Question about a set up

[Antney]

I’m pretty much a low tech one guitar cheap bastard who does his own set ups. I installed a Bob Colosi bone saddle and pins about two years ago and took the saddle down just a bit. The guitar is 27 years old and as far as I can tell doesn’t need a neck reset now or anytime in the near future.
However playing barre chords up past the 7th fret can sometimes be problematic, with the E, B, and sometimes G string not completely hitting the wire...I have to concentrate to make the chord full. Not like this with my cheap beater, although it does have a slightly fatter neck.

should I sand the lower portion of the saddle down a bit to lower those strings? I don’t lose sleep over it, but I notice it.

 

[HeyMikey]

Before you sand more saddle check the height of the nut slots and the neck arc for truss rod adjustment.

 

[SFIV1967]

Hi Antney,

before you sand down the saddle, do a couple of checks first to see where the problem could be.

Always adjust the truss rod first and second adjust the action, not vice versa. And the guitar always needs to be tuned to pitch when you do it.

I usually use that PDF file from Taylor guitars to check the truss rod:
http://c3.zzounds.com/media/truss_rod_adjustment-c53669fbee160b82ed2b3d44fed49ac3.pdf




Now after you are 100% sure that your truss rod is set correctly, you can now check the action on the 12th fret.

In a previous Guild owners manual Guild wrote for the 12th fret test:
On the low E string: The gap should be from .085" to .093" (5.5/64" to 6/64").
On the high E string: The gap should be .070" to .078" (4.5/64" to 5/64").

Since I posted Taylor's tech sheet as example, they use 6/64" (low e-string) and 4/64" (high e-string) as standard settings.

Using a 6" ruler (with 1/32" and 1/64" increments) does an excellent job here. I bought such one from an Automotive shop, as millimeter is not fine enough for action measurements.
That below right picture shows already a slightly too high action (8/64" instead of 6/64" in that case).

Here is a link to the other PDF from Taylor guitars for checking the action (and adjusting the saddle if needed):
http://c3.zzounds.com/media/action-7ff530daa50f07b282eb101094a987d4.pdf

Print those two PDF files on paper and use them step by step to set-up your guitar.

Hope that helps!

Ralf

 

[Cougar]

...That below right picture shows already a slightly too high action (8/64" instead of 6/64" in that case).

So you measure to the bottom of the string? Top of the string? Middle of the string?

 

[SFIV1967]

So you measure to the bottom of the string? Top of the string? Middle of the string?

Check the PDF! Bottom of the string to top of fret!

Ralf