What is the height of your action? (Acoustic)

I asked at Guitar Center and they say that to lower the action requires a full "workup", whatever that means, to the tune of $60. I may end up having them do it because I'm afraid to screw something up.

I have to agree with them. Simply sanding some of the saddle away may not always sort out the action of an acoustic guitar. There is a balance between string gauge, neck relief, saddle height and the depth of the slots cut into the nut. Its possible that they all may need altering in order to get the action 'just so'.

Aw, c'mon. No guts, no glory. It's not brain surgery.

ha. It's funny, normally I have that attitude. I had a laptop taken apart on the kitchen table in so many pieces that my wife was convinced I'd never get it totally back together. (My daughter knocked my 20 ounce coffee into it.)

But this just seems different to me. For now, anyway. I can change the strings, that's about it. And I would be pretty upset to get the action lowered and then find buzzing all over the place.

......

Aw hell.....you may have talked me into it....

Does anyone know of a good place online to order saddles online? I'd like to have a couple on-hand before I try to tempt fate.

Also, I googled this very topic and found the Taylor PDF linked below. Anyone know of something better? I know this is an easy fix for most of you, but I'm looking to idiot-proof it before I try.

http://www.taylorguitars.com/global/pdfs/action.pdf

thanks
Dave

I have to agree with them. Simply sanding some of the saddle away may not always sort out the action of an acoustic guitar. There is a balance between string gauge, neck relief, saddle height and the depth of the slots cut into the nut. Its possible that they all may need altering in order to get the action 'just so'.

It's not that I disagree with anything you've said, but I'll be shocked if they bring any of this up. There isn't an in-house tech, rather it's a guy who sets up a table in the middle of the store for a few hours on certain days. Based on the quick conversation I had with him, I really believe he's going to remove the strings, sand the saddle down, clean the fretboard, restring and call it a "set-up".

Slots in the saddle? I didn't mention it, but I've got a classical. I don't think there are any slots. Are there slots in an acoustic's saddle?

Anyhow, thanks for your response. After the last "brain surgery" response, I think I may have a go at it, to then take it in if I screw it up. Since I planned on spending the $60 anyway, I may as well try to learn something in the process.

thanks
Dave

Take a look over here as well: http://frets.com/

One place to buy saddles and such: http://stew-mac.com/

Success!

I was emboldened by the fact that we have three guitars in the house and decided to perform the "surgery" today, without extra saddles on hand. It went swimmingly.

Actually, while I was at Lowes picking up sandpaper, I saw a guitar-playing friend if mine. He said "Oh, I've tried to lower the action a million times. I always end up with buzzing."

His voice was ringing in my ears as I moved the saddle back and forth across the sandpaper. So, chickening out a little, I stopped short of the pencil line. And it worked! Both E strings now have 3mm of clearance at the 12th fret and all seems well.

Thanks to Ricochet for the nudge.

Congratulations! It's a nice feeling to fix something like that yourself, isn't it? :mrgreen:

Congratulations! It's a nice feeling to fix something like that yourself, isn't it? :mrgreen:

Definitely! And a couple days later, no problems have surfaced. I couldn't be happier. :-)