Can somebody give me a simple answer as to why you would sand the saddle?

[Dreadfulnaught]

Originally Posted by ctvolfan

Is it for intonation? Does it improve the volume or tone to get the strings closer to the bridge? I see some people that sand it to lower the action. Why is adjusting the truss rod not sufficient enough to lower the action? I would assume that since the truss rod takes bow in or out of the neck that maybe no matter how much you adjust it, you could still have high action if the nut and saddle are too high. It would seem to me that the nut would affect the height of the strings more than the saddle since the saddle is not part of the neck.

Truss rod adjusts relief, saddle height is reduced to lower action until you can’t anymore, then neck is reset and the process starts over. The truss rod can bow the neck as needed to provide enough relief but can’t change the neck angle.
Cranking on the truss rod to lower action can lead to expensive tragic occurrences. Friends don’t let friends adjust truss rods to lower the action.

[Rosewood99]

Originally Posted by Dreadfulnaught

Truss rod adjusts relief, saddle height is reduced to lower action until you can’t anymore, then neck is reset and the process starts over. The truss rod can bow the neck as needed to provide enough relief but can’t change the neck angle.
Cranking on the truss rod to lower action can lead to expensive tragic occurrences. Friends don’t let friends adjust truss rods to lower the action.

Adjusting the truss rod doesn't hurt a thing as long as it's only a quarter turn. Been doing it for ten years (yes it actually does help with lowering action) and none of my guitars have exploded. If quarter turn doesn't do the trick than other options need to be considered.

[Edgar Poe]

Originally Posted by ctvolfan

Is it for intonation? Does it improve the volume or tone to get the strings closer to the bridge? I see some people that sand it to lower the action. Why is adjusting the truss rod not sufficient enough to lower the action? I would assume that since the truss rod takes bow in or out of the neck that maybe no matter how much you adjust it, you could still have high action if the nut and saddle are too high. It would seem to me that the nut would affect the height of the strings more than the saddle since the saddle is not part of the neck.

Sometimes I think that I wouldn't even pay attention to this stuff if I hadn't heard about it from somebody somewhere and it gets me worrying about stuff I would not have worried about if I had never heard about it in the first place. I have tweaked my truss rods for years but never touched the nut and saddle unless I have had my tech that I use switch them out.

The primary purpose of the truss rod is not to adjust string height, it's to adjust neck bow. Which is a very small amount.
The second worst thing a person can to to adjust string height, is to shave the bridge.
Both are OK if you hate your instrument.

Ed

[HodgdonExtreme]

Originally Posted by Edgar Poe

The primary purpose of the truss rod is not to adjust string height, it's to adjust neck bow. Which is a very small amount.
The second worst thing a person can to to adjust string height, is to shave the bridge.
Both are OK if you hate your instrument.

^Not sure if that was written "tongue in cheek"

But if not - how would somebody correctly lower action? I'm not a luthier, but it seems that if truss rod and saddle height are off the table, the only other possibility would be a neck reset. It would be pretty tedious and expensive if neck angle was the only avenue for adjusting actions...

[gitarpraz]

Originally Posted by beatcomber

Simple answer:

The truss rod only controls the relative straightness of the neck by adjusting its curvature, it does not by itself enable consistently low action up and down the neck.

To get a proper set-up, the neck curvature (truss rod) and string height (bridge) have to be adjusted in tandem.

I can't believe in four pages no one has questioned this diagram. It looks completely backwards. The marks indicating where the fret buzz would be as well as the direction to turn the truss rod are just the opposite.
After a quick Google search I just did, I noticed this comes up right away too. Yikes.

Here is a good, correct source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAg6Kvbr_OU

P.S. Asking for a simple answer on a guitar forum is asking A LOT. :P

[12barBill]

Originally Posted by beatcomber

Simple answer:

The truss rod only controls the relative straightness of the neck by adjusting its curvature, it does not by itself enable consistently low action up and down the neck.

To get a proper set-up, the neck curvature (truss rod) and string height (bridge) have to be adjusted in tandem.

Originally Posted by gitarpraz

I can't believe in four pages no one has questioned this diagram. It looks completely backwards. The marks indicating where the fret buzz would be as well as the direction to turn the truss rod are just the opposite.
After a quick Google search I just did, I noticed this comes up right away too. Yikes.

Here is a good, correct source:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SAg6Kvbr_OU

P.S. Asking for a simple answer on a guitar forum is asking A LOT. :P

What is screwed up with this is in the diagrams the strings are curved/bowed in the way that the neck is. The strings should be in a straight line from nut to saddle.

[John Arnold]

"But if not - how would somebody correctly lower action? I'm not a luthier, but it seems that if truss rod and saddle height are off the table,"

I think you are confusing 'bridge' and 'saddle'. Shaving the bridge is not recommended (with some caveats), but shaving the saddle is OK, within limits. In general, the minimum saddle height above the bridge is about 1/16", while the minimum bridge thickness is 5/16" (Martin spec).