Jon Boyes -> RE: Action (Sep. 2 2004 8:54:42)
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ORIGINAL: hamia Apart from filing down the saddle, how easy is it to correct the action of a guitar - what is involved? Presumably the neck must be readjusted. No, there is no easy adjustment you can make to the neck (with the exception of some electro-acoustic flamenco guitars, which are fitted with truss rods). The neck could be reset, but this would only be financially worth it if you had a very expensive guitar and it was basically broken. Nut height, saddle height, string gauge and to a certain extent fret height/profile are the things you can tinker with to improve the action. Its a balancing act and they work together, along with the player's preferences. Having said that, the nut has a 'correct' height it must be set at in relation to the guitar. What many people don't realise is that when a guitar is finished, it needs to be properly set up (though there is a settling in process as JIm points out). With hand made guitars, they will get a set up. With factory made guitars, they don't as it would add to the price and they need to be competitive. Therefore, anyone who buys a factory guitar will not be getting the most out of it until it has been properly set up. The difference it makes can be quite astounding, depending on how 'out' the guitar was when it left the factory. If you want to tweak this yourself and you have never done this before, I would recommend playing with a cheap guitar before you try and alter your main guitar. It takes a lot of practice and patience to file little bits of bone to within half-millimetre, and thats the kind of accuracy you need. Personally, I wouldn't bother as your local guitar tech/luthier will do a much better job and a for a small fee which is a great investment for the guitar. I don't know where you are in the world, but I just paid £25 to have a new bone saddle cut to my specifications and the nut height adjusted properly. Bargain. Jon
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