There are too many negative comments here. So let me set the record straight. I followed your instructions on a brand new Seagull Artist Studio. And I've got the action down perfect. Didn't need to adjust the truss rod or the nut, only cut the saddle one string at a time. No buzzing and it plays great.Thanks
Exceptionally well explained! I follow your outlined procedure almost to the "T". I too have played for over 50 years, 38+ years as a full-time professional, and have been repairing guitars for about 45 years as well. MY dad was also an electronics guy and a very crafty, meticulous builder of many things all the way up from model planes to ultra light planes and gyro-copters. Seems you and I have a lot in common. Now subscribed!
I have set up a few electric guitars,and recently my son came home with a cheapie Dean acoustic with a very high action and slightly bowed neck.. Having never worked on an acoustic..I first adjusted the truss rod getting the bow out of the neck I removed all the strings and removed the bridge discovered 2 plastic shims I removed both ,restrung and tuned up. It was better BUT I thought if I sanded a bit off the bottom of bridge it would be playable. It worked well ! I figured if I screwed up the bridge I would simply order another one and start again... after all it would only be $10.00 or $15.00 to get hold of a new one. Your technique works for you and that is fine.. each to his own I say Thanks for the video showing another way to work out a solution !
Good insight and good presentation. Articulate and patient tutorial. I'm not going to toot my own horn but I am a GIT/AIM grad, (89). I've played since 12, over 30 years. I'd have to roll this video 4 stars! I'd give it 5 except there are no contingencies to show how to correct the fret buzz and heaven forbid a severe buzz. Still a fine demonstration! !!
I was always sort of scared to screw up my guitar by adjusting the truss rod, and your video just improved the action my guitar substantially. This was after getting turned away by a music store last week as if the guitar either was beyond repair or not worth working on (not a terrible one - an older takamine fp360). No more concave neck after three slight adjustments, and the action is a million times better.
Loved your very clear explanation! One thing which I don't think you mentioned, but a lot of people are confused by this - it doesn't matter if the truss rod adjusts at the headstock or body end: it's always righty tighty lefty loosey!
you are awesome! I wish we had you tube and some guys like you when we were young bloods don't you ? you are right again when you say a lot of guitar repair guys want everyone to think it's hard to set up a guitar or intonation etc etc . thanks so much FG or the strait forward advice you are a gentleman and a scholar sir. God bless T.C
WOW! Thanks for this video! I have never attempted to do a setup on a guitar. To hear some people's opinion on this, you'd think a guitar set up is comparable to rocket science! Someone gave me a vintage Aria guitar that had sat in a closet for years and was in dire need of help. After watching this video I went ahead and and did everything as you instructed. Sidenote: The action was way high, and the neck had a slight bow before. Now the action is considerably lower and more playable without loss of intonation, and no fret buzz! I think, like you said. "Take it slow" is key in the process here. Thanks again! This is a concise, and straightforward video.
Thank you, I have an old beat up Yamaha I bought for 25 bucks and it needs exactly what you are doing removing buzzes. Playing long acoustic sessions with a high action is murder on fingers.
I enjoyed this. You're a good teacher. I've been adjusting my electric guitars for years. But I never messed with acoustics. This was very helpful. Thank you!
Mine was consistantly high across the bridge. Took the piece out and filed the bottom keeping it perfectly straight, but took off about 1/8th inch. Worked perfectly.
Oh my God, you are a hero! Man, i just got a second hand Takamine, and the action was far higher than my old one. I was regretting the purchase until this.
Thank you so much for this video. I had this guitar forever with such a high action. It increatble to driffrent it made shaving down the bridges. It never been touch in like 15 years. This guitar so easy to play now. Thank you so much
hey excellent explanations and instructions for u s luthier-challenged bums out here! i made a vast improvement in playability and intonation by simply following your methods.thank you very much! i am telling my buddies to watch and learn also! rock on brother!
Nice video with common sense techniques to improve your action on an acoustic. I have 2 that need just a small tweek and other videos I have watched don't feel as concerned with using a finer touch, like you have shown here. Your solution for getting the nut just right, is as good as I have ever seen and your instruction has probably saved many, many nuts from the dreaded "over sanding" through the years.
Man your voice is relaxing lol. I literally was watching this and fell asleep, just woke up 30 min later and had to rewatch the vid 😂. Not saying your boring or nothing ,I love the vid just exhausted today from work and your voice is just soothing
Thank you Mr Roger Brainard. I understand and comprehend everything you said but you blew my mind with sharing and demonstrating with the most common tools that any guitar player has. I'm speaking Acoustic setups. You simplified it perfectly. Thanks again 5 Star rating 5 equals 110%
One thing of note is that some guitars actually have a shim or two under the bridge saddle. Most guitars are set with medium action height. You might be lucky and just remove one of the shims which will lower the action without filing or sanding. Found this in a book on acoustic guitar making a few years back.
Only cheap Chinese ,Korean guitars use shims. If a guitar has shims. The guitar is being robbed of sound and most likely has a plastic saddle bone in it. Med strings are the best strings for sound. Light strings has no volume. In a jam session using lights . You will never be heard unless you have a mic. As far light and med strings, if you take lights off and replace with meds, and you get buzz. Your action is set way to low from the start. Most of the time shims are used to stop buzz. Or it's a cheap new guitar from China or Korea. With a plastic saddle and neck has never been set.
Every othe tutorial has people set the nut height first. Your way of doing the saddle first with the capo on the first fret makes way more sense to me. Takes one part out of the equation. Thank you sir.
What a great video, so informative. Thanks for sharing your expertise, it's really appreciated. I always wondered how to lower the action on an acoustic...now I know!!
I don't know if this is the right way to file the saddle down but it probably works. It look like the easy cheat method. The way i've seen it done is they take measurements and sand down the bottom of the saddle.
I think i explain my rational for doing it this way ... it is easy to file the saddle down to the notches and articulate it after you get the height right .. and this is under the EASY category :)
Before you start filing down the saddle notch, check to see if there are slims under the it; some guitars like the Ovations have a couple of shims under the bridge for easy adjustments
That is definitely a feature of Ovation guitars, But others do it also, so it's always worth at least a look see, under the saddle to see what's what. Roger's technique of filing down the notches instead of sanding the bottom of the saddle makes more sense to me as you can ruin your saddle by sanding unevenly and causing it to make improper contact with your pick up if you have one there.
Excellent tutorial, clearly demonstrated - thanks. Everyone I've come across take the saddle out and sand the bottom edge so the radius stays the same. However, that only works if it has the original saddle, properly radiused. NB: I wish all manufacturers had truss rod access from the sound hole instead of having to take off a cover at the head. Great job.
