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Shaving down the neck side of the bridge to lower the action?!
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avimuno
Posts: 598
Joined: Feb. 9 2007
From: Paris, France
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RE: Shaving down the neck side of th... (in reply to avimuno)
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quote:
Firstly I'll say I'm not a luthier, but I think it worth you taking a straight edge ruler and checking the neck of the guitar. See if the neck is straight, convex or concave. When you have done this, slide the ruler down towards the bridge. By this, you can check whether the sound top is distorting (pulling up) which would influence the action. If you bring the saddle down 1mm it will result in the action at the 12th fret coming down by 0.5mm. I think you could take the shoulders of the bridge (that holds the saddle) down to accommodate a lower saddle, but you should route out the saddle slot to make it deeper so that the saddle is properly supported. I'm in a similar situation to you and my main thought is to tackle the neck as mine is concave. I want to fit a rod to keep it straight - then I want to sort the bridge arrangement out to suit the refurbished neck. If you leave the saddle with little support, I think it will show in the intonation. No doubt a generous Luthier may correct any mistaken views I have. Hola Steve I'll definitely check the neck with a ruler... from my bare eyes I can definitely tell that the neck is slightly concave (which apparently is normal for flamenco guitars)... also the top is definitely slightly pulled up behind the bridge (here again, apparently, this is perfectly normal - but I really don't know much about this). What you are saying makes total sense... it does however seem like a sensitive job that has to be done by a luthier. Sean... my Conde is from Atocha... so in terms of resale value, it's not the best. However, this is the best Conde I've ever played. I used to own a Felipe blanca which was very far from this one in my opinion. I have also tried a few others (from Gravina, Atocha and Felipe) and for some reason, I always preferred mine. It might have been because I am used to it... at the end of the day I love the sound (it has those crisp basses, sparkly trebles an a thick mid-range, packed in a dry, powerful package!) and the way it reacts to subtle left hand techniques (the pulsation and the way the strings 'bounce' - don't know how else to describe it - are simply amazing!). According to Tino Van Der Sman, that Conde is as good as the one that Gerardo Nunez gigs with. The only thing I would rather have different on it is the action. Right now, I have no plans of selling that guitar as I really love it... which is why I would consider getting some work done to the bridge in order to get the setup the way I want it. But you make a very good point... alteration will lower its value. And I might have to sell it one day. I am currently in Seville... and from what I have gathered it is possible to do it but both Postigo and Francisco Barba, who were nice enough to have a look at it, have advised against it for the same reasons you give. One cannot denie that Senor Barba knows a thing or two about building a great guitar but I still wonder... Maybe I'm just being too fussy about the action... it is not so high, and the guitar plays really well right now... but 0.5 mm at the 12th fret will make a world of difference of think... it would go from playing like margarine to playing like butter!
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jul. 13 2011 15:16:56
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avimuno
Posts: 598
Joined: Feb. 9 2007
From: Paris, France
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RE: Shaving down the neck side of th... (in reply to avimuno)
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Hi everyone! Thanks for the replies... and sorry for the delay in getting back to this thread. I have spent the entire week changing planes and transiting in random places in order to get myself from Sevilla to Mauritius for the least amount of money possible. Anyways... on my way out of Sevilla, I made a pit stop in Madrid, where I visited Felipe Conde. I found him to be a very nice and helpful person. I was able to try quite a few instruments and after a while he even started to open his 'personal stash' of guitars for me to try. Guitars there went from fairly average to the best negra I've ever held in my hands... but for € 8,500, I wouldn't expect any less than that! Even though, I thought that it was overpriced considering that a Pedro de Miguel negra goes for € 4,500 and that Marvi charges € 5,000... to name only those two. He was also really nice to show and explain to me his work as he was in the process of glueing the fingerboards of a few guitars together... all negras! Anyways... one things all those guitars had in common was that their action was pretty high. According to Felipe he builds them like that in order to allow the owner to lower it to his/her wish... made sense of course, but some of them however were similar to my Conde, in the sense that the saddle wouldn't go lower unless the bridge was shaven down a bit. I asked him whether it was possible to still lower the action and without a second's hesitation, he said that it was both easy and common place to do so. At that point I busted out my guitar to show him and see what he thought about it... same answer... pretty easy and a common job for any luthier... he would have done it himself (for a very decent amount of money) if I could have left my guitar with him for 2 days, but as I was leaving the next morning I couldn't do so. From what I have gathered, the best thing would be to remove the actual bridge and put another thinner one in there... the reason is because the break angle of the strings would not be sufficient if i was to shave that bridge a little. I am guessing that this is the reason why both Barba and Postigo advised against it... Felipe Conde's English was much better than their's so he was able to explain to me why (or rather, my Spanish was too poor to understand Barba and Postigo properly). I'll get that job done the next time I am visiting a country where I can easily find a good luthier.
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REPORT THIS POST AS INAPPROPRIATE |
Date Jul. 20 2011 5:40:34
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