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I've got three CHEAP blonde Mexican guitars. Picked each up for less than $50 including shipping. They have surprisingly good tone for flamenco, and are solid wood. However I've adjusted, filed, the bridge as low as I can without incurring a serious buzz. But the high E is still +1/8". So I think I'm gonna have to adjust the fretboard angle by reducing the thickness of the fretboard at the nut such that I can improve the action and volume as well. I've built a couple instruments from scratch and done some repairs but this is beyond my current experience. How do you suggest I proceed from here? Like I said they are and were cheap, but have a good sound. So I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.
RE: Re-planing the fretboard to corr... (in reply to BlueOtter)
It's not a big deal to alter the fingerboard. Just pull the frets, make a sanding plank which is flat on one side, put 80 grit self stick sandpaper on it and change the taper. You can attach a sacrificial spacer to the sound hole end of the fingerboard to support the sanding plank to make sure you're removing more wood from the nut end. Once it looks right just sand it flat, put the strings on and check for warp. If the warp is slight fret it and be done, if it's severe you need to bend the neck upward from the nut and sand flat so when you release the bow you've created there's an arch in the fingerboard to compensate for the warp. Sounds complicated and it is but if you think about it, it will make sense. We've done this many, many times over the years.
Posts: 1708
Joined: Jan. 29 2012
From: Seattle, Washington, USA
RE: Re-planing the fretboard to corr... (in reply to BlueOtter)
quote:
So I think I'm gonna have to adjust the fretboard angle by reducing the thickness of the fretboard at the nut such that I can improve the action
I suggest you keep the thickness of the fingerboard as it is at the nut, and taper it from there to the other end. That way you increase the angle the surface of the fretboard makes with the soundboard, which allows you to lower the saddle.
RE: Re-planing the fretboard to corr... (in reply to BlueOtter)
The questions I ask are:
How high off the top is the saddle?
How is your nut adjusted?
How much saddle is left sticking out of the saddle slot after you reach your desired height off the top? Flamenco guitars should be set up with between 7.5 and 9 mm at saddle off the top. I like about 8 mm. It's hard to advise unless you know what you're shooting for. 1/8" for bass E does not sound bad if you have a healthy amount of saddle above the slot and about 8 mm, give or take half a mm, of saddle height of top.
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