Enya X4 Pro Action Adjustment

[Kerrywaz1]

Hi All,

I bought a new Enya X4 Pro full size. I thought it would be a good guitar to have owing to its carbon fiber design and where I live (dry, dry desert of Arizona).

The action is high for me, so I took it to a local luthier to have the action lowered. The luthier took a brief look and basically said the saddle in these guitars was epoxied into place and was already as low as it could go and couldn't be lowered. He also said despite the carbon fiber design these guitars react 7x more to the dry desert environment than a traditional wooden acoustic guitar and was already showing signs of box distortion. He suggested I get my money back and buy something else.

I don't know what to believe. I think he just didn't want to work on it or wanted to sell me one of *his* guitars.

Has anyone else had one of these guitars and tried to lower the action and found it impossible? Anyone had these guitars in a dry environment and suffered serious issues with the neck or box?

Thanks.

[Earl49]

I think you called it correctly. He just did not want to work on your Enya, and gave lame ignorant excuses. If the saddle really is epoxied in (doubtful) then that is a deal killer for many of us. You could never repair or do a setup without major surgery, like replacing the bridge outright or routing a whole new saddle slot. I've never seen an Enya personally, so I cannot confirm anything he said.

As for the dry environment, I call total Bravo Sierra. Even a polystyrene plastic toy is not affected by dryness, just heat. The whole point of composites is to be free of humidity issues. I would never darken this guy's door again, not even to change strings. And welcome to the funhouse!

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by Earl49

I think you called it correctly. He just did not want to work on your Enya, and gave lame ignorant excuses. If the saddle really is epoxied in (doubtful) then that is a deal killer for many of us. You could never repair or do a setup without major surgery, like replacing the bridge outright or routing a whole new saddle slot. I've never seen an Enya personally, so I cannot confirm anything he said.

As for the dry environment, I call total Bravo Sierra. Even a polystyrene plastic toy is not affected by dryness, just heat. The whole point of composites is to be free of humidity issues. I would never darken this guy's door again, not even to change strings. And welcome to the funhouse!

My thoughts exactly. The utterly bogus ‘7x’ is a major clue that he simply does not know what he’s talking about.

[Aspiring]

My experience so far is that the Enya moves much less seasonally than my wood guitars. Barely any change between spring and fall.

I am not by mine to double check the saddle but I believe it was a normal drop in the last I looked.

That said, the neck is bolt on and can also be shimmed just like a Taylor if that was needed by removing two bolts.

Speaking of the bolts, several people, including mine, came with the bolts being slightly too loose resulting in high action. A quick quarter turn on the bolts resolved the problem. If you haven't checked that you might want to look there quickly.

[Kerrywaz1]

As it turns out, the luthier was really full of it.

I decided to lower the action myself. First I took my new Enya X4 Pro and checked the neck screws to make sure they were tight; they were. I then tightened the truss rod as the neck had a bit too much relief. The string height (low E) at the 12th fret I measured at 3mm which was way too high for me. I took off the strings and removed the saddle (it is a Graph Tech PQ-9110-C0 TUSQ Compensated Saddle) and it was not epoxied in. Came out rather easily with a good tug.

I decided to lower the string height at the 12th fret by 1.25mm to bring it down to about 1.75mm (this meant sanding the bridge down by 2.5mm since it is a 2:1 ratio saddle to fret). I reinstalled the sanded saddle and restrung and retuned the guitar. The action is much better for me now.

The nut is also a TUSQ, but I can't tell what model. I don't think I need to work on the nut as the action is fine at that end of the fretboard.

Since this guitar has a plastic back and a carbon fiber top does it really matter what humidity I keep the guitar at? The house stays between 35-37% most of the time (I live in the desert). I was thinking about putting some kind of humidifier in the case to keep it up around 55-65%

Thanks.

[David Eastwood]

Originally Posted by Kerrywaz1

As it turns out, the luthier was really full of it.

I decided to lower the action myself. First I took my new Enya X4 Pro and checked the neck screws to make sure they were tight; they were. I then tightened the truss rod as the neck had a bit too much relief. The string height (low E) at the 12th fret I measured at 3mm which was way too high for me. I took off the strings and removed the saddle (it is a Graph Tech PQ-9110-C0 TUSQ Compensated Saddle) and it was not epoxied in. Came out rather easily with a good tug.

I decided to lower the string height at the 12th fret by 1.25mm to bring it down to about 1.75mm (this meant sanding the bridge down by 2.5mm since it is a 2:1 ratio saddle to fret). I reinstalled the sanded saddle and restrung and retuned the guitar. The action is much better for me now.

The nut is also a TUSQ, but I can't tell what model. I don't think I need to work on the nut as the action is fine at that end of the fretboard.

Since this guitar has a plastic back and a carbon fiber top does it really matter what humidity I keep the guitar at? The house stays between 35-37% most of the time (I live in the desert). I was thinking about putting some kind of humidifier in the case to keep it up around 55-65%

Thanks.

Happy to hear that you were able to sort the playability issues out!

And no, it doesn’t matter a bit what humidity you keep this instrument at. No humidifier necessary.

[Earl49]

The only reason to humidify your house is for your personal comfort -- sinuses, nasal passages, skin, avoiding static electricity shocks, etc. A composite guitar does not care... kinda the whole point.

Glad you were able to fix your setup more to your liking. Now you are no longer as dependent on "luthiers" of questionable qualifications [being as nice as I can].

[Aspiring]

Glad it worked out and hope you enjoy it! I also changed my nut string spacing to be equivalent to most 1 3/4" nuts and that has made it even nicer to play.

[Kerrywaz1]

The nut that came with mine is 1-11/16”. Was going to the 1-3/4 really make it worth the difference? Did you change the stock string spacing?

[Aspiring]

Originally Posted by Kerrywaz1

The nut that came with mine is 1-11/16”. Was going to the 1-3/4 really make it worth the difference? Did you change the stock string spacing?

To be clear I didn't change the neck or nut width itself only the spacing of the strings on the nut pushing the edges out about a total of 2mm.

This moved the string spacing to be about 2mm wider (center to center on the outside strings) and matches the spacing on 1 3/4 nut guitars i have.

The two small things I didn't like with the Enya x4 were the string spacing and the overall weight.

The nut change resolved the spacing issue for me. And to your comment yes I noticed the difference. I could still play with the stock but I play a little cleaner with the new nut it is not a huge difference but noticeable.

I also enjoy tinkering and this was a chance to play with my 3d printer.

[Kerrywaz1]

I see. What is your string spacing now at the nut? Did you change the spacing at the saddle at all?

Thanks.

[Aspiring]

The original was 35.5 mm center to center and the new one is 38.2mm.

I still have the original bridge string spacing.

[boneuphtoner]

Originally Posted by Aspiring

The original was 35.5 mm center to center and the new one is 38.2mm.

I still have the original bridge string spacing.

What is the bridge string spacing on this model?

[Aspiring]

Originally Posted by boneuphtoner

What is the bridge string spacing on this model?

2 3/16" measured at the saddle 2 1/4" at the bridge pins. Measured center to center on the strings