Wow great advice. I got low Acton now and I can really strum hard. I got my low e at 9/64 and high e at 7/64 at the 12th fret. No buzzing anymore plus I can play slide really good with my lower action.
Thank you! Roger. Its good folks like you who make guitar playing interesting. Love your passion and care you put into the video and answering questions. God Bless You! Keep up the good work!🙏
Nice job explaining this procedure. In my opinion, it was really good. I just don't agree with notching the saddle. The saddle is already shaped to the contour of the neck and if too high, it should be removed and sanded at the bottom to keep the correct contour shape. If one string is high near the bridge, chances are, they all are going to be too high, which is why most people would say to remove material from the bottom of the saddle. Again, nicely done. Thank you for sharing.
Great tutorial! Thanks I actually just picked up a Seagull in a trade. Beautiful guitar, just needs a decent setup. Its my first acoustic since I was a kid, but I generally do all the work on my electrics so I figured I'd give it a go.
That’s the first time I ever saw that approach for lowering action at the bridge, by filing a groove for each individual string, rather than sanding off the base of the saddle. Interesting.
thanks! I think the advantage of keeping the bottom contact point truly flat so the most vibration transfer is even string to string is important .. the top can be articulated and trimmed down easily. also with this method the tension stays the same so the string height stays the same and is visible WHILE making the adjustments .. rock on
thank you for posting .. i have never found an acoustic that the action and string height impressed me ..i did play a d-45 martin that was unbelievable.. i like extremely low strings no buzz..that is a beautiful guitar you have in this video.....
Fabtastic! Thank you so much i was not sure if i could do this type of work myself, but thanks to your excellent video i now have to confidence to go ahead. Venuss - London UK x
Top notch video! The only thing I would add Rodger is this: Your guitar in the demo is obviously not new (no dig there) however it should be noted that many NEW guitars come with additional (removable) shims already "stored" under the bridge. They do this because they do not know if the guitar is being sold into a humid or dry climate. The manufacturer thus usually "over shims" the bridge so that the only adjustment needed would be shim removal. Truth be told, many guitarists are not aware of this "extra shims" factor so a guitar can change hands many times without the bridge/shims ever having been removed. So, I would add the step in your video (if possible) to first check for extra shims under the bridge.
thanks for the good words ... very good point .. shims are also a potential tone killer acoustically and for the pickup .. most of the ones I have seen are mylar or nylon .. dull the tone .. soo yes it would certainly not be a bad idea to check during a string change ...hmmmmm that guitar was new 20 or so years ago... what happened :)
I actually do two steps at the saddle (1) grooving at the top part to figure out the action height (2) replace a new saddle and sand down the saddle height from the bottom.
Great tutorial and a good starting point for beginners. I am OCD as hell, so I must have everything perfect; perfectly formed slots, grooves, no scratch marks in the bone, etc. And I would be doing a lot of measuring of the strings in relation to the frets at each step of the set-up. That being said, I would only rely on the measurements to keep me in safe territory as I cut, so as not to overdo things - like you said: "A little at a time." I think you may have missed, or intentionally left a few minor details out, maybe to simplify this task for the video, but certainly nothing that would be detrimental to the guitar or the set-up. This was a nice instructional tutorial for learning how to "properly" set up an acoustic guitar, without using height gauges and straight-edges. I enjoyed your video - Thanks Roger!
I watched alot of videos on string height i followed you instruction my norman (sea gull) is setup better than ever nice and low 13 to 56 strings i like to flat pick nice and loud no buzz of any type thanks a lot for the awesome video !!
The saddle should be radiused to the bridge without resorting to cutting slots in the saddle with a file, by sanding the underside until you reach the required height. And if you're gonna cut slots (not that you should anyway) you would not use a three cornered file, you want to use a proper nut slot file, each sized per string and then use your radius gauges to match you slots to the frets.
Good to see you using non-specialist tools (I do too), although I don't use the same methods as you. For instance, I'd remove material from the bottom of the saddle rather than filing the top.
I really enjoyed the video, and the general relaxed tone of it. I am a bit concerned about filing the saddle top, and how it would negatively impact the compensation. Mainly the concern would be that the bass E, as you file a notch down, brings the compensation forward. With the shorter scale on these Seagulls, I find I need that string to be fully compensated as far back as possible, or it plays a bit sharp up the neck. I know you could later correct it, but that would be difficult to do without removing the saddle fully, since filing a downward angle would have you jabbing the bridge. Seems better to just remove it and sand down the bottom.
thanks for the good words .. i guess i did not say it but i 'assumed' one would want to cut/file/sand the top of the saddle down to almost the bottom of the notches and follow the conture of the compensation when doing that
i know how..but been looking for some new approaches or to learn things i dont know..i like your simple and basic yet direct approach to the way you present your lesson man 👍👍
Of all the string height adjustments offered here on TH-cam , I believe this to be the most orderly, simply explained, and with minimum basic tools. Every step was timed just right allowing your info to sink in , and then you moved forward at a pace that even a young adult could understand and work with. Your 3 steps, the truss rod, then the saddle, and lastly the nut. Thank you so much for sharing this with the public. Superb Job..........
Excellent, no-nonsense video. I tried adjusting truss rod once. Never again! Fortunately, it was a cheap (laminated top) guitar. Ruined it! Good tip, about using capo, to isolate nut. I have had success improving action on my classical and flamenco guitars (which of course have no truss rods), filing down saddle. I like your technique, to file notches in saddle, to allow for setting each string action independently. Genius hack! Definitely worth a like and subscribe! Do you have a video specifically on setting intonation?
I don't the narrowness of the saddle makes it not as effective as it could be .. I generally slant the two high strings as far back as possible .. but hat is steel strings .. not sure how nylon acts ..best
Really clearly described. Good camera work, too. Thanks for providing this. I especially liked that you showed us how to use the three corner file. In other videos and websites, they promote the use of expensive special files for each width. I'm a frugal hobbyist and wasn't excited about spending $75 for a set that I wouldn't use very often. Please keep up the great work.
There is something to be said about quality, purpose built tools - they are a "must have" for any luthier to do a job precisely. However, for a musician who is on a budget and must do the job himself, the tools used here will work for the do-it-yourselfer on a budget.
The way shown in the video is ideal because it allows you to make adjustments for each individusl string while sanding the bottom of the saddle adjusts them all at once. There's no way to fine tune between strings doing it your way.
