Should I Be Worried? Looking for advice.

[lreese]

Have a early 90s D28-2R.

The issue I'm having is a sudden rise in action over the last couple of weeks to the point where its getting uncomfortable to play.

It has been pretty humid here lately, but the area where I keep my guitars is generally kept about 45-55% humidity. I keep a hydrometer in the room and check it several times per day.

The guitar was refretted about 2 years ago with EVO (to delay a neck reset - it was borderline) and last May had a new nut installed. Action @ the 12th fret was about .090 to .095 then. Looking at .110" and maybe a little more now. action at the nut seems a little stiff @ around .029".

The bridge was lifting up at the time of the refret and had a little glue injected under the bridge at the time of refret. I'm thinking it might be neck reset time for the long term fix - so I'm prepared for that possibility.

The top has a little belly, but probably .125" on each side. Not what I'd call excessive.

Looking for advice before I make the call to take to the Dr. Was looking at taking to Maple Street, but any suggestions for someone in Northeast Atlanta are appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[charles Tauber]

From your description, the first thing I'd check is the amount of neck relief. Symptoms sound like the amount of neck relief (bow) has increased. If it is excessive, it may need nothing more than a small adjustment of the truss rod - I'm assuming it has an adjustable rod. That will INDIRECTLY, improve string height at both 12th and nut.

I don't understand the connection between refretting and the forestalment of a neck reset, unless the frets were graduated in height.

Fixing a lifting bridge by injecting glue and then clamping is debatable as to the appropriate method unless hide (or fish) glue was used originally and subsequently. If CA glue was used, then definitely not an appropriate fix.

[Ned Milburn]

If you are keeping your guitar consistently between 45 and 55 percent humidity, I wouldn't expect any humidity based issues.

If a neck is given more bow, the 12th fret action will rise. Have you checked to be sure your truss rod is adjusted properly??

Many factory glued bridges are not well attached, with too much overlap (underlap, actually) of the top finish extending into the area under the bridge. Often there is also little true wood-to-wood contact. Hence, many times it is best to remove, clean, and cut back the finish of the guitar to the actual bridge shape before re-gluing a true wood-to-wood joint.

Regarding neck reset, we don't have enough information to make a judgment. How high does the saddle protrude from the top of the bridge at the high E and low E? Also, how tall is the bridge at the high E and low E.

Here are some photos of bridge removals (scroll ahead for more - about 5 shots of bridges and scoring the soundboard finish around the bridge shape):

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...type=3&theater

[lreese]

My eyes aren't as good as they used to be and can't deem to find my magnifier -

Best I can tell at the moment I'm slightly proud of 5/32 on the High E and 6/32" on the low E. Height of the bridge plate looks to be 14" high and low E on front, back about the same, but harder to tell because of bulge.

Also took a straightedge along the plane of the 8th to 14th frets and the corner of looks to be within a 64th of hitting the top of the bridge plate. Its very close anyway. Seems to indicate the reset is not needed?

The frets on the tongue slope down slightly from those from 1 to 14.

Relief as measured last night was about .006 to .008"

[charles Tauber]

Originally Posted by lreese

Best I can tell at the moment I'm slightly proud of 5/32 on the High E and 6/32" on the low E. ...Relief as measured last night was about .006 to .008"

The relief sound fine. The string height, if measured at the 12th fret - from top of fret to bottom of string - is excessive. Should be about 3/32" on the low E and a little less on the high E. That means you need to have the saddle 3/16" lower than it is now. Unless you now have 1/4" of saddle projecting above the bridge, the primary option is a neck reset. There are some other options, but are not ideal solutions.

[lreese]

Sorry - that was the response to Ned's question.

Its the height of the saddle above the bridge plate. I think there's ample to shave a little off if I need to but....

I found my magnifiers - and tried to tweak the rod checking my work with feeler gauges. I do not trust my work with those, but I tried to be careful.

I have .006 on the neck relief now. Capo on 1st fret and depressing on the bridge side of the 13th fret. Might be a little less depending on my interpretation.

I'm at .070" on the high E and slightly more than .100" on the high E, so that low E needs to come down slightly. I think I can handle that.

Thanks for the comments. I still appreciate any comments to improve my "Skills". Acoustic is still a new game to me.