New Gibson…neck overset. Concern or should I just shut up and play the dang thing.

[abn556]

Originally Posted by Lillis

I love my J185. It was kind of a bucket list guitar and I’m so glad I pulled the trigger on one. Sweetwater heavily discounted them at the end of last year.

I had one for over 20 years. I wasn’t playing much acoustic at the time so during Covid, I moved it. I wish I hadn’t sold it.

[dbintegrity]

I see what the others see, where the saddle looks like it is leaning a little and sort of concave in the middle... it may need a new, properly fit saddle. Did the guitar come from a region where it is usually dry? does the fingerboard extension take a little dive ? ifso it could be dry...

[nikpearson]

The neck is a little overset, but as long as this is not excessive it can be a good thing as the the neck/body geometry changes over time. Your string height above the body is quite low, but that’s only really an issue if the sound is found wanting.

When setting a neck I aim for around 4 mm of saddle protection above the bridge, but tiny adjustments in neck angle can make a significant difference at the bridge.

You certainly need a better fitting saddle though. Even with an under-saddle pickup there shouldn’t be an obvious gap, the saddle just needs to sit in the slot without undue pressure. The same goes guitars without under-saddle pickups to my mind, if the saddle is tight in the slot any bridge shrinkage can cause cracks.

Your current setup figures are near perfect, so I’d get a new bone saddle made that fits properly and copy the top surface shape if intonation is already spot on. My bet is that in a few years you may be glad of the extra saddle height.