@@mrfester42 Sure there is, lower the entire action evenly by sanding the bottom of the saddle, re-string (or place capo on first fret to preserve strings, and just re-saddle), tune-up, set truss-rod, file beneath individual strings to fine-tune action if/as needed. This is how I was taught to do it in a repair shop, you do both unless the guitar only needs very small adjustments to individual strings, which usually isn't the case for people bringing their guitars into a shop. This way you aren't wasting time grinding under each string to lower to overall action. There's no one right way to do it, but this to me seems the most thorough.
All you folks poo-poo-ing this easy method -- where are your free TH-cam Videos showing the so-called "proper way" to adjust acoustic guitar action? I thank Roger for his easy to both understand and apply method. Furthermore he has a wonderful speaking voice. While I agree that a set of nut files would have been a better choice; I'll bet he used the type of file that he did because he figured a novice like myself would have quick access to that type of file. Rock on Roger!
Would you not file the back side of the bridge? Since it is flat, you wont have any issues with loosing your grooves. However, this is an adjustment, affecting all strings at once instead of just one at a time. Individually filing the grooves might be a good option too
you can sand down the back side .. but it has to be really straight ..harder to do than one might think... the saddle is not an expensive part.. work away
great video roger, I have an older epi master craft acoustic no electronics. my fav. guitar. I keep it on a stand all the time I know for the last two yrs anyway. i'm always playing it so I never put it in the case. I change the strings about every 6 - 7 months.. I changed them two wks ago and when I tightened my stings back up, they were laying on the neck of my guitar and no matter what I did I couldn't fix it, I tried.. but i got lucky the body of my guitar was bowed out around the bridge like you said could happen, but what I found out, it is, and was caused by my guitar drying out. my house is really dry no moisture, so I was told to take a baggie fold it cut it with scissors three cuts, open the bag take a thick wash rag soak it with water.. ring it out so water doesn't run out of it, but it's still very moist. pull back your strings at the sound hole and push the bag with the rag in it, into the guitar, make sure to tighten your strings with as much tension as possible like when it's tuned. put it in the case set it up and leave it for a few days... SO, I did it WORKED So, the best thing I learned was get a Humidifier for your house or at least one room I believe a guitar even electrics should be in around 40% humidity . that should keep any guitar from warping.... thanks roger for your videos
Hey Randy, I was too cheap to buy a humidifier for my guitars, so I did similar using some small sponges in sealed sandwich bags,a couple of slices in one side only, tied to a string and used a popsicle sick as an anchor. Worked real slick. Just make sure to put sliced side on the bag facing up.
Great video! My teacher teaches many lessons in altered tuning, tuning down all strings. My question is if I do the adjustments you recommend in standard tuning will things be ok once I down tune. We will be tuning up and down quit a bit in order to learn various methods of playing and alternatives to chord fingering. Do I need to recheck truss rod each time?
great question ...if you are going to set the guitar up i would recommend doing it with the lowest tuning you will use... when you raise the pitch the stings my get a little higher but won't buzz .... if you set up at the highest pitch when you drop the pitch of the guitar you have less tension from the strings and the truss rod can move toward having a back bow causing the strings to buzz.
roger brainard So glad I asked!! Thank so much for your help and super quick response. I love to learn things I’ve never done, but don’t want ruin my guitar, you explain things very well.
One thing I have noticed on all these vids explaining how to adjust the truss rod, no ever says what SIZE allen wrench is used. They may be different depending on the brand, but I have not seen any vids suggest that this is true. Just an observation.
it varies a LOT and some do not use an Allen wrench at all ..some have a screwdriver slot some need a nut driver and that size varies with the brand .. so it would be impossible info to give out. Lots of Guitars that use allens supply the wrench with the guitar .. not usually passed on if bought used tho
Beware of marring the strings when you adjust the neck. Filing notches in bridge rather than taking it out and sanding the bottom or taking out spacers?
Nice articulate video, but maybe you can clear something up for me. If "guitar setup" is done in this order, maybe you can tell me why one would have to do step 2(Saddle) or step 3(Nut), if the Truss Rod is used to give you a nice low action. Would seem to me if the Truss Rod is properly adjusted you would not have to move to step 2 or 3?
the truss rod is used to support the neck and adjust the straightness of the neck ... tightening or loosening the truss rod will change the action ....if the truss adjustment puts the action where you want it you are done... .. but, if the neck is straight and the action is too high .. then... the bridge and or nut can be adjusted
Appreciate the information. So If I understand, Truss Rod is not really used to lower or higher Action, but really just to straitened neck. So if the Truss Rod gives the Guitar a strait Neck nothing else to do. But if you still need the Action lowered, Fret at the 1st and where the Neck meets the Neck Joint/Body(12-14th Fret) to check Action, Capo at 1st, and lower at the Saddle has needed. And if needed, lower at Nut last. About Right?
Jason Riccoboni the fretting at first fret and neck joint is to check neck straightness ..not to check the action ... but the sequence is how I do it yes
Really big help. So one last question, how does one go about checking Action height? Is this just preference? I would like to go as low as possible. I know in your video you took off a little at a time at the Saddle, re-tuning to make sure you didn't get any buzzing. But I wonder if there is some kind of rule of thumb in regards to knowing how low you can go without taking too much as to cause buzzing. For example, I take a little off at the saddle, re-tune, and try again, so on and so forth. But at some point I will do this one too many times and get buzzing. So where is the stopping point? Is there something I am checking against to know when to stop?
www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=string+height+at+12th+fret+acoustic this is general .. it will depend on how level your frets are and how straight your neck is and how straight your neck joint is ( how the fingerboard lays on the body in relation to the lower part of the neck )
great video!!! some of this I knew but the rest of it a bit Fuzzy but you brought it all into focus with just the right amount of detail and explanation. awesome.
some great info.and a great video,,and as roger says,take your time,,ive found sanding the bottom of the saddle can get messed up if even pressure is not applied across the saddle..so i think using a file like this is a great idea,, and keeping the same angle as the head stock,,,
Great vid! The only thing I'd add, is that a notched straight-edge is invaluable. The notches allow it to sit flat on the neck, over the strings. To check frets, it can be set on the neck so that it isn't touching the fretboard, just the frets. Well worth fifteen bucks for a Chinese cheapie on E bay.
Hm the thing about checking for buzz is... considering you use a file, there isn't really a way to revert your change even IF it starts to buzz? (I'm a newbie and am worried that that might happen to me)
Thanks Roger, I just watched this and I feel pretty confident about doing the setup on my Taylor. I've setup electrics for years but this is my first acoustic job. Thanks fror helping me save a bunch of money, and it looks kind of fun too. You've provided us all with a great service my friend, thanks again
SnakeEyes37 what are you yapping to me about 3 cornered files for? I never mentioned 3 corner files, and besides I did the setup like months ago. take your whining up with someone else
Good video, thanks. If you were taking the bridge nut off could you not run the bottom of it straight over some sandpaper on a very flat surface rather than trying to contour the top?
