Acoustic saddle height

[grungeiceman]

Ok, I went and got a new saddle for my acoustic and tha action in amazingly high, I asked a friend about it and he looked at it and said sand the saddle 1/8 inch and i should be good, does that sound correct?

 

[Guitar Gal]

If you still have your original saddle, you could use it as a template for the new one if you liked the action with the original saddle.

GG

 

[grungeiceman]

nope

Unfortunily i bought the guitar without a saddle from my brother, I remeber the action was still high then. but thanks

 

[just strum]

If I recall this correctly, you want to sand the saddle down twice the distance that you want the base E to drop. Measuring the distance between the bottom of the 6th string to the top of the 12th fret.

you want to lower it 1/64, sand off 1/32.

 

[just strum]

Researched and found I was correct (a rare moment in history, write down the date).

Here's something worth reading

http://frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/LowerAction/loweraction01.html

 

[grungeiceman]

Thank You

Thank you so much, seriously that helps ALOT

 

[grungeiceman]

Thank you, But how high do you usually have your action from teh twelth fret?

Thank you, But how high do you usually have your action from the twelth fret? I dont wan to sand off to much and get alot of fret buzz, thank you again

 

[just strum]

Thank you, But how high do you usually have your action from the twelth fret? I dont wan to sand off to much and get alot of fret buzz, thank you again

3/32 is usually where you want it to be. That's from the bottom of the E to the top of the 12th fret.

 

[Dreadman]

A couple more tips:

Lay some sandpaper on a flat surface and rub the bottom of the saddle on it the long way. Use rough sandpaper (around 120 grit) to remove the bulk and smooth it out on fine sandpaper (around 400 grit). Three things to worry about are:

1.) Keep the saddle perpendicular to the flat surface - don't let it lean over while sanding. I lay a square steel block on the sandpaper and run the saddle along it to keep it square.

2.) Scribe a line before sanding so you don't take uneven amounts off of the bass or treble side. Sand slowly up to the line, checking it frequently to make sure it's even.

3.) Use even pressure across the whole saddle while sanding. A saddle is flexible enough that if you only push down in the middle, then more material will come off of the middle and leave the bottom curved.

Of course, sometimes a curved bottom is desirable. If your guitar's top has a belly then the saddle slot in the bridge will have developed a curve as well. It's very tough to determine without special tools but matching the saddle bottom curve exactly with the saddle slot bottom is ideal, especially if there's an undersaddle transducer (pickup).