Guitar Setup Help (Full Version)

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VietFlamenco -> Guitar Setup Help (Aug. 29 2010 20:28:00)

I have 12 years old classical/flamenco guitar my dad bought years ago for less than $100. I played the thing for about 2 years before I outgrew it and moved on to better instruments. The guitar has been sitting in my garage collecting dust. I don't have the heart to get rid of the guitar because it has sentimental value.

The guitar is playable, but really uncomfortable. Whenever I do bar chords, my hand fatigue really quickly. I think the nut and saddle height may be too high. It's not worth it to get this thing setup by a professional since the setup costs more than the guitar....I'm thinking of filing the nut and saddle down. Can someone give me some tips on how to set this up?

Pictures will be posted once i get home from work.



at_leo_87 -> RE: Guitar Setup Help (Aug. 29 2010 20:34:19)

lowering action at the saddle is super easy. i would see what i could do with the saddle first before doing anything else. oh, and try humidifying it. humidity can affect action.

here's how you deal with that saddle.
http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/LowerAction/loweraction01.html

dont be cheap like me and try using cheap sandpaper. get the good stuff, it's a lot faster. every 1mm you take off equates to 0.5mm at the 12th fret.



VietFlamenco -> RE: Guitar Setup Help (Aug. 29 2010 20:50:21)

Thanks! I was scratching my head a little bit reading that article wondering why us Americans still insist on using inches.



at_leo_87 -> RE: Guitar Setup Help (Aug. 29 2010 21:11:52)

quote:

Thanks! I was scratching my head a little bit reading that article wondering why us Americans still insist on using inches.


yeah, seriously. just work with 10's. so much easier. less room for error.



mark indigo -> RE: Guitar Setup Help (Aug. 29 2010 21:19:11)

quote:

humidity can affect action.


wow! i never guessed that. how does it work?



at_leo_87 -> RE: Guitar Setup Help (Aug. 29 2010 21:22:54)

quote:

wow! i never guessed that. how does it work?


i dont have any scientific facts to back it up. just something that i've noticed, especially with steel strings. they sit in a cold dry garage for years and become unplayable. then you take it out, give it some love, and it gets better and better.

woods expanding, contracting, i dont know.... not a bad idea to humidify your guitar anyways.



Andy Culpepper -> RE: Guitar Setup Help (Aug. 29 2010 22:06:33)

quote:

wow! i never guessed that. how does it work?


Generally in low humidity you will find more little buzzes. In the winter we get a ton of buzzy guitars in the shop.

Most guitars are built with at least a little bit of "doming" or "arch" in the top. I build mine with the center of the top about 1.4 mm above a plane from binding to binding.
One reason for this is that when the wood shrinks due to low humidity, theoretically the arch will just fall somewhat, instead of the top cracking along the grain, which will happen with no arch and low humidity. A side effect of that is that, as the top flattens out, that can bring the bridge lower and the strings closer to the fingerboard, sometimes causing a fret buzz to appear.



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