Selmer Style Other Uses and String Height

[CarolinaGetaway]

I needed an acoustic while in the process of moving (all instruments currently in climate controlled storage) and, somewhat on a whim, bought an Eastman DM1 "gypsy guitar". (I have no particular interest in gypsy jazz.) Really like the sound -- very different from anything else I have. Wide open and extremely loud. However, the action is quite high. My understanding is that the action is that high by design. The bridge has no saddle; it is a single piece of wood -- like an old time and inexpensive archtop. It may be glued in place; i am not sure but I think it is. Any ideas on how to lower the action, and whether that is even a good idea. It is playable as it is and one advantage is that I am learning to play much higher action than I am used to. Any thoughts on this are appreciated. Thanks.

[Mandobart]

Bridges on Sel-Mac style guitars are supposed to be free floating. The "moustaches" at the ends are glued. You can loosen and remove the strings, tape some 200 grit sandpaper to the body (face up using low tack painters tape) and sand the bottom of the feet. You need to sand it on the body vs a flat block because these guitars have a slight induced arch (pliage).

There are also replacement bridges by Golden Gate of various heights available.

I use my Altamira for gypsy jazz, fingerstyle, swing and other genres. I think it's a cool sound with lots of applications.

[CarolinaGetaway]

Thank you. Extremely helpful.

[RLetson]

Before reducing the bridge height: did the shop do a setup? And did the tech know how to set up a Selmer-style? Sometimes fairly simple tweaks (nut, relief) even to an instrument from a competent company (which Eastman is) can make a difference. Then there's the matter of strings--Selmers are designed for very light, compliant strings, historically, Argentines, but something like a GHS Thin Core extra light set would probably work as well.

String height for a Selmer-style is generally higher than for, say, an electric or a fingerstyle acoustic for the same reason it's high-ish on an archtop--they're often played hard. Though I've never found my Selmer-styles (by Dell'Arte, Michael Dunn, and Shelley Park) particularly hard on the left hand.

And if the stock bridge really is high, I'd say get a decent replacement and adjust *that*. (I had a second bridge made for my Dunn to deal with what Minnesota winters do to guitars.)

[CarolinaGetaway]

Actually, the owner of the store is a well-known local gypsy jazz player. He played the guitar before I left the store with the guitar and said that the action was as expected. He suggested that I play it for a while and if I thought I wanted a lower action to bring it back in and they would lower the action. I lowered it myself with the truss rod but it lost much of its characteristic tone so I put it back to the original setup. The intonation is spot on. I guess I will just have to get used to it.