I recently came into posession of a Crafter GAE6/N which is a high quality electro accoustic Guitar. Basically, I swapped it for an Xbox 360. I always found that the action was not great and that the strings were higher off the fretboard than any of my other guitars. I tightened the truss rod which did make an improvement but it still wasn't great. I brought it into a local music shop who told me that the Guitar body under the bridge has warped slightly and risen up, making the strings rise higher up off the fretboard. They said that they could shave a little off the bridge to bring the strings down. When I picked up the Guitar, they told me that they couldn't shave that much off or there would be fret buzz. When I played it, there wasn't much of a difference but there was a small amount of buzz. The action wasn't improved so I thought I would try light gauge strings instead of mediums. The fret buzz was unbelievable with the light gauge strings, the first and third strings looked like they were resting on the 2nd fret, so I've since had to put the medium gauge strings back on. So, I'm back in the same situation with slight fret buzz and poor action. I don't know what else i can do.
Can someone please help? I don't want to have to write off this guitar as it's a real beauty.
a Bridge Doctor may help. but if the bellying is severe, the Bridge Doctor will not correct it, that will require removing strings and flattening the top using gentle clamping and/or weights. after sufficiently flattened, install the Bridge Doctor to maintain the new "slimmer" profile. don't believe it improves tone. that's just marketing.
Link: http://www.stewmac.com/shop/Tools/Special_tools_for:_Bridges/JLD_Bridge_Doctor.html
as for strings and buzzing: light strings must be played harder achieve the same volumes as medium strings => more string motion => more likely to buzz. a well set-up guitar with mediums can be nearly as easy to play as a well set-up guitar with lights in nearly all aspects except bending and maybe force required for fretting at first fret.
-=tension & release=-
Hi torresfan, if the repairman suggested shaving down the bridge that would usually mean a high action that can't be lowered enough by reducing the saddle height. Bad fret buzz would be an action that is too low or a problem with the neck but you say the action isn't good so I can only think there must be a neck problem like a backbow or very uneven neck?
I had the same problem with mine, same model. My tech said there were 4 (!) shimmies under the saddle and he removed 3 AND adjusted the truss rod. (I also changed the string gauge from 11's to 12's because well, that's what I use). Good Luck!
+1 on the Bridge Doctor, and generally all is good with what's been said. We just haven't had our hands on the guitar? :shock:
Meanwhile, the tech has had a chance and came up short. I had a bridge shaved, and it is next to useless unless they really take a lot off the saddle, or dig a deeper route for it.
Right, forget the shims, 2 or more and they have to go. 4 shims would have been ridiculous, raising the action to the ceiling. And shims screw up your under-sazzle (piezo) pickup a bit too. :?
It sounds as if you don't have a problem with back bow, or negative bow, which is more or less a 'hump' in the neck. However it is still a possiblility - eyaball the neck and tell us if you can. I note that it went buzzy when you used lighter strings, so that could have allowed an arch in the wrong direction, convex instead of concave, or negative bow. See if you can tweak your truss rod again.
http://grahamparkerluthier.com/2009/06/16/truss-rod-adjustment/
Besides having to do a neck reset on this gorgeous guitar and spending more than it cost, there is one more little-known solution that I am aware of, once you have established a positive bow in the neck, which is desirable, yet your action is still too high? There are special new frets available that have extra large cleats or widths at the 'root' or base of the fret, and when installed, they re-arch the neck to straight, or something like that.
But you still have the lift or warpage of the top, and that's the problem in a nutshell :wink: .
Like a bird on the wire,
like a drunk in a midnight choir
I have tried in my way to be free.
After you went with lighter strings, did you remember to loosen the truss? When you tightened it, you made it counter the pull of the strings to create a flatter fret surface. But when you put on lighter strings, the truss would be pulling too much, and that's likely why you saw the strings actually sitting on the frets.
Something else to consider -- rather than mangle your current bridge saddle, get a new one that's really cheap plastic -- do all your experimenting with that, then, if that fails to have any impact, you will still have the original to go back to when you try a different solution.
cheers!
ltt
