Help with set up and action adjustment on Martin?

[lpaul626]

I just picked up a new Martin OMCPA4. The action is a little to too high (strung with 12s) for me 8/64 at 12th (My Taylor is 6/64). I checked the neck relief by fretting the low e at the 1st and 14th, and the relief seems fine (little space between fret and string at 7th/9th). Same using feeler gauge (005-007). Nut slots seem ok as well by fretting at 3rd.

I assume I would accomplish this by removing and sanding the saddle a bit given that relief, etc, seems fine? Any other guidance?

I've been setting up my own electrics for years. So I'm comfortable working with these types tools. Just want to ensure I'm not missing anything.

Thanks in advance-

[LeightonBankes]

this is what I went by, pretty solid (but I think is intended for .013's) With .012's I would stay about .005 higher than these figures. Opinions vary, but I prefer about .010-.012" relief
http://www.bryankimsey.com/setup/actions.htm

[funkymonk#9]

Hi, opinions may vary but i believe the standard, not high not low is .090-.065 Low E to High E. And yes you shave down the saddle generally take off twice as much you want to lower the action.

So .125 down to .090 will need .070 taken off height of saddle.
Remember also to reshape the intonation peek.

[tahoeguitar]

.090" low E and .065" hi e at the 12th fret is generally considered standard "medium action" but it can vary with the player. Standard sequence is set the relief (.005 is a good target) set the nut height, then set the saddle height. Before lowering your action at the saddle also check string height at the nut because excess height here will affect 12th fret action exactly as much as excess saddle height will. Nut height should be the same height as the first fret. Add 2-3 thousandths if your 12th fret action is lower than average or if you're heavy handed.

You may already know this trick, but for those who don't… A quick and reliable way to check nut height is to press the string down at the 3rd fret with your fretting hand, then observe the string as it crosses the 1st fret. Tap the string over the first fret with a fingernail of your free hand (usually the right hand) to see how much clearance is between the string and the fret. There should be almost no visible movement of the string when you tap but you'll get a musical "tink" sound if the height is just right. If the string is already touching the fret you'll get no movement at all and the sound will be very muffled, so you're a tad low… risking buzzing. If the string is too high you'll hear it hitting the fret but it will sound more dull and "thwappy" not musical.

[LeightonBankes]

.065 on the high e? Wow mines at .090 and every fret equally slaps (1 time) if I dig into it

[lpaul626]

Thanks all- Helpful! I already sanded down the saddle to my specs and restrung. Plays great!

[Ned Milburn]

Originally Posted by LeightonBankes

.065 on the high e? Wow mines at .090 and every fret equally slaps (1 time) if I dig into it

To me .065 is what I consider lower than medium. Medium on high E, I usually set near 1.8 to 1.9mm. Getting down to 1.6mm and that's on the low side. Fine for some players, but no good for others.

[lpaul626]

Thanks all- now I just need to decide whether to keep the 12s on or switch to 11s. 3/4 hour nights can get long using 12s for someone who's primarily an electric player

[sirwhale]

Originally Posted by Ned Milburn

To me .065 is what I consider lower than medium. Medium on high E, I usually set near 1.8 to 1.9mm. Getting down to 1.6mm and that's on the low side. Fine for some players, but no good for others.

I agree that 1.6mm is low action.

I have little relief set in my neck and with that I prefer 2mm High E to about 2.7mm Low E.

This is with 12-52, round core strings.

I have been tempted in the past to lower my action due to people mentioning how low their action is and I have always bought a new saddle and moved the action back up again. When it is too low, you get fret slap more often and I prefer less of it.

[LeightonBankes]

Originally Posted by lpaul626

Thanks all- now I just need to decide whether to keep the 12s on or switch to 11s. 3/4 hour nights can get long using 12s for someone who's primarily an electric player

a lot of factors to consider. I mostly sit at home and play chords and sing badly, acoustically. If you are planning to shred some solos through an amp...you'd want to be really low, but you can't strum real hard or get much acoustic tone with ultra low action, or small strings (in my opinion of course)

[MC5C]

Electric players tend to approach the instrument differently than people who are primarily acoustic players. Acoustic players are used to getting the instrument to respond with aggressive picking, stiffer, higher gauge strings, and higher action to allow for more volume before the strings slap. Electric players tend to use light gauge strings (.009 to .010 are what comes on a lot of typical electric guitars), play large chords up the neck a lot, and play lots of single note lead work right up to the second octave, 15th to 20th ft. All this means an electric player moving to an acoustic has to either really modify his playing style, or more likely set the guitar up to suit his playing style. After a while, one or the other will change and you'll end up meeing somewhere in the middle. I played only electric for many years and .010 - .048 were heavy strings for me. Now I play .011 - .050 on my electrics and .011 - .052 on my acoustics. I set action to be 3/32 low E and 2/23 high E (.090 - .065) on everything, more or less. Relief is so I can barely see it.

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by tahoeguitar

You may already know this trick, but for those who don't… A quick and reliable way to check nut height is to press the string down at the 3rd fret with your fretting hand, then observe the string as it crosses the 1st fret.

To be specific, just in case "down at the 3rd fret " causes any confusion, you press between the 2nd and the 3rd fret, so that the string rests on the 2nd fret and the nut (not the 3rd fret and the nut) .

[Monk of Funk]

Originally Posted by LeightonBankes

this is what I went by, pretty solid (but I think is intended for .013's) With .012's I would stay about .005 higher than these figures. Opinions vary, but I prefer about .010-.012" relief
http://www.bryankimsey.com/setup/actions.htm

Are those measurements taken at the 12th fret?

[Monk of Funk]

Where would fret buzz normally begin?

I would like to get as low action as possible, but I don't want to get it too low, because I don't want annoying buzzing.

I don't mind a lot of trial and error until I find my perfect action, but I'm just wondering mainly where I should be keeping an eye out for buzzing.

Different parts of the strings will go up or down, depending on whether I lower the bridge or the nut, so that should make a difference I think.