Yamaha LL16 lower action

[jonny707]

I am trying to lower the action on my acoustic guitar. It is 3mm/8/64 at the moment. String height at first fret is .012" and neck relief is .005". Saddle height is around 2.5 mm and break angle seems shallow. Trust rod seems to be fully tightened. Can I afford to shave the bottom of the saddle without introducing fret buzz.

[YamahaGuy]

Originally Posted by jonny707

I am trying to lower the action on my acoustic guitar. It is 3mm/8/64 at the moment. String height at first fret is .012" and neck relief is .005". Saddle height is around 2.5 mm and break angle seems shallow. Trust rod seems to be fully tightened. Can I afford to shave the bottom of the saddle without introducing fret buzz.

I don't want to sound condescending here, but fully tightening the truss rod is not how to "lower the action." IF you don't know how to check for proper neck relief, (capo at first fret, fret 13th fret) I'd take the instrument to someone who can set it up for you. I mean, it's one thing to start shaving a saddle, but it's another to do a setup the right way.

Early on, I did enough of them wrong to learn to know how to do them right.

Some Yamaha guitars, even those with perfectly good necks, require a very low saddle to get low action.

That said, the fact that the truss rod is fully tightened leads me to believe the neck has a backbow to it and even if you go ahead and shave the saddle as low as you need it, once the neck relief is properly set, you'll be worse off again.

Is the guitar properly humidified? What gauge strings are you using? Has the guitar ever been setup?

For a shallow break angle, a relief route is necessary
https://hazeguitars.com/blog/acousti...ng-break-angle

[thefsb]

YamahaGuy is spot on. You have to follow the right order of adjustments. Otherwise you'll be chasing your tail (or worse).

1. Tune the string set you are setting up for. Stretch them if new.

2. Relief. Adjust the truss rod so that the curvature of the neck is correct.

3. Action. Adjust the saddle so that the height of the strings above the frets is correct.

(4. & 5. Forget about what completes our cute mnemonic acronym for now.)

1 & 2 establish the correct balance of forces among strings, neck and truss rod. That's a precondition before you measure action height and determine what if any sort of adjustment is needed and how much.

[Retired1]

Jonny - how old is the LL16 ? If it's new or close to it the truss rod nut should be turnable with hand pressure on the wrench - if your concerned about it you could 'gently' see if you can back it off 1/8 turn just to check and then return it to where it was before - .005" relief is my ideal. Your nut seems high, as well as your saddle - I set my nut at .002 - that's with my finger pushing the string down in front of the 2nd fret and measuring at the first fret. You can bring your saddle down to .093 (6/64) at the 12th fret for the low E and .068 for the high E - those are typical numbers, should give you good action without buzzing unless you are a bluegrass wailing strummer. New Yamahas typically need this work done as they typically come with high action - good luck.