Guitar Saddle
Is it risky to file the saddle on my acoustic guitar down to lower the action (the height of the strings)?
The strings on my guitar are higher than I would like and make it difficult and painful to play. I do not really want to spend $40 to fix it in the music store. I know what needs to be done – file the saddle down just a little bit. Is this risky? What should I do? Or should I adjust the truss rod too? Thanks!
do not attempt to adjust the truss rod yourself! This should be left to a qualified technician. It is very easy to mess up your neck if you do not know exactly how to adjust it. If the action is too high than check to see if it is too high at the nut as well as the saddle. Quite often a guitar will not be set up properly before it is sold. If it is too high at the nut then you will need to file the slots in the nut too lower the action at that point. If the slots appear to be okay but the overall action at the nut is still too high than the overall height of the nut can be lowered by gently removing the nut and filing the bottom edge of it to uniformly remove material until the desired height is achieved.
The same process is done to the saddle to lower the action at the bridge. Carefully remove the saddle (especially if it is an electric/acoustic with a piezo under-the-saddle pickup) and run the bottom edge of the saddle piece across a flat file to insure that you remove material evenly. The best way to do this is to file just a bit, then replace the saddle and tune it up and check the action. Repeat this process several times until you reach the desired action. Plastic saddle pieces are relatively cheap ($2) so buy an extra one or two to work with. Most music stores have a box of plastic saddles in various sizes so that you can easily replace one for another of a shorter height, or find one closer to the desired height. Many stores will help you find the right one without charging you so much to set it up. Bottom line: it is better to have it fully set up and adjusted by a qualified technician who has plenty of experience and can guarantee his work for $40, then to mess it up yourself and have to spend the extra money anyway.
Stringing up a guitar part 4 ( the saddle and action)
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