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Action
I would like to lower the action on this Epiphone I am working on. I do not work on very many acoustics, so I am reaching out for your help. The only way I see is to shave the bridge down some. How much is recommended? The neck is straight and relief is fairly straight. Hardly any relief. By bridge I mean that plastic bridge the strings ride over.
Thanx in advance. Jeff |
The bridge is the wooden part on the soundboard. The saddle is the piece of plastic you are referring to the strings ride off of.
Pictures would help! Specifically, to see how much saddle you have above the bridge. whats the current action at the 12th fret? What would you like it to be? you subtract the difference, multiply by 2 and thats how much to remove from the bottom of the saddle. Id also recommend checking the nut end first. Is it easy or difficult to fret down 1st position chords? getting the nut end optimal also slighly lowers your overall action-albeit not by much. |
Yes, the saddle. Unfortunately I cannot post pics. The saddle is a bit uneven. I have 3/16" on the low E and just about an 1/8" on the high E at the 12th fret. I see what you are saying about the nut. There is room to file the slot a bit, but not much. That would surely help some.
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So if I want to lower it let's say, 1/16" I would take off 1/8" is that what you are saying?
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I've only tried to sand down a saddle one time. And I quickly realized how easy it would be to take too much off of one side.
But i've seen inexpensive fixtures that will hold it so you can sand it more evenly. Some of the other members might be able to give you a link. |
I will scribe a mark and go slowly. I marked the low E side a bit lower than the high E side to balance it out. Wish me luck. Worse come to worse, I pick up a new saddle. LOL
Thanx for your info. |
Quote:
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Yes, I sanded a few times. Each time I restring, measure and check relief. Getting better all of the time.
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good progress!
jsut tune to pitch (or close to it) and test it out a bit just to know that you havent gone too far! Oh and its very important to keep the bottom flat and square so it fits in the slot well |
You guys have been very helpful, thank you. Came out near perfect. I did file the nut slots a tad as it fretted too high at the first fret. Kept checking with my Peterson tuner.
Plays well. Thanx again. Jeff |
http://charlestauber.com/luthier/Res...May%202015.pdf
I asked a very similar question and got this PDF. Thanks Charles. It's an article and I believe 18 pages. If it doesn't answer your question or you aren't able to get the guitar to do the things in the article, take it to a pro. We all have limits in ability. And wooden instruments can have issues. I keep my PDF in its own folder with my music "stuff". ;) |
Thank you very much for this info. With the help of all of you, I think I have it where I want it. Thanx so much.
Jeff |
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