Action high on new Martin

[lmacmil]

Last week I picked up a new GPC-15me. I like everything about it except the action. It's about .110 on the low E (12th fret) and .090 on the high E. The saddle height above the bridge at the low E is about .118 and.092 at high E. So if I want the low E at .094 (3/32), I'd have to shave .032 (.016x2) off the saddle which would leave only about .086 above the bridge and that doesn't seem like much to me. (By contrast, my Taylor action is .100 with a saddle height of .145.)

Is this a neck angle problem that will only get worse over time? I'm well inside my return window so I am looking for advice from anyone with more technical expertise than I have. It may be coincidence but my only previous Martin had a similar issue.

[charles Tauber]

Start by ensuring that the amount of neck relief is appropriate in the .005 or so range.

[mirwa]

Martins have a set neck, and further adjustments for action height are typically done vee sanding the saddle.

Taylor’s have a bolt on neck, so action height is adjusted using shims in the neck socket.

110/90 is not horrible, but not great either, personally I would drop it another 20 thou

Steve

[BillRomansky]

Martins, having been the choice of real mountain bluegrass and old time players for years, traditionally came out of the factory with the strings about 1” off the neck. I used to tease the Maggie Valley, NC players who had moved up to South Jersey, when they came in for their yearly set of new strings, that the bridge cables weren’t available, so that’d have to settle for medium, or in some cases heavy, gauge. They were disappointed because I had no Black Diamond strings, I’d have to sell them on the Martin strings I carried. And, man, could these good old boys tear it up, the original speed metal players.

[Monsoon1]

This is what keeps me from ever owning a set neck acoustic.
Bolt on neck action 4-life.

[redir]

After that adjustment your saddle is about 3/32nd of an inch height. The ideal height is 4/32nds. I would not worry about that one bit.

[John Arnold]

How thick is the bridge? Martin bridges vary from 0.312" to 0.400".