I am sorry in my attempt to be precise I actually was not clear, maybe even incorrect? When I said bridgeplate I mean the wooden part of the "bridge". I was trying to make it clear vs the "saddle". But likely I should correctly call the wood piece the "bridge" and the plastic the "saddle".
rina yea you are correct in what I was trying to say. And your observation about being careful to not "over" sand/shave the saddle is good advice. I have done that myself. And while I can "shim" I really like to try avoid that.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Christine1988
I'm getting 5.5mm at the 12th fret and 4.5mm at the 6th fret. It's really high as compare to other classical guitars I tried. I'll check the neck bow next.
Added: I measured between the bottom of the string and the top of the fret.
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Just to be clear you mean the bass side string height is 5.5mm and the treble side is 4.5mm? Not the 6th fret?
OK if your measurements are good which I guess they are. Also you mention that the action is higher than others which I do trust. I hope the truss rod adjustment helps to get it a little better before sanding.
Do you know how to check the "relief" or bend of the neck? If you don't here is what I do. I always "eyeball" it to get a general idea. Looking from the headstock down the fretboard toward the bottom of the instrument on both the bass and treble side. I also look from the bottom/end toward the headstock. I should not really see much if any curve. Remember this is to get a "general" idea. I even look at each side with different eyes at the same time to see if "real" warrpage from side to side. Truss can't really fix "true" warp.
Now the real way to check/test, you can even ignore above I just like to do it that way. Capo the 1st fret, press the 12th fret down as if you were playing the note. Either measure the fret to string distance which I never do. I just tap the string over the 7th fret. Does it move? Is there play/slop? Generally most think there should be a very tiny amount. I know that sounds real scientific.
Like I said I don't measure I know by feel. I think I read you should be able to slide a piece of copy paper with little extra room. I actually basically adjust truss so I get no movement when I tap (be careful not to go beyond the "zero" point, you wont get movement/slop but it will not help with getting low action (buzz)). At the zero point if I wanted relief I would back off with say a 1/4 turn on the truss rod. That will give you the same as all the fancy measurement others will tell you. At this point your truss is correct and will not give you any more help on the action. You do want to play the guitar and make sure no "buzz" issues. I doubt at this point you would have.
I myself as an opinion have zero relief on some of my necks. This is likely not important to you at this time. Zero relief will give the lower action but it can create buzz. So if a little relief allows lower action "without" buzz that is best. I guess my point is to much relief has a negative impact on action. No relief can prevent you from getting the action as low as possible without buzz. At some point if with the correct relief you get buzz and/or dead frets you start looking at fret dressing. You are not there yet so I am ahead of myself.
No capo? I finger the 1st fret with left hand. With right hand use pinky to depress 12th fret and tap 7th fret with my thumb. To be honest I never use a capo myself for this.
Good luck. I really hope the truss rod helps because at 5.5mm sanding/shaving 3mm off the saddle just to get to 4mm seems like a lot?
