Thoughts about this neck angle? (pics)

[MojoTooth]

I know this is the wrong place since this isnt a Guild guitar but I wanted to get some feedback from the fellas on this one. This is the Collings D3 string height at the 12th fret, a little further up and the remaining bridge height. The seller says he never set up the guitar and prefers medium to high action, so it has the full height factory saddle and plenty of room to lower.

You guys see any issues with the neck angle based just on these pics? Getting the action nice and low should be pretty easy since there is plenty of saddle and should be possible without shaving all the saddle off right?

 

[evenkeel]

A good way to check the neck angle is to lay a straight edge on the neck. It should just touch the top of the bridge. Here is a good article on the subject.
http://frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Gu ... angle.html

You have a lot of room to lower the saddle. From the same source an article on that subject.
http://frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Gu ... ion01.html

 

[FNG]

You should call Collings and ask them what they think. I bet they would be willing to talk extensively with you about the guitar.

I bet the guitar comes from Collings with a bluegrassers set up, fairly high action.

Any chance we can get some more pics of the guitar?

 

[pickoid]

Measuring the distance from the top of the 12th fret to the bottom of the low E string should give you some guidance as to how far you need to lower the saddle. 7/64" is generally considered acceptable action; your preferences might vary considerably from that. Once you determine how far you want to lower the action at the 12th fret, you can calculate how much saddle material will need to be removed. You will need to lower the saddle double the amount you want to lower the action at the 12th fret. For example, if you want to lower the action at the 12th fret by 1/64", you will need to lower the saddle by 1/32".

The straightedge test should be a good indication of the condition of the neck angle, but remember that the truss rod adjustment is important too. The truss rod should be adjusted to bring the neck straight (or reasonably close to it) before doing the straightedge test. If, for example, the neck was adjusted with backbow (probably not likely), it would definitely mess up the results of the straightedge test.

 

[MojoTooth]

Any chance we can get some more pics of the guitar?

other than the pics of the string height, saddle and fret wear (very little if any), I only have the pics from the listing. I am going to go look at it tonight and if it checks out otherwise I'll be getting it for my friend. Spoke with the seller at length and he seemed like a forthcoming guy. He said he has 3 other Collings and this one is tough to sell but he has another Collings dread that he plays the most. Twocorgis mentioned something I did not know and that is that Collings guitars have a bolt on neck which makes a reset easier when it is required

http://raleigh.craigslist.org/msg/2031211446.html

http://www.collingsguitars.com/Instruments/?ID=3

 

[FNG]

Sorry Mojo, I thought you had the guitar.

I think your friend will be happy with the Collings.

 

[MojoTooth]

Sorry Mojo, I thought you had the guitar.

I think your friend will be happy with the Collings.

Nah I'll get it tonight and post pics tomorrow. I am sure he will be happy with it, he is the one who introduced me to Collings and he had 2 others made by them. I'm sure I will like it too once I get it here and get it setup, but I think I'll still keep it in it's case and play my D25 more! :lol:

 

[jazzmang]

Action is a bit high, but there seems to be enough saddle to make it work.
Neck angle seems sufficient from these pics.

 

[adorshki]

Measuring the distance from the top of the 12th fret to the bottom of the low E string should give you some guidance as to how far you need to lower the saddle. 7/64" is generally considered acceptable action;

Interesting. Guild spec'd 5-6/64ths for years, haven't checked recently to see if they still do, but that actually sounds a wee bit high to me. I like it right at the Guild spec but I've seen comments about preferring even lower action.

 

[shepke]

From what I can see in these pics you shouldn't have any trouble getting the action down to at least 5/64ths. Measure the action at the twelfth fret and then measure the saddle height. As was mentioned above, you will need to remove 1/32 for every 64th you lower the action. You should be able to calculate pretty quickly how much saddle you'd have left for an action of 5/64ths. I personally don't like the action any lower than that although I know that other people do.

 

[pickoid]

Measuring the distance from the top of the 12th fret to the bottom of the low E string should give you some guidance as to how far you need to lower the saddle. 7/64" is generally considered acceptable action;

Interesting. Guild spec'd 5-6/64ths for years, haven't checked recently to see if they still do, but that actually sounds a wee bit high to me. I like it right at the Guild spec but I've seen comments about preferring even lower action.

Yeah, 7/64" action with a mediocre break angle at the saddle would probably indicate problems with the neck angle and would be a deal breaker on anything I was looking at to buy. However, on a guitar I already owned, I could probably live with 7/64" action if I was trying to put off a neck reset. It's all in the context, I guess. I have read that Martin considers 7/64" "in spec." To me, 5/64" would be just about perfect, anything below that and I'd start to hear fret buzz, and I can't abide too much of that.