What's the best height per string for a fingerpicking acoustic? (Split saddle Takamin

[SolidSpruceTop]

I'm working on my Takamine parlor today and need to get the string height nice. I mostly use this guitar for fingerpicking, and strumming is rather light on it. The issue is it has a split saddle, so I need to have the height for the G and B strings too. Any good charts out there? All I see are for electric necks that have the hieght of each string

[Truckjohn]

Check out Bryan Kimsey's website. He has a great section on setups. Very few people check all the strings... It makes a big difference.

Start here:
12th fret action measured from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string with feeler gages.
E 0.105"
A 0.100"
D 0.095"
G 0.095"
b 0.090"
e 0.085"

[murrmac123]

Originally Posted by Truckjohn

Check out Bryan Kimsey's website. He has a great section on setups. Very few people check all the strings... It makes a big difference.

Start here:
12th fret action measured from the top of the fret to the bottom of the string with feeler gages.
E 0.105"
A 0.100"
D 0.095"
G 0.095"
b 0.090"
e 0.085"

Couldn't agree more ... Bryan's website is a great resource.

The actions you quote are the highest, however, especially for a fingerpicker.

Check out Bryan's take on the various options here

[Mr Fingers]

Great comment about the value of checking all the strings. I often find that the radius of the fingerboard and saddle are quite different, and making the corrections for all strings results in much easier chording, especially (though that may be less of an issue for you as a fingerpicker). Maybe it's just me, but I don't rely on measurements except at the start, as the relief on every fingerboard seems to work a little differently, and so I'm always making adjustments based on sound and feel.

[SolidSpruceTop]

Originally Posted by murrmac123

Couldn't agree more ... Bryan's website is a great resource.

The actions you quote are the highest, however, especially for a fingerpicker.

Check out Bryan's take on the various options here

Thanks, that's perfect!

[Ned Milburn]

Originally Posted by SolidSpruceTop

I'm working on my Takamine parlor today and need to get the string height nice. I mostly use this guitar for fingerpicking, and strumming is rather light on it. The issue is it has a split saddle, so I need to have the height for the G and B strings too. Any good charts out there? All I see are for electric necks that have the hieght of each string

Depends upon the player. One of my clients is a REALLY light player and he is from 1.4mm (high e) to 1.8mm (low E).

For a "standard" light touch fingerpicking guitar I'd aim for 1.7 to 1.8mm (high e) up to 2.1/2.2mm (low E), with each of the inner strings graded step-wise from high e to low E.