DIY saddle sand job

[TNGW1500SE]

I have an Eastman AC308CE. The truss rod adjustment seems fine. The nut seems like it's fine. It just seems like the saddle is higher than I like it. I keep thinking about doing a little sanding on the saddle. If I screw it up can I get a new factory saddle? Any advise?

[gmr]

If you are familiar with woodworking or other hand work that requires sanding and fitting, it’s a simple process. Just make sure you work on a nice flat surface and go slow. Check your work often to make sure the saddle remains flat and straight. It is likely any replacement saddle will require some fitting.

[Lillis]

I recommend getting a spare before starting on the original. I like Macnichol’s both as a company and for their products. I’ve sanded many. You can do it.

[zuzu]

I recommend checking your neck relief first, if you haven't. Some folks try to get it down on the deck 10/64ths or even 9/64ths, but leave mine at 12/64ths with light gauge strings. If you go ahead with saddle sanding you need an accurate measurement of string action when you start. On so-so guitars, I go 6/64ths big E string at the 12th fret, 5/64ths on the little e. Guitars with nice necks and precise fret work I'll take those measurements down to 5 and 4 respectively.

If you don't have a precise way to measure string action and the saddle itself it is easy to go too far. If you do get accurate measurements as a starting point you can decide a numerical value of how much material to remove. It's way quicker, easier, and more accurate than trial and error. "Seems fine", I'll take a whack at it, was exactly how I learned what not to do.

[Chipotle]

I just did that today! It was an inexpensive Ibanez, but it needed a lot taken off.

Mark what you want to take off with pencil, so you know how far to go. Just put some sand paper on a nice flat surface, and stroke one direction, holding the middle of the saddle, with even pressure, and keeping it at 90°. How do you know it's 90? Every so often, just stand the saddle up on said flat surface and make sure it's standing straight up and not leaning. When you've sanded away all the pencil or up to the mark, you're done. I used 60 grit for removing the bulk, then 100 grit once I got closer.

You don't have to do it all at once, though. I loosened the strings significantly, enough to pull the bridge pins and remove the ball ends from the holes, but left the other end of the strings around the post. That way I could remove the saddle, sand some down, then put it back in, reinsert the ball ends and pins, and tune back up to check and see if you need to go further. If so, loosen strings, remove pins and ball ends again, and repeat. (Probably best to do this with strings you were going to replace anyway, and put on a new set when done.)

I was a bit leery too, but it's not that hard. I found a few handy references:

Acoustic Guitar Action: Geometry (how much to remove)
Acoustic Guitar Action: How to lower saddle (technique)
Standard Guitar Action & Setup specs
Fraction to Decimal chart can be handy

[zuzu]

Not 64ths for neck relief! Sorry! It's .012, .010, etc., thousandths. Sorry!

[A Scot in Otley]

Originally Posted by Chipotle

I just did that today! It was an inexpensive Ibanez, but it needed a lot taken off.

Mark what you want to take off with pencil, so you know how far to go. Just put some sand paper on a nice flat surface, and stroke one direction, holding the middle of the saddle, with even pressure, and keeping it at 90°. How do you know it's 90? Every so often, just stand the saddle up on said flat surface and make sure it's standing straight up and not leaning. When you've sanded away all the pencil or up to the mark, you're done. I used 60 grit for removing the bulk, then 100 grit once I got closer.

You don't have to do it all at once, though. I loosened the strings significantly, enough to pull the bridge pins and remove the ball ends from the holes, but left the other end of the strings around the post. That way I could remove the saddle, sand some down, then put it back in, reinsert the ball ends and pins, and tune back up to check and see if you need to go further. If so, loosen strings, remove pins and ball ends again, and repeat. (Probably best to do this with strings you were going to replace anyway, and put on a new set when done.)

I was a bit leery too, but it's not that hard. I found a few handy references:

Acoustic Guitar Action: Geometry (how much to remove)
Acoustic Guitar Action: How to lower saddle (technique)
Standard Guitar Action & Setup specs
Fraction to Decimal chart can be handy

Yup. Exactly my process ... after cocking it up before (experience is a great teacher). I think every saddle I took out had an angle greater or less than 90 degrees (same thing, I know) so I made sure to get the bottom edge as flat as my eyes and table top agree.

[EZYPIKINS]

Originally Posted by Lillis

I recommend getting a spare before starting on the original. I like Macnichol’s both as a company and for their products. I’ve sanded many. You can do it.

