drop it 3mm, start perhaps at 2mm first, reinstall, tune and test. If it is still high remove a bit more. You stand the risk of going too far and the strings start buzzing on the top of the frets when you press the string down . If this is the case you can put a thin piece of plastic, cut to the shape of the bottom of the saddle. Old credit cards work well, but remember every mm movement at the saddle results in 0.5mm over the 12th Fret.

modulator

Unfortunately, setting up is part of the deal of having a guitar. Well worth it to be able to help yourself, you can then experiment until the guitar feels good to you. You will need to invest in some simple tools. No need to go for the expensive luthier tools, you might have all you need already.

I recommend taking off material from the bottom of the (replacement?) nut and saddle with sandpaper. You can stick a piece on a flat plate of glass, on a piece of hardboard, your desk, etc.

You mark/measure what needs to come off (vernier calipers!), use coarse paper (waterpaper - start with 100 grit) to take off the most of it, and then finish up with, say 360 grit, and polish with 1000 grit. It is easy to hold things flat and square, you can work in a bit of an angle if required, thin down to fit the slots, and so on. It does take patience. As noted above, go in smaller steps, approach your target with a few runs of sanding, testing. Working on a flat surface guarantees a flat bottom for best piezo contact. As mentioned above, if you go too far, shim up again. If only a bit is required, paper shims work well, to get you back to where you should be, and paper shims are thin enough to allow you to "fine-tune". Once happy, you can find a hard shim of that thickness, or, just use thin superglue to harden the paper shims. After which they become sand-able, if you feel like removing a bit later on.

There is a lot of material on this forum, how-to's as well as "lookwhatI'vedone!" .

As I said, you must learn to do this. And, even though it is a bit of mess, I do recommend going with bone.

Have fun!

Mickey

Thanks guys.