Wow what a difference in my acoustic following your instructions. My action was extremely high and my neck way too tight. I took it low and it feels amazing. My high E did snap off at the peg but I suspected it would. They are so fragile. I’ve heard it’s not recommended for any length of time to use a B string tuned to high E in place of such a fragile string. What do you think? I did it on my electric that has a sturdy bolted on neck and I really love that thicker string but hesitate to put that pressure on my acoustic.
you may want to use a little lighter string on the ones you rune up more than a couple notes .. i use a 9 on the 3rd and tune it an octave up often .. and a heavier 6th for dropping
roger brainard. I don’t break strings often but it’s been the high E right at the peg ever time. This time I filed inside the hole a bit with an old A string till it smoothed out. I think that will help, only one way to find out.
roger brainard ... Well, the way I used to try and do was to just file down the whole piece from the bottom side and then shim it up if I took off too much. Invariably, some strings were good but others were not.
If the truss rod adjustment is located behind the nut (i.e. at the headstock), is it the same direction to tighten the truss rod? In other words, do you still turn the wrench clockwise to tighten? Thanks for the very informative and helpful video! Love the no frills, straight to the point presentation!
Hi Bob.. I have never seen a reverse thread ..so I will say yes.. it is just like tightening a nut ..in fact that is what you are doing ..and thanks for the kind words ..best
Hi, great video. I've been taking all the strings of my acoustics (and electrics) for decades when I do a string change. I believe I heard a comment stating that this is not a good thing. It could let the next relax and bow. I've always removed the strings all at once to polish the frets and treat the fretboard. Could you advise on this? Thank you and thanks for the excellent videos.
bottom line..to each his own.. I do not take them all off during a string change or adjustments as it 'unflexes' the neck and 'reflexes' the neck and takes a while to 'settle in' and may not settle at the same spot .. I want as few variables as possible so i do not take them all off at once . if you are doing a fret polish or a recrown that is not a regular thing (or is it for you?) .. I may change strings 20 times before i clean up the fingerboard ( i do have very dry hands ).. but when changing strings or adjusting things i do not want the tension to vary any more than the bare min so one string at a time for me.
Its fine. The strings have to come off to do a fret level, crown and polish. This can take a fair amount of time so 10 minutes to restring isn't going to hurt anything. Back before guitars had truss rods, it was not advisable to remove all the strings, but in this day and age it's just not an issue
Hello Roger, I get your explanation. Thank you for explaining it all so well. If the capo was set at fret 1 and the string location at saddle was filed down, of course, with the hope that the string would not buzz, how do you ascertain how far to file down? It's taking chances. If the buzzing starts, the filing would have gone too far. What would be the approach or a rule of thumb to figure the amount of saddle adjustment for buzz free low action? Also, when the nut slot is reduced, that would affect a wee bit overall string action. Is there any mathematical calculation one could do to find an optimal correction at both ends? Thank you again.
I had a very old guitar that had an extra fret instead of the nut. That is, what we call "the firs fret" (what makes the F note in the E string) was in fact the second (or we can call that extra fret, "Fret 0". And yes it had also a nut, but it was only a guide for the string, it was not higher than the "Fret 0". So the action was very low...
Wouldn't it be better to file the bottom of the saddle to keep the form on the top? You could take slightly less off than the amount than the action required so as not to go too far. I know it will relax the guitar somewhat but won't it return after a little while? Then if it's not low enough, do it again later? Just a thought.
thanks for the considered and polite response ... yes absolutely can sand off the bottom .. as you noted the guitar will relax and then 'should' go back to form after a short while ... the 'risk' in sanding the bottom ( and there is not much risk with the saddle as they are replaceable and cheap ) is rounding the bottom a bit and hurting the tone .. and if you have a pickup it will give you loud and soft strings thru your system ... best
Best video I've seen on the subject. Straight talking, no nonsense, everything you need to know explained really well.
you had me at "hi"
There are too many negative comments here. So let me set the record straight. I followed your instructions on a brand new Seagull Artist Studio. And I've got the action down perfect. Didn't need to adjust the truss rod or the nut, only cut the saddle one string at a time. No buzzing and it plays great.Thanks
Exceptionally well explained! I follow your outlined procedure almost to the "T". I too have played for over 50 years, 38+ years as a full-time professional, and have been repairing guitars for about 45 years as well. MY dad was also an electronics guy and a very crafty, meticulous builder of many things all the way up from model planes to ultra light planes and gyro-copters. Seems you and I have a lot in common. Now subscribed!
Been doing something like this for 45 years. Thanks for teaching me the right way, outstanding.
I have set up a few electric guitars,and recently my son came home with a cheapie Dean acoustic with a very high action and slightly bowed neck.. Having never worked on an acoustic..I first adjusted the truss rod getting the bow out of the neck I removed all the strings and removed the bridge discovered 2 plastic shims I removed both ,restrung and tuned up. It was better BUT I thought if I sanded a bit off the bottom of bridge it would be playable. It worked well ! I figured if I screwed up the bridge I would simply order another one and start again... after all it would only be $10.00 or $15.00 to get hold of a new one. Your technique works for you and that is fine.. each to his own I say Thanks for the video showing another way to work out a solution !
Great logical sequence with excellent explanation of each step-by-step action - Thanks
Good insight and good presentation. Articulate and patient tutorial. I'm not going to toot my own horn but I am a GIT/AIM grad, (89). I've played since 12, over 30 years. I'd have to roll this video 4 stars! I'd give it 5 except there are no contingencies to show how to correct the fret buzz and heaven forbid a severe buzz.
Still a fine demonstration! !!
Roderick Patterson I agree, as some who has been in the training environment for years it was a solid presentation.
I was always sort of scared to screw up my guitar by adjusting the truss rod, and your video just improved the action my guitar substantially. This was after getting turned away by a music store last week as if the guitar either was beyond repair or not worth working on (not a terrible one - an older takamine fp360). No more concave neck after three slight adjustments, and the action is a million times better.
