[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by Guyus

Hey guys!

So I recently had my action lowered on the saddle of my Martin which has an undersaddle pickup.
After the action change, I have found that when I am plugged in, the Martin is suddenly sounding a little more on the trebley/brighter side and more prone to feedback.
I was just wondering does lowering the action change and/or effect the tone and response of an undersaddle pickup? Does it make it more sensitive to feedback? I will also add that because of the lower action I do now have some string buzz but would this effect the pickup also?
I'm going crazy trying to figure out why this has suddenly happened to my tone and it's perculiar that it has only happened after I've lowered the action.

Hope this isn't a noob question but can't seem to find any info on this.

Huge thanks and appreciation if anyone can help!

What's likely happening is that the vibrational arcs of the strings are grounding out more on the frets when fingering chords and notes than it was before having your action lowered. Whether you're playing amplifed or not, this results in more string buzz, less clarity of tone, and less volume. Adjusting your playing attack can compensate somewhat for the diminishing of clarity of tone as will also increasing your neck-relief a bit. Also, maybe have a saddle made that's half-way in height between what you had and what you now have?