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Originally Posted by the.ronin
Thanks bobby …
Indeed, after some more reading (can’t get enough of this stuff right now lol), I’m understanding that lowering action at the nut is in fact not that uncommon – just that the majority of the fretboard action is really dictated by the saddle. Say, up to the 3rd fret mostly dictated by the nut.
I’m also starting to dive into this intonation concept. It seems the adjustment is as straight forward as manipulating the width of the saddle specifically each individual strings break point across the width. One, this sounds like one of those way easier said than done things. Second, I’m still trying to get my arms around the Pythagorean vs. equal tempremant theories to get a better understanding of why harmonics play the way they do and in turn better understand intonation. Fun stuff – I wish I were this motivated in high school lol.
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I've not read all the posts on here, so apologies if I'm covering ground already covered. As has been said, string height at the nut and at (say) the 12th fret are different things and are adjusted separately - as you now know. BUT! always be sure to lower the action at the 12th fret FIRST!
then lower the action at the nut. Why? because if you do it the other way, and if you are going for a really low action, you may find the strings buzzing on fret 1 after you lower the saddle. So, saddle first, nut second. And! midst those adjustments, check and reset the neck relief using the truss rod adjuster. All those setting are interactive; ie as you lower the action, the nett forward pull on the neck is reduced and the backwards pull of the truss rod is effectively increased, affecting the relief. In fact, so many things on a guitar are interactive, so avoid taking things 'to the limit' as much as you can - you might run out of adjustment if you do.
And best of luck. I started out down this road of setting up guitars, refrets etc in the mid 70s when there was very little information available. I had to make use of the engineering theory, workshop practise training and woodwork classes that I had done throughout my school and apprenticeship years. It was all self taught by using sound workshop theory, and experimentation on top of that. No special tools; a two foot steel rule was about the best thing I had, oh, and one book, 'Complete Guitar Repair' by Hideo Kamimoto. Fretwire had to be obtained almost by kinda backdoor means through friendly suppliers. It was not easy! But that resulted in me learning the hard way as they say. A refret was an epic. Prise the old frets out with a pen knife, cut the new ones holding fret wire by hand with a junior hacksaw, file the ends whilst (again) holding the fret in my hand, then bend the fret with two pairs of cutters gripping the tang, hammer em in with a wooden mallet. Anyway, one of my early refrets was for the late, great Mel Galley of Trapeze (later Whitesnake), and he was well pleased. I used to level the frets with a cutting edge whetstone. I eventually discovered Stewmac and I now have a vast arsenal of tools and can undertake most jobs, except full resprays. So yes, best of luck, it's a long hard road and there will be tears and mishaps along the way for sure. But just holler, lots of knowledgable guys on here ready to help.