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  #16  
Old 05-10-2019, 09:17 PM
jdk3d jdk3d is offline
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So I had some time to work on it tonight. I sanded down the bridge by about 1.3 mm or so, then sanded the saddle down incrementally, checking every so often by stringing up the low and high e strings to check the string height as I went along. I got the action down to 2.5 mm on the low e at the 12th fret and it sounds and plays great! I'm always amazed when I take on a project that I'm not sure about and it turns out right! :-) The volume and tone are still good and it plays a whole lot easier. I need to trim the 17h fret under the high e string where it chokes the note before it, but other than that, everything else pretty much worked out! Taking material off the top of bridge did change the length of taper of the bridge pin holes so I tapered down the bridge pins a smidgen I have a micro lathe so it didn't take very long to do. I still need do the finish sanding on the bridge and recut the ramps, but I think it's a success!

Thanks to all for your encouragement and advice.

Jesse

Last edited by jdk3d; 05-11-2019 at 11:37 AM. Reason: correcting errors
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  #17  
Old 11-22-2019, 12:08 AM
vintage40s vintage40s is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by vindibona1 View Post
... lowering the saddle or even action too much can cause the guitar to lose its mojo. I had that happen with an Alvarez Yairi. I got the action where I wanted it, but didn't like the sound, replaced the saddle back to the original height. Mojo restored...
I can attest to this. My Martin D-35 bought new in 1969 used to be a boomer. But the action was too high from the start, and I had it lowered in 1999 by shaving the bridge and the saddle.

By 2019 the action was too high again, so I had it lowered again by shaving the saddle.

So now the bridge and saddle are as low (gone) as possible, and the action is nice with 2mm at the 12th fret. However, the strings are now so close to the top that in cross picking the pick can dive down in between the strings and peck at the top.

And because the saddle and string height are so low, the volume and resonance of the Martin dreadnought has been weakened. I notice it in comparison with my new Eastman E20-OM. And a visitor said the Martin was puny compared to his Takamine dreadnought.

The solution to restoring the old Martin's boom is a costly neck reset to restore the height of the saddle.
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  #18  
Old 11-22-2019, 12:19 AM
Brucebubs Brucebubs is offline
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Originally Posted by vintage40s View Post

The solution to restoring the old Martin's boom is a costly neck reset to restore the height of the saddle.
And that bridge you shaved down in 1999 will probably be too low as well so add bridge removal, replacement and re-fitting to the cost of the neck re-set
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bridge modifications, string height/bridge, tone, yamaha fg110

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