I do the replacement.

Throw the original in the case, just in case a new owner wants to go back in time.

[rmp]

when you say the nut "seems fine" have you taken any measurements?

Just thinking out loud on that as nuts are almost never cut right with a new purchase.

without a feeler gauge to check one good way to check is with a good tuner. Tune a string then play the note on the first fret.

If it's sharp on any given string at the first fret, that slot isn't deep enough.

[jjbigfly]

I put a piece of tape around the saddle only leaving the part to be removed exposed. Following this I place the saddle in a vise loosely, so I can get it set correctly by light tapping (up and down) and then snug it up. At this point only the part of the saddle not covered by tape is exposed by the jaws of the vise. Grab a file or a sanding block and file or sand until the sanding block or file just touches the vise jaws. I suggest using a sanding block as it makes a smooth contact surface. Using this method you are only able to remove the desired amount of material and it is next to impossible to NOT get it level.

Now, this MIGHT not mean that you should consider building your own instrument, but If you do, the saddle will be correct and level.

[TNGW1500SE]

Thanks guys. I'm going to give it a shot. I don't have a way to measure it but compared to my other guitar that I had set up, it's way higher at the saddle but feels the same at the nut. It's a little hard to tell since this one has 12's and the one I had set up has 10's. I want to keep the 12's on it. I had 10's on it and when I went to 12's it brought the guitar back to life.

[nickv6]

Originally Posted by jjbigfly

I put a piece of tape around the saddle only leaving the part to be removed exposed. Following this I place the saddle in a vise loosely, so I can get it set correctly by light tapping (up and down) and then snug it up. At this point only the part of the saddle not covered by tape is exposed by the jaws of the vise. Grab a file or a sanding block and file or sand until the sanding block or file just touches the vise jaws. I suggest using a sanding block as it makes a smooth contact surface. Using this method you are only able to remove the desired amount of material and it is next to impossible to NOT get it level.

Now, this MIGHT not mean that you should consider building your own instrument, but If you do, the saddle will be correct and level.

This is my preferred method for sure

[phavriluk]

OP: Stop. Go buy a digital caliper and start measuring. Twenty-and-change bucks buys one. And a rigid 6-inch machinist's rule, too. Minimum tools for the job.

[nikpearson]

The advice to get a digital calliper (should that be a pair of callipers?) is sensible. Useful for so many jobs and a good one can be had for £25. Getting a new nut blank for your experiments is well advised. You can use the current nut as a reference and replace it if anything goes wrong.

The string height at the nut is critical for playability and there are benefits to adjusting this height for the individual strings rather than using a set height across them all. For that you’ll almost certainly need to recut the nut slots.

I’ve always found that adjusting the nut height precisely by removing material from the bottom is not the best approach.

This is my method:

1) Sand the bottom of the nut (or blank) flat and square. This can be aided by attaching the side of the blank to a block that is known to be square with double-sided tape. A small piece of good plywood is ideal. Leave just enough saddle material below the block so that when both block and saddle are touching the sanding surface you know all is square. It’s actually quite tricky to sand things square freehand which is why a guide block helps. You can then sand the nut to the correct thickness using a similar approach. It should be reasonably tight in the slot between fingerboard and head plate. You can then cut the nut close to its final dimensions.

2) Use a half pencil resting on the frets to scribe a line across the nut. This gives an approximate reference point for where the final string height will be. The material above the line can then be removed with files and sanding sticks

3) Mark out the string slots and cut a shallow slot for each string with a hacksaw

4) Deepen the string slots with nut slotting files of the correct gauge, regularly checking that you don’t take things too low. Bone nuts are hard so it’s easy to be precise. With plastic (including Tusq) a few strokes can remove a heck of a lot of material.

5) A set of feeler gauges can then be used to precisely set the string height above the first fret. Again this needs to be done slowly, with regular checks. StewMac and other sites will give you some reference figures. Alternatively you can cut all the slots so that when the string is fretted between the 2nd and 3rd fret there is the smallest of gaps above the 1st fret, 0.1 mm.

6) Once all the slots are at the correct depth I then shape the top of the nut to leave the wound strings half embedded and the plain strings at full string depth.

After typing all that I’m realising why people remove material from the bottom of the nut! But as stated at the outset that is not ideal.

[maxed]

This is the video I refer to when sanding a saddle; by MacNichol Guitars.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcpwJlv8bsk