What a great, straightforward explanation, I think I’ve been overthinking and winging it all these years
Loved your very clear explanation! One thing which I don't think you mentioned, but a lot of people are confused by this - it doesn't matter if the truss rod adjusts at the headstock or body end: it's always righty tighty lefty loosey!
by far the best video I have seen on this subject you totally broke it down so easy to understand great video brother
you are awesome! I wish we had you tube and some guys like you when we were young bloods don't you ? you are right again when you say a lot of guitar repair guys want everyone to think it's hard to set up a guitar or intonation etc etc .
thanks so much FG or the strait forward advice you are a gentleman and a scholar sir.
God bless
T.C
WOW! Thanks for this video! I have never attempted to do a setup on a guitar. To hear some people's opinion on this, you'd think a guitar set up is comparable to rocket science! Someone gave me a vintage Aria guitar that had sat in a closet for years and was in dire need of help. After watching this video I went ahead and and did everything as you instructed. Sidenote: The action was way high, and the neck had a slight bow before. Now the action is considerably lower and more playable without loss of intonation, and no fret buzz! I think, like you said. "Take it slow" is key in the process here. Thanks again! This is a concise, and straightforward video.
Thank you for the kind words and taking the time to respond. Glad this helped you out!!
Thank you, I have an old beat up Yamaha I bought for 25 bucks and it needs exactly what you are doing removing buzzes. Playing long acoustic sessions with a high action is murder on fingers.
I enjoyed this. You're a good teacher. I've been adjusting my electric guitars for years. But I never messed with acoustics. This was very helpful. Thank you!
Mine was consistantly high across the bridge. Took the piece out and filed the bottom keeping it perfectly straight, but took off about 1/8th inch. Worked perfectly.
Oh my God, you are a hero! Man, i just got a second hand Takamine, and the action was far higher than my old one. I was regretting the purchase until this.
Wow cool
Thank you so much for this video. I had this guitar forever with such a high action. It increatble to driffrent it made shaving down the bridges. It never been touch in like 15 years. This guitar so easy to play now. Thank you so much
hey excellent explanations and instructions for u s luthier-challenged bums out here! i made a vast improvement in playability and intonation by simply following your methods.thank you very much! i am telling my buddies to watch and learn also! rock on brother!
Nice video with common sense techniques to improve your action on an acoustic. I have 2 that need just a small tweek and other videos I have watched don't feel as concerned with using a finer touch, like you have shown here.
Your solution for getting the nut just right, is as good as I have ever seen and your instruction has probably saved many, many nuts from the dreaded "over sanding" through the years.
thank you for the kind words .. I really did try to make this easy and effective
Man your voice is relaxing lol. I literally was watching this and fell asleep, just woke up 30 min later and had to rewatch the vid 😂. Not saying your boring or nothing ,I love the vid just exhausted today from work and your voice is just soothing
lol Thats my anti hubba hubba voice :)
Fantastic dude 👏
I setup all my guitars as you showed and very satisfied of results. Much easier to play.
Thanks Bro be blessed !!
thank you for taking the time to comment .. sooo glad for you
Thanks Roger. Way easier than using special gauges. Very practical and effective.
+Todd Hudson thanks for the kind words Todd... much appreciated
Great tutorial, been playing for 55 years and I learned some new stuff!
Thank you Mr Roger Brainard. I understand and comprehend everything you said but you blew my mind with sharing and demonstrating with the most common tools that any guitar player has. I'm speaking Acoustic setups. You simplified it perfectly. Thanks again 5 Star rating 5 equals 110%
One thing of note is that some guitars actually have a shim or two under the bridge saddle. Most guitars are set with medium action height. You might be lucky and just remove one of the shims which will lower the action without filing or sanding. Found this in a book on acoustic guitar making a few years back.
Only cheap Chinese ,Korean guitars use shims. If a guitar has shims. The guitar is being robbed of sound and most likely has a plastic saddle bone in it. Med strings are the best strings for sound. Light strings has no volume. In a jam session using lights . You will never be heard unless you have a mic. As far light and med strings, if you take lights off and replace with meds, and you get buzz. Your action is set way to low from the start. Most of the time shims are used to stop buzz. Or it's a cheap new guitar from China or Korea. With a plastic saddle and neck has never been set.
Every othe tutorial has people set the nut height first. Your way of doing the saddle first with the capo on the first fret makes way more sense to me. Takes one part out of the equation. Thank you sir.
Extremely well explained. No B.S. and to the point.
Best video on the subject that I've seen. Well done.
Great stuff! Sounds like you know what your doing!! In easy steps I will TRY my 12 string adjustment. Wish me luck!
I like it! Makes sense and I’m looking forward to some lower action and not going back and forth-nut-saddle-truss rod over and over. Thanks- a ton.
What a great video, so informative. Thanks for sharing your expertise, it's really appreciated. I always wondered how to lower the action on an acoustic...now I know!!
I don't know if this is the right way to file the saddle down but it probably works. It look like the easy cheat method. The way i've seen it done is they take measurements and sand down the bottom of the saddle.
I think i explain my rational for doing it this way ... it is easy to file the saddle down to the notches and articulate it after you get the height right .. and this is under the EASY category :)
Before you start filing down the saddle notch, check to see if there are slims under the it; some guitars like the Ovations have a couple of shims under the bridge for easy adjustments
That is definitely a feature of Ovation guitars, But others do it also, so it's always worth at least a look see, under the saddle to see what's what.
Roger's technique of filing down the notches instead of sanding the bottom of the saddle makes more sense to me as you can ruin your saddle by sanding unevenly and causing it to make improper contact with your pick up if you have one there.
Excellent tutorial, clearly demonstrated - thanks. Everyone I've come across take the saddle out and sand the bottom edge so the radius stays the same. However, that only works if it has the original saddle, properly radiused. NB: I wish all manufacturers had truss rod access from the sound hole instead of having to take off a cover at the head. Great job.
Wow great advice. I got low Acton now and I can really strum hard. I got my low e at 9/64 and high e at 7/64 at the 12th fret. No buzzing anymore plus I can play slide really good with my lower action.
Thank you! Roger. Its good folks like you who make guitar playing interesting. Love your passion and care you put into the video and answering questions. God Bless You! Keep up the good work!🙏
I appreciate that!
This is an excellent tutorial. Your approach is so clear and methodical. Many thanks for posting.
Excellent! And I thought it was just about the truss rod! Many thanks for educating me with your excellent video!
thank you for the kind words sooooo glad it helps
Excellent tutorial. Finally a method that makes sense, without all the rocket science. Thank you
Nice job explaining this procedure. In my opinion, it was really good. I just don't agree with notching the saddle. The saddle is already shaped to the contour of the neck and if too high, it should be removed and sanded at the bottom to keep the correct contour shape. If one string is high near the bridge, chances are, they all are going to be too high, which is why most people would say to remove material from the bottom of the saddle. Again, nicely done.
