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Deepening Saddle Slot (and not ruin it)
I have a nylon crossover guitar with action that’s just a shade higher than I’d like.
As you can see in this picture, there’s no room to reduce the saddle itself without shaving the top of the bridge, but shaving the top of the bridge will reduce the depth of the slot. At the same time, note that there’s plenty of room to deepen the slot. But, deepening the slot without widening it or creating an uneven bottom seems a formidable undertaking. Is there a way to deepen the slot without screwing it up? |
#2
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Rick Ruskin Lion Dog Music - Seattle WA |
#3
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Last time I did that (a brand new Wechter 000) I set up a jig to straddle the bridge that served as a guide for a dremel in my Stu-Mac router base. It was really pretty easy.
Doing the custom jig is a big time suck, but necessary if you want a successful outcome. It was an hour to set up the jig and a couple of minutes to route the slot. Don't slot too deeply. On this type of a bridge it's easy to create too much leverage with a saddle and snap the front lip off the bridge. |
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It looks to me that you could plane some off the bridge and still have a slot deep enough to hold the saddle, depending on how much you need to drop the action.
How much do the strings need to come down? You say this is a hybrid. Is it a bolt on neck? If so, resetting the neck angle is not a big deal for a luthier. |
#5
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I have used a razor saw (2 cuts) and a micro chisel. Final flattening of the bottom with a thin file.
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#6
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It’s a Spanish heel and it’s been this way since new. It’s just a tiny bit higher than I’d like. Based on the math, I think I need to lower it about .05
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I'm curious, what is a nylon crossover guitar? Those ball end strings look like steel strings? Or silk and steel?
Do you have a dremel with a router base? Is the front edge of your bridge straight and square enough to use it to guide a dremel/router? Take a strip of hardwood the same thickness as the saddle and glue #80 sandpaper to the edge and sand out the slot? Otherwise, use the chisel and file method above. It's cheap, fairly accurate and probably takes less time than a router set up. |
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#9
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Take a look at saddle slot levelers on the stewmac website.
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OM-28 Marquis (2005) Kenny Hill Player (nylon) Gibson AJ (2012) Rogue Resonator (kindling) |
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They’re a weird combination of a steel rope core with nylon wrap and flat wound copper over nylon. The sound is very curious. They put a ball end so they can be used on very lightly braces steel string guitars or classical guitars. A less lazy person might cut the ball ends off and tie them properly… |
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Is the neck relief set correctly to spec?
Is the guitar at the proper humidity? If there is too much relief the action will be higher. If the guitar is too wet the action will be higher. Too dry and the action will be lower. These things should be correct before determining if an action adjustment is needed or not.
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~Bob~ Martin D-28 Satin Fender American Ultra Telecaster |
#13
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Does your nylon crossover have a 16" radius neck fitted? It is difficult to see in the photo but the bridge looks flat (no radius), and I'm not sure about the saddle either. If you sanded a radius into the bridge to match the fretboard radius you could gain saddle height above the bridge on the 1st, 2nd and 5th, 6th strings, while maintaining slot depth in the middle. That may give you enough room to lower the saddle (at the correct radius) without cutting the slot deeper and still maintain structural integrity. Like I said, I don't have all the info so could be wrong.
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I'm learning to flatpick and fingerpick guitar to accompany songs. I've played and studied traditional noter/drone mountain dulcimer for many years. And I used to play dobro in a bluegrass band. |
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#15
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Let us know how you get on.
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I'm learning to flatpick and fingerpick guitar to accompany songs. I've played and studied traditional noter/drone mountain dulcimer for many years. And I used to play dobro in a bluegrass band. |