#1
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Sable string height problem at nut
I recently purchased a Sable and love it. After playing for the last month on it I decided that the string height of the first two strings is too high near the nut. It looks like the nut is compensated some how, it has waves on it as opposed to most nuts that are square edged. McPherson included another bridge with the guitar but I think the change needs to be at the other end of the string. Seems like the first two strings are much higher than the 3-6 strings.
Has anyone lowered the action of the strings near the nut and what was the method used? I also notices that there is a groove alongside the B string slot in the nut (actually never saw it until I took this picture). I have not changed the strings so this must have come from the factory this way. Maybe the nut is messed up resulting in strings 1, 2 being higher than the others. |
#2
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Working on nut slots is a lot more intimidating to me than sanding the bottom of the saddle, so I always take it to my local luthier get the nut right.
I'm a big fan of luthier http://www.bryankimsey.com for online setup information. He goes deep into what works and why. He makes the point that a few thousandths of an inch difference at the nut has a much bigger impact on playability than at the saddle. He suggests action at the first fret (bottom of string to fret distance) should be close to E = .018", A = .016", D = .016", G = .016", B = .016", E = .014". He's a bluegrass player, so this can handle a heavy strummer. I'm not, but it feels great to me. |
#3
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Nuts are tricky
I agree about nuts being more difficult. I am not actually considering doing this myself but I think that McPhersons are a little different since the neck floats.
I want to be sure that I understand what the appropriate fix is so that I can find a luthier that can implement it. I think there is always a range of skills and knowledge out there and if you don't know at least a little you can't judge if you have a skilled technician or somebody who just talks a good game. The more I have thought about this, and especially since I noticed the groove alongside the B string when I took the picture, I think this may be a factory issue. I have tried to contact McPherson several times and ways but with the closures have been unsuccessful. I was hoping to get their input on the solution. |
#4
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Quote:
A relevant aside: I bought a new Taylor 812ce 12-Fret, and took it out of its unopened shipping box, and out of its hardshell case right in the store. After tuning it, the darn thing was that I couldn't get my fretting fingers to properly locate on the 1st-string! A closer examination revealed that the guitar left Taylor with the 1st-string out of its slot and almost off the treble side of the nut. I loosened the string and put it in its slot and all was well. The lesson learned was that makers, even Taylor with its impeccable quality control, sometimes do miss a beat!
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Martin HD-28 Sunburst/Trance M-VT Phantom Martin D-18/UltraTonic Adamas I 2087GT-8 Ovation Custom Legend LX Guild F-212XL STD Huss & Dalton TD-R Taylor 717e Taylor 618e Taylor 614ce Larrivee D-50M/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Blue Grass Special/HiFi Larrivee D-40R Sunburst Larrivee C-03R TE/Trance M-VT Phantom RainSong BI-DR1000N2 Emerald X20 Yamaha FGX5 Republic Duolian/Schatten NR-2 Last edited by SpruceTop; 04-18-2020 at 12:58 PM. |
#5
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Buzzy, if you called try to contact them via email instead. I sent a message to McPherson customer service last week and I received a reply the same day.
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#6
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slot
Yes, I thought the same when I saw the shallow slot. I loosened the string and checked and no, it is in the deeper and apparently proper slot.
Interesting story about your Taylor. I have two Taylors and they both have an incredible set up from the factory. That is probably why I noticed this 1, 2nd string issue so much. I was having to use a much higher force to properly fret the strings near the nut and noticed that the strings seemed much higher than the rest. I figured they should be the same or slightly lower. |
#7
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email
I used the contact page on April 2nd and have not heard. I also tried calling and using FB and FB messenger. I will try the email. Thanks
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#8
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I have two Sables and have not seen that problem in either one. Email has worked well for me when contacting McPherson.
Edit: I have brought a number of newly acquire guitars to Marty Reynolds to notch the nut a bit. I don't want to mess it up and he has the experience to take off just the right amount. I would probably tend to overdo it. I have not felt the need to have that done to my newest Taylors or McPhersons. Also, it is quite unusual, but not impossible, for a McPherson to have a problem fresh from the factory. I hope you get it resolved quickly and to your satisfaction. Tony
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“The guitar is a wonderful thing which is understood by few.” — Franz Schubert "Alexa, where's my stuff?" - Anxiously waiting... Last edited by tbeltrans; 04-18-2020 at 03:53 PM. |
#9
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First off don't be alarmed by the 'styling' of the nut. Apparently McPherson use a patented compensated tusq nut and saddle by Graphtech and that's what it looks like. I recently ordered myself a Sable (never received it as of yet) but I've been doing a helluva lot of research lately about the company. This post doesn't make me feel good though . Do you have any means of measuring the string height at the nut? McPherson's attention to detail is supposed to be extremely high so I'm a little surprised to hear this. That being said I don't have a proper set of nut files myself, which is ideally what you would want to file a little off a nut slot, but I found welding torch tip cleaners to work really well on tusq as it's not as dense as bone. You can get those at your local hardware store (if its open) and pick the size that matches the string. Ideally you would want to be able to measure it though as you're filing. A nut is probably the hardest part of a guitar to get right and you can easily mess it up.
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#10
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The compensations on the lower E string and the B string are normal, or at least yours look like mine. There is only one notch for each string on my Sables, so if you have an extra notch for the B string, that is a bit odd. I can't say that my B and high E strings are too high though.
I hope that helps. Tony
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“The guitar is a wonderful thing which is understood by few.” — Franz Schubert "Alexa, where's my stuff?" - Anxiously waiting... |
#11
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It sounds like a very, very serious problem to me. I think the owner would be better off just sending me the guitar and let me deal with the heartbreak. Heck, I'd even give him a few hundred bucks.
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#12
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Quote:
Seriously, Buzzy, I think that contacting McPherson by email, you will find them very responsive. Of course, you can reach either Evan or me by email or PM too. Tony
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“The guitar is a wonderful thing which is understood by few.” — Franz Schubert "Alexa, where's my stuff?" - Anxiously waiting... |
#13
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I think you need to reseat the plain strings in the nut slots. Might have gotten loose during shipping and you tuned it up with them unseated?
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"Lift your head and smile at trouble. You'll find happiness someday." |
#14
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Sounds like a good theory to me and I'm hoping you're right!
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#15
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This is a bit surprising. I guess even McPherson can slip. Does it have anything to do with current going ons in the world? Less people working, lessened quality control, etc...? I obviously have no idea...just speculating.
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2020 Yamaha LL56 Custom 2021 Boucher SG-51-BMV 2020 RainSong CO-WS1000N2 2019 PRS Silver Sky |
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mcpherson, nut adjustment, sable, string height |
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