Thank you for sharing.
Great video. I was concerned about the sequence of neck/strings adjustments and he cleared that up right away. Thanks.
Great tutorial! Thanks
I actually just picked up a Seagull in a trade. Beautiful guitar, just needs a decent setup. Its my first acoustic since I was a kid, but I generally do all the work on my electrics so I figured I'd give it a go.
I suggest you do the truss rod adjustment in playing position
That’s the first time I ever saw that approach for lowering action at the bridge, by filing a groove for each individual string, rather than sanding off the base of the saddle. Interesting.
thanks! I think the advantage of keeping the bottom contact point truly flat so the most vibration transfer is even string to string is important .. the top can be articulated and trimmed down easily. also with this method the tension stays the same so the string height stays the same and is visible WHILE making the adjustments .. rock on
thank you for posting .. i have never found an acoustic that the action and string height impressed me ..i did play a d-45 martin that was unbelievable.. i like extremely low strings no buzz..that is a beautiful guitar you have in this video.....
Love Seagull Artists, especially the older ones from the Nineties. great sound and quality.
Fabtastic! Thank you so much i was not sure if i could do this type of work myself, but thanks to your excellent video i now have to confidence to go ahead. Venuss - London UK x
Top notch video! The only thing I would add Rodger is this: Your guitar in the demo is obviously not new (no dig there) however it should be noted that many NEW guitars come with additional (removable) shims already "stored" under the bridge. They do this because they do not know if the guitar is being sold into a humid or dry climate. The manufacturer thus usually "over shims" the bridge so that the only adjustment needed would be shim removal. Truth be told, many guitarists are not aware of this "extra shims" factor so a guitar can change hands many times without the bridge/shims ever having been removed. So, I would add the step in your video (if possible) to first check for extra shims under the bridge.
thanks for the good words ... very good point .. shims are also a potential tone killer acoustically and for the pickup .. most of the ones I have seen are mylar or nylon .. dull the tone .. soo yes it would certainly not be a bad idea to check during a string change ...hmmmmm that guitar was new 20 or so years ago... what happened :)
I actually do two steps at the saddle (1) grooving at the top part to figure out the action height (2) replace a new saddle and sand down the saddle height from the bottom.
advanced technique :)
Great tutorial and a good starting point for beginners. I am OCD as hell, so I must have everything perfect; perfectly formed slots, grooves, no scratch marks in the bone, etc. And I would be doing a lot of measuring of the strings in relation to the frets at each step of the set-up. That being said, I would only rely on the measurements to keep me in safe territory as I cut, so as not to overdo things - like you said: "A little at a time." I think you may have missed, or intentionally left a few minor details out, maybe to simplify this task for the video, but certainly nothing that would be detrimental to the guitar or the set-up. This was a nice instructional tutorial for learning how to "properly" set up an acoustic guitar, without using height gauges and straight-edges. I enjoyed your video - Thanks Roger!
Brilliantly explained and executed. 10/10 would adjust again.
Thanks. Watched a few vids on this and found your instructions were really nice and clear. Appreciate the guidance.
I watched alot of videos on string height i followed you instruction my norman (sea gull) is setup better than ever nice and low 13 to 56 strings i like to flat pick nice and loud no buzz of any type thanks a lot for the awesome video !!
Great to hear!
The saddle should be radiused to the bridge without resorting to cutting slots in the saddle with a file, by sanding the underside until you reach the required height. And if you're gonna cut slots (not that you should anyway) you would not use a three cornered file, you want to use a proper nut slot file, each sized per string and then use your radius gauges to match you slots to the frets.
A very well done video. The instructions and explanations are clear and easy to understand. Thanks.
Loosening and re-tightening the b and e strings usually causes them to break. Good to have spares handy just in case.
i will give it a 'can' .. but if the wrap on the machine is correct I don't have that prob. ..if i had no spares i probably would tho
Good to see you using non-specialist tools (I do too), although I don't use the same methods as you. For instance, I'd remove material from the bottom of the saddle rather than filing the top.
I really enjoyed the video, and the general relaxed tone of it. I am a bit concerned about filing the saddle top, and how it would negatively impact the compensation. Mainly the concern would be that the bass E, as you file a notch down, brings the compensation forward. With the shorter scale on these Seagulls, I find I need that string to be fully compensated as far back as possible, or it plays a bit sharp up the neck.
I know you could later correct it, but that would be difficult to do without removing the saddle fully, since filing a downward angle would have you jabbing the bridge. Seems better to just remove it and sand down the bottom.
thanks for the good words .. i guess i did not say it but i 'assumed' one would want to cut/file/sand the top of the saddle down to almost the bottom of the notches and follow the conture of the compensation when doing that
i know how..but been looking for some new approaches or to learn things i dont know..i like your simple and basic yet direct approach to the way you present your lesson man 👍👍
Glad it was helpful!
Of all the string height adjustments offered here on TH-cam , I believe this to be the most orderly, simply explained, and with minimum basic tools. Every step was timed just right allowing your info to sink in , and then you moved forward at a pace that even a young adult could understand and work with. Your 3 steps, the truss rod, then the saddle, and lastly the nut. Thank you so much for sharing this with the public. Superb Job..........
Excellent, no-nonsense video. I tried adjusting truss rod once. Never again! Fortunately, it was a cheap (laminated top) guitar. Ruined it!
Good tip, about using capo, to isolate nut. I have had success improving action on my classical and flamenco guitars (which of course have no truss rods), filing down saddle.
I like your technique, to file notches in saddle, to allow for setting each string action independently. Genius hack! Definitely worth a like and subscribe!
Do you have a video specifically on setting intonation?
I don't the narrowness of the saddle makes it not as effective as it could be .. I generally slant the two high strings as far back as possible .. but hat is steel strings .. not sure how nylon acts ..best
Really clearly described. Good camera work, too. Thanks for providing this.
I especially liked that you showed us how to use the three corner file. In other videos and websites, they promote the use of expensive special files for each width. I'm a frugal hobbyist and wasn't excited about spending $75 for a set that I wouldn't use very often.
Please keep up the great work.
There is something to be said about quality, purpose built tools - they are a "must have" for any luthier to do a job precisely. However, for a musician who is on a budget and must do the job himself, the tools used here will work for the do-it-yourselfer on a budget.
75 dollars? About 14 bucks on Amazon!
I always just removed material from the bottom of the bridge saddle with sandpaper
that works too .. i just prefer this way for a few reasons
The way shown in the video is ideal because it allows you to make adjustments for each individusl string while sanding the bottom of the saddle adjusts them all at once. There's no way to fine tune between strings doing it your way.
