Last fret action on T-100D ?

[guildboy]

I have a Guild T-100D that was passed down to me. I'm trying to get it playing well. The action at the nut seems right on and the neck is dead straight. The action at the last fret is like 8/64's which seems WAY to high to me. Any idea what the action should be at? The bridge is adjusted all the way down. Some ideas would be to get aftermarket bridge and grind it down. Or the frets on this guitar are super low like .030 low. It may need a refret so a fret with jumbo frets would bring it into range.

Any ideas?

 

[Quantum Strummer]

Fitting a lower bridge would be the least invasive option, so that's what I'd go with first.

-Dave-

 

[jp]

I agree with Dave. You may want to save the original bridge and use an aftermarket floating bridge to experiment with. My first '59 T-100D had really low frets, which may have been the done by the original owner. Lower frets were popular with 50s players. I had it refretted because I found it absolutely unplayable.

 

[Guildadelphia]

You could try a new wood floating bridge base and a lower profile bridge. If it's still too high, the bottoms of the wood base feet can be sanded down. If you are using a metal bridge atop the wooden base, the bottoms of the bridge ends could also be grinded down. There is also the possibility that it is in need of a neck reset but I would try the bridge options first. If you are able to get the action down to a height you find comfortable ( I prefer 4/64ths on the low E @ the 12th fret and a titch lower on the high E) and you find that the guitar still does not play well (fretting out, lots of buzzing, hard to fret notes cleanly, intonation problems, etc) then it's probably time for a refret.

 

[zizala]

I've also had a few that needed the bridge saddle sanded down a bit to lower the string height.....its not uncommon to have this problem with some of the older thin body Guilds.

With a double pickup guitar like the T-100D, you may also have to lower the bridge pickup as the strings may end up too close or contacting the pickup.
Depending on what pickups your T-100D has, it may take some skills to get that done. At some point a neck reset might be the only option but I've managed to avoid going there so far.
With Franz pickups I've often sanded the bottom of the plastic covers to get proper clearance....and with that accomplished I'll lower the pole screws away from the strings accordingly.

 

[guildboy]

Appreciate it guys! I did some experimenting making a temp bridge base out of cardboard. I was able to lower the action and it seems to play fairly well...so I went ahead and ordered a bridge from Stewmac where I will sand down the base.

Like I mentioned before my frets are really lower .030-.035 so I am leaning towards a refret...Any recommendations for fret size?

 

[Guildadelphia]

Fret size is really a matter of personal preference unless you are looking to keep it vintage correct. I have no idea what the original fret size was on a vintage T-100. My own personal preference are medium jumbos.