Almost returned a killer guitar over this....

[Shades of Blue]

I'm sure some of you have been following my saga regarding my Custom Shop 000-28. Without rehashing the situation, I'll just say that I almost returned the guitar. It sounded good, but I've been on the fence about it for about 6 weeks.

So, I decided to keep the guitar and bought some ebony shims from Bob Colosi (thanks Bob!). I spent an hour or so sanding the shim, and then I removed the saddle to finish it up when I saw something tan in the bridge. It was a cardboard shim. A cardboard shim (think chipboard like a shoe box) was on my new Martin, inspected and shipped to me from Sweetwater. Since this was a customer return, the guy who bought it first had the guitar set up, but the setup was horribly low. It was buzz city. I guess a shim was put in to correct it somewhat, but it is still low.

I put the ebony shim in and viola! It was like night and day. The guitar is louder, more punchy, and snappier. It was like I had a new guitar. Granted, I don't attribute this to the ebony shim as much as I do getting that horrid piece of chipboard out of the bridge.

Amazing. I almost sent this guitar back and now I have a tone machine. I'm going to get a new saddle made to the height of the shim plus the saddle, and that should make it even better!

[Von Beerhofen]

I didn't get the sound I thought I'd get from my used Taylor 810ce Fall 2006.
It didn't really sound bad but it just wasn't there. After playing it for about two years I decided to have a look at the saddle and noticed the underside was chipped and not straight. I sanded it down as far as I dared, put it back in and wham! What a difference that made.

Action is a bit low now so I'm going to purchase a new full size saddle which will sound even better with the slightly higher action. Reading your story I will have a look at my Martin saddles too, Lord knows what's hiding underneath those.

Ludwig

[DanR]

My newest acquisition, a J-45, had lower action than I cared for. After some research, I bought some ebony shims from Bob Colosi and I was able to get the action exactly where I wanted it.

Cardboard? I wouldn't think that would sound very good...

[KenL]

What the heck, cardboard?

Glad you sussed it out. Beautiful guitar!

[Shades of Blue]

Originally Posted by Von Beerhofen

I didn't get the sound I thought I'd get from my used Taylor 810ce Fall 2006.
It didn't really sound bad but it just wasn't there. After playing it for about two years I decided to have a look at the saddle and noticed the underside was chipped and not straight. I sanded it down as far as I dared, put it back in and wham! What a difference that made.

Action is a bit low now so I'm going to purchase a new full size saddle which will sound even better with the slightly higher action. Reading your story I will have a look at my Martin saddles too, Lord knows what's hiding underneath those.

Ludwig

I'm amazed at the tonal difference and the volume boost. Raising the action helped, but that cardboard was the culprit I'm sure. It honestly makes sense because the guitar sounded timid and full of socks. I thought it might be the Adirondack sounding tight, but it was the shim.

[Kerbie]

That's great news. I didn't know shims were ever made of cardboard.

[Shades of Blue]

Originally Posted by KenL

What the heck, cardboard?

Glad you sussed it out. Beautiful guitar!

Yup. Almost like really thick cereal box. Crazy...

[Shades of Blue]

Originally Posted by Kerbie

That's great news. I didn't know shims were ever made of cardboard.

Me neither, but since this was a customer return, it makes sense I guess. The bridge pins that came with the guitar were mismatched, some where ebony and some black plastic. It was just crazy. So I guess I should have checked the saddle first.

[gfspencer]

Originally Posted by Shades of Blue

So, I decided to keep the guitar and bought some ebony shims from Bob Colosi (thanks Bob!). I spent an hour or so sanding the shim, and then I removed the saddle to finish it up when I saw something tan in the bridge. It was a cardboard shim. A cardboard shim (think chipboard like a shoe box) was on my new Martin, inspected and shipped to me from Sweetwater. Since this was a customer return, the guy who bought it first had the guitar set up, but the setup was horribly low. It was buzz city. I guess a shim was put in to correct it somewhat, but it is still low.

Why didn't you just get a new saddle?

[Shades of Blue]

Originally Posted by gfspencer

Why didn't you just get a new saddle?

The shims were $2, so I figured I'd just test out the action to see if it made a big enough difference to convince me to keep the guitar. Didn't want to spend the money on a saddle if raising the action didn't help the string slap I was hearing on the frets.

Now, the guitar sounds and plays good enough that I can take my time finding a saddle and getting it made to the correct height.

[fazool]

Why not get a new saddle and eliminate the shims, altogether?

[Goodallboy]

Originally Posted by gfspencer

Why didn't you just get a new saddle?

You stole my question. Why would you use shims when a new saddle is the proper cure?

[Shades of Blue]

Originally Posted by fazool

Why not get a new saddle and eliminate the shims, altogether?

Read my last sentence...

[CT77]

Originally Posted by fazool

Why not get a new saddle and eliminate the shims, altogether?

That's what I'd have done right away. Bob's ebony shims are excellent, but all-bone saddle is even better.

Not to mention that Sweetwater should have re-inspected the guitar and discovered this. Don't get me wrong, I'm a regular SW customer and I think they are the best of the big-box stores, but their "55-point" inspection is a bit over-stated (they rush them in many cases) and they don't properly re-inspect demos / returns. They owe you one in this case as it caused you 6 weeks of doubt where none should have been necessary.

[J Patrick]

...amazing...the nut and saddle are the two spots on the guitar that have to be right for a guitar to work properly...that a tech would cram a piece of chipboard in a saddle slot is incomprehensible...btw...i just received and installed a vintage bone saddle from Colosi for my Santa Cruz Tony Rice...absoulutely fantastic...Colosi is the man and I suggest you order a new saddle from him...