@@mrfester42 Sure there is, lower the entire action evenly by sanding the bottom of the saddle, re-string (or place capo on first fret to preserve strings, and just re-saddle), tune-up, set truss-rod, file beneath individual strings to fine-tune action if/as needed. This is how I was taught to do it in a repair shop, you do both unless the guitar only needs very small adjustments to individual strings, which usually isn't the case for people bringing their guitars into a shop. This way you aren't wasting time grinding under each string to lower to overall action. There's no one right way to do it, but this to me seems the most thorough.
All you folks poo-poo-ing this easy method -- where are your free TH-cam Videos showing the so-called "proper way" to adjust acoustic guitar action? I thank Roger for his easy to both understand and apply method. Furthermore he has a wonderful speaking voice. While I agree that a set of nut files would have been a better choice; I'll bet he used the type of file that he did because he figured a novice like myself would have quick access to that type of file. Rock on Roger!
Would you not file the back side of the bridge? Since it is flat, you wont have any issues with loosing your grooves. However, this is an adjustment, affecting all strings at once instead of just one at a time. Individually filing the grooves might be a good option too
you can sand down the back side .. but it has to be really straight ..harder to do than one might think... the saddle is not an expensive part.. work away
Great instructional video Roger. Enjoyed the simplicity of it. Am so thankful !
great video roger, I have an older epi master craft acoustic no electronics. my fav. guitar. I keep it on a stand all the time I know for the last two yrs anyway. i'm always playing it so I never put it in the case. I change the strings about every 6 - 7 months.. I changed them two wks ago and when I tightened my stings back up, they were laying on the neck of my guitar and no matter what I did I couldn't fix it, I tried.. but i got lucky the body of my guitar was bowed out around the bridge like you said could happen, but what I found out, it is, and was caused by my guitar drying out. my house is really dry no moisture, so I was told to take a baggie fold it cut it with scissors three cuts, open the bag take a thick wash rag soak it with water.. ring it out so water doesn't run out of it, but it's still very moist. pull back your strings at the sound hole and push the bag with the rag in it, into the guitar, make sure to tighten your strings with as much tension as possible like when it's tuned. put it in the case set it up and leave it for a few days... SO, I did it WORKED So, the best thing I learned was get a Humidifier for your house or at least one room I believe a guitar even electrics should be in around 40% humidity . that should keep any guitar from warping.... thanks roger for your videos
just WOW !!! have never tried the wet rag thing ... its pretty humid most of the time where i am .. glad it worked
Hey Randy, I was too cheap to buy a humidifier for my guitars, so I did similar using some small sponges in sealed sandwich bags,a couple of slices in one side only, tied to a string and used a popsicle sick as an anchor.
Worked real slick. Just make sure to put sliced side on the bag facing up.
how about a video concerning issues with the bridge pulling up etc.??? great videos thank you.
Great video! My teacher teaches many lessons in altered tuning, tuning down all strings. My question is if I do the adjustments you recommend in standard tuning will things be ok once I down tune. We will be tuning up and down quit a bit in order to learn various methods of playing and alternatives to chord fingering. Do I need to recheck truss rod each time?
great question ...if you are going to set the guitar up i would recommend doing it with the lowest tuning you will use... when you raise the pitch the stings my get a little higher but won't buzz .... if you set up at the highest pitch when you drop the pitch of the guitar you have less tension from the strings and the truss rod can move toward having a back bow causing the strings to buzz.
roger brainard So glad I asked!! Thank so much for your help and super quick response. I love to learn things I’ve never done, but don’t want ruin my guitar, you explain things very well.
One thing I have noticed on all these vids explaining how to adjust the truss rod, no ever says what SIZE allen wrench is used. They may be different depending on the brand, but I have not seen any vids suggest that this is true. Just an observation.
it varies a LOT and some do not use an Allen wrench at all ..some have a screwdriver slot some need a nut driver and that size varies with the brand .. so it would be impossible info to give out. Lots of Guitars that use allens supply the wrench with the guitar .. not usually passed on if bought used tho
Great video! I just installed a preamp and pick up under my saddle. Now I need the lower it a bit as the pickup raised it a cm or so
Beware of marring the strings when you adjust the neck. Filing notches in bridge rather than taking it out and sanding the bottom or taking out spacers?
I like your guitar ... I love the ship drawn on the body of the guitar 💓
thanks.. its a woodburning done by a good friend .. I have a few others on other wooden things ...sort of tattoo
Nice articulate video, but maybe you can clear something up for me. If "guitar setup" is done in this order, maybe you can tell me why one would have to do step 2(Saddle) or step 3(Nut), if the Truss Rod is used to give you a nice low action. Would seem to me if the Truss Rod is properly adjusted you would not have to move to step 2 or 3?
the truss rod is used to support the neck and adjust the straightness of the neck ... tightening or loosening the truss rod will change the action ....if the truss adjustment puts the action where you want it you are done... .. but, if the neck is straight and the action is too high .. then... the bridge and or nut can be adjusted
Appreciate the information. So If I understand, Truss Rod is not really used to lower or higher Action, but really just to straitened neck. So if the Truss Rod gives the Guitar a strait Neck nothing else to do. But if you still need the Action lowered, Fret at the 1st and where the Neck meets the Neck Joint/Body(12-14th Fret) to check Action, Capo at 1st, and lower at the Saddle has needed. And if needed, lower at Nut last. About Right?
Jason Riccoboni the fretting at first fret and neck joint is to check neck straightness ..not to check the action ... but the sequence is how I do it yes
Really big help. So one last question, how does one go about checking Action height? Is this just preference? I would like to go as low as possible. I know in your video you took off a little at a time at the Saddle, re-tuning to make sure you didn't get any buzzing. But I wonder if there is some kind of rule of thumb in regards to knowing how low you can go without taking too much as to cause buzzing. For example, I take a little off at the saddle, re-tune, and try again, so on and so forth. But at some point I will do this one too many times and get buzzing. So where is the stopping point? Is there something I am checking against to know when to stop?
www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=string+height+at+12th+fret+acoustic
this is general .. it will depend on how level your frets are and how straight your neck is and how straight your neck joint is ( how the fingerboard lays on the body in relation to the lower part of the neck )
I am impressed with this comprehensive and well explained tutorial. Thank you sir!
thanks for the kind words .. power to the people
great video!!! some of this I knew but the rest of it a bit Fuzzy but you brought it all into focus with just the right amount of detail and explanation. awesome.
some great info.and a great video,,and as roger says,take your time,,ive found sanding the bottom of the saddle can get messed up if even pressure is not applied across the saddle..so i think using a file like this is a great idea,, and keeping the same angle as the head stock,,,
Thank you Roger, this was well done and very helpful. I learned a few things that I"ve been doing kinda wrong. Best.
This helped me adjust my action with no issues. Thanks for the nice video!
How about if i sandpaper the bottom of the saddle instead of filing the notches on top?
lots do it that way... you have my permission :)
Would liked to have seen you fix a guitar that needed the action altered but well explained.
thanks .. I may try to do some more complicated action issues later when the time shows up
Awesome video Roger. Thank you for this. Been struggling a bit with setup on my Charvel 12-string and thanks to you it is once again fun to play.
Great vid! The only thing I'd add, is that a notched straight-edge is invaluable. The notches allow it to sit flat on the neck, over the strings. To check frets, it can be set on the neck so that it isn't touching the fretboard, just the frets. Well worth fifteen bucks for a Chinese cheapie on E bay.
I learned a lot from this and set up my guitar perfectly afterwards. Thanks, that’s one hell of a coke nail by the way.
no coke - pepsi
Hm the thing about checking for buzz is... considering you use a file, there isn't really a way to revert your change even IF it starts to buzz? (I'm a newbie and am worried that that might happen to me)
Buying a replacement nut or saddle is cheap if you do accidentally overdo it
Very Good right to the point for DIY people. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us.
You are very welcome
Thanks Roger, I just watched this and I feel pretty confident about doing the setup on my Taylor. I've setup electrics for years but this is my first acoustic job. Thanks fror helping me save a bunch of money, and it looks kind of fun too. You've provided us all with a great service my friend, thanks again
You can have my three cornered file if you want, I prefer a square file for doing the nut slots :p
SnakeEyes37 what are you yapping to me about 3 cornered files for? I never mentioned 3 corner files, and besides I did the setup like months ago. take your whining up with someone else
Thanks for the video ! You have a good voice for these kinda things :D
OMG I just realised you have a seagull guitar like mine,looks to be a studio version.i love mine and wonder why more people don't use them.
David Jennings I just got one! Guess what I’m doing to it today. :) i’m dropping the saddle a mm and installing a zeroth fret.
Good video, thanks. If you were taking the bridge nut off could you not run the bottom of it straight over some sandpaper on a very flat surface rather than trying to contour the top?
He only done that to make the grooves smaller so the strings dont sink too deep
.....✔
Wow what a difference in my acoustic following your instructions. My action was extremely high and my neck way too tight.
I took it low and it feels amazing. My high E did snap off at the peg but I suspected it would. They are so fragile. I’ve heard it’s not recommended for any length of time to use a B string tuned to high E in place of such a fragile string. What do you think? I did it on my electric that has a sturdy bolted on neck and I really love that thicker string but hesitate to put that pressure on my acoustic.
you may want to use a little lighter string on the ones you rune up more than a couple notes .. i use a 9 on the 3rd and tune it an octave up often .. and a heavier 6th for dropping
roger brainard. I don’t break strings often but it’s been the high E right at the peg ever time. This time I filed inside the hole a bit with an old A string till it smoothed out. I think that will help, only one way to find out.
Hey, excellent video. I've messed up a few bridges over the years doing it the wrong way, but this just makes sense. Thank you!
not sure there is a 'wrong' way ....but me too ... this works for me
roger brainard ... Well, the way I used to try and do was to just file down the whole piece from the bottom side and then shim it up if I took off too much. Invariably, some strings were good but others were not.
and there you have it .. that's one of a couple reasons for this method
If the truss rod adjustment is located behind the nut (i.e. at the headstock), is it the same direction to tighten the truss rod? In other words, do you still turn the wrench clockwise to tighten? Thanks for the very informative and helpful video! Love the no frills, straight to the point presentation!
Hi Bob.. I have never seen a reverse thread ..so I will say yes.. it is just like tightening a nut ..in fact that is what you are doing ..and thanks for the kind words ..best
Hi, great video.
I've been taking all the strings of my acoustics (and electrics) for decades when I do a string change. I believe I heard a comment stating that this is not a good thing. It could let the next relax and bow. I've always removed the strings all at once to polish the frets and treat the fretboard. Could you advise on this?
Thank you and thanks for the excellent videos.
bottom line..to each his own.. I do not take them all off during a string change or adjustments as it 'unflexes' the neck and 'reflexes' the neck and takes a while to 'settle in' and may not settle at the same spot .. I want as few variables as possible so i do not take them all off at once . if you are doing a fret polish or a recrown that is not a regular thing (or is it for you?) .. I may change strings 20 times before i clean up the fingerboard ( i do have very dry hands ).. but when changing strings or adjusting things i do not want the tension to vary any more than the bare min so one string at a time for me.
Its fine. The strings have to come off to do a fret level, crown and polish. This can take a fair amount of time so 10 minutes to restring isn't going to hurt anything. Back before guitars had truss rods, it was not advisable to remove all the strings, but in this day and age it's just not an issue
Hello Roger, I get your explanation. Thank you for explaining it all so well. If the capo was set at fret 1 and the string location at saddle was filed down, of course, with the hope that the string would not buzz, how do you ascertain how far to file down? It's taking chances. If the buzzing starts, the filing would have gone too far. What would be the approach or a rule of thumb to figure the amount of saddle adjustment for buzz free low action? Also, when the nut slot is reduced, that would affect a wee bit overall string action. Is there any mathematical calculation one could do to find an optimal correction at both ends? Thank you again.
And how exactly do you properly set each string if all you do is sand the bottom of the nut?
thank you. great video, especially for someone like me who is just learning to do this.
I had a very old guitar that had an extra fret instead of the nut. That is, what we call "the firs fret" (what makes the F note in the E string) was in fact the second (or we can call that extra fret, "Fret 0". And yes it had also a nut, but it was only a guide for the string, it was not higher than the "Fret 0". So the action was very low...
Wouldn't it be better to file the bottom of the saddle to keep the form on the top? You could take slightly less off than the amount than the action required so as not to go too far. I know it will relax the guitar somewhat but won't it return after a little while? Then if it's not low enough, do it again later? Just a thought.
thanks for the considered and polite response ... yes absolutely can sand off the bottom .. as you noted the guitar will relax and then 'should' go back to form after a short while ... the 'risk' in sanding the bottom ( and there is not much risk with the saddle as they are replaceable and cheap ) is rounding the bottom a bit and hurting the tone .. and if you have a pickup it will give you loud and soft strings thru your system ... best