5 months into my learning journey now and really enjoying everything.
Practicing for at least a couple of hours per day and amazed how Justinās lessons have really changed my life and how guitar playing has just grabbed me so hard.
Iāve recently been trying to learn the famous intro to Jonny B Goode.
Not really for now as Iām sure it will take months and months to master, but if I start engraining it into my muscle memory now it will pay dividends later.
Anyway, Iāve noticed whilst learning this and playing further up the fretboard than normal that the distance between the strings and the frets is quite large and it doesnāt feel quite right due to this.
A bit of googling and I can see a lot of people sand the bridge down a little to reduce this.
Is this worth while me doing at this stage or will it cause me more problems than it solves?
Also, Iāve just recently changed the strings and I did one at a time because people said taking them all off at the same time could cause damage - which was disappointing as I would really like to polish the fretboard.
But when I watch videos about lowering the bridge they donāt seem to have an issue with removing all the strings and so Iām confused.
One of the videos I watched mentioned a screw inside the arm (sorry for my misinformed terminology) but Iām worried about making a mess of it.
Am I better taking it to a guitar shop and having someone with more than 5 months experience make the changes?
Or just leave it entirely?
Sorry for my ramblings but thank you in advance for any help/advice.
Hi James and welcome first of all. Personally I would take it to an experienced luthier to make those changes but there are far more experienced people on here who can better guide you. I took my guitar to a luthier and had it properly set up and it made a huge difference to my playing.
As for the strings I have never taken them off and changed them one by one , and I have never had any trouble doing it that way.
James @James_Liv
I totally agree with Eddie @Eddie_09 take it to somebody who does it for a living and get it set up properly.
You donāt say what sort of guitar but in Justinās lesson on changing strings on an acoustic he takes them all off and I do that. Donāt know about an electric as I donāt have one.
Michael
It just doesnāt seem hard to sand down the little piece of bridge plastic but fair enough, Iāll take the advice given and see about taking it to someone local.
Hi James, there is a lot of miss information on the net and can be difficult to wade though.
Lets start with getting the names of thing on your guitar down.
Iām assuming you have an acoustic guitar because you mentioned sandind down the bridge. You donāt sand down the bridge you sand down the saddle. The bridge is the wooden piece glued to the top of the guitar, the saddle is the plasic or bone piece set into the bridge.
The screw inside the neck is called the truss rod and is used to set the neck releif(how much bow is in the neck) and not used to set the action of the guitar but does affect the action in a small way.
If you are handy with fixing things the doing your own set-up on your guitar isnāt that difficult. If you are unsure itās best left to a professional. A good guitar tech can do this. Most reliable music store will have a one or can recommend one close to you.
What make and model is your guitar? Not all guitars have truss rods and knowing the make and model will help with the set-up.
Sanding the saddle is the last stage of a set-up. Setting the neck relief is the first step. Then check the nut is cut properly. Then you can deal with the saddle height.
Most comments that I saw online saying not to remove all strings at once were for acoustic-electric with undersaddle pickup. They say that removing all the weight on the bridge may move a little bit the undersaddle pickup in a non-optimal position. But, to be honest, I donāt use the pickup often enough for it to make a difference. To clean the fretboard, itās much easier to remove all strings at once. Justin does it in his video.
Itās a good skill to learn for sure, but I would recommend getting a professional for the first setup. Itās hard to know āwhere the problem comes fromā. For instance, I thought that one of my problem could easily be fixed by the trust rod, but the luthier saw right away that it was not the problem. Later on, when you know itās setup well, if you need to make small adjustments, sure you can try it yourself if you like that kind of work.
Hi James! I agree that taking it to a professional is probably the best advice. If you do decide to work on it yourself I would make a few of recomendations.
Make any adjustments to the truss rod first. There are several Youtube videos available for this. I believe the StewMac channel has one available.
Get a string height gage so that you can measure the height at the 12th fret. That way you can compare your settings to other recommendations.
Adhere the sandpaper to a āveryā flat surface and keep the edge square to the saddle. Otherwise the the saddle will not completely touch the bridge and transfer the vibrations fully.
If you sand the saddle it is very important to remove the material evenly so that you do not dip one end or the other.
Hi James,
Youāve already been āgooglingā to see how to sort out problems, which suggests to me that you are curious, might be ok with your hands, but more importantly, donāt just jump in without looking first. All good traits
Iād go with @TheCluelessLuthierās practical advice, but have a go myself before bringing it to the professionals.
Your guitar has good reviews as an entry level guitar, but you are not going to run the risk of doing much damage by having a go yourself.
Even if you completely ruined the saddle, youāll only be a couple of quid worse off if it needs replacing.
A setup in the UK usually costs upwards of Ā£50 (from a very quick search). Thatās almost half the price of your new guitar
The fact that the action (string height) gets higher as you move up the fret, suggests that itās not a nut problem, but bow of the neck (truss rod) or height of the bridge.
Do as @stitch suggested and look up a couple of videos on what the truss rod does and how to adjust it if needed (small amounts, carefully). If the action is still high, Iād have a go at sanding down the saddle. I did this on a Fender acoustic and it worked well.
If you do have a go, do us all a favour and add pics showing us how you get on.
We love to be entertained!
Oh yeah, forget about changing strings individually. You wonāt damage the guitar. Give it a good clean
I have an Epiphone DR-100 Dreadnought acoustic. It does have a truss rodd.
But itās interesting reading some of the comments here about an electro acoustic as I also have a Tanglewood electrio acoustic in my loft.
Itās been - itās been in there for 30 years and Iām going to get it out.
Iāve never even played it but I know one of the strings have snapped. I obviously have strings and know how to change those.
Iām not very handy at DIY, I tore my jeans changing the curtains recently!
Iāll get down to a guitar shop and let them alter my setup.
Near the sound hole end of the fretboard Thereās almost a centemeter of play before the string touches the board and it makes finger picking fairly challenging at that end.
Youāre right in that itās not an expensive guitar.
Iāve never tried to play an expensive guitar and Iām quite keen to upgrade but not confident enough yet to go into a guitar shop and play a few to know the difference.
That said, cheap guitar or notā¦ It has my heart. I whittle away hours playing it and have grown quite attached to it.
Oooh, all the more reason to have a go.
It will make you bond with it even more!
Especially now that you have a second guitar to get up and running.
Donāt forget, the skills you learn doing things yourself do not just have monetary value.
Of course when someone asks a bridge question on a guitar forum thereās often a joker who suggests it needs a Floyd Rose (only kidding )
Good luck anyway
Of course it will.
And professional will always do the superior job
Personally, I would get more pleasure from a reasonable job by myself, than good one by a luthier.
Not much can go wrong with learning to adjust a truss rod and sanding the bottom of a saddle. Worst case scenario, itāll be a tenner more for a replacement saddle at the setup.
Thatās cheap for the experience gained, let alone job satisfaction
To each his/her ownā¦
And a nightmare to replace the rod if the screw is mangled. But most Luthiers have a tool that can sort mangled rod bolts, which is tapered and with gentle tapping reaches a point where the truss rod can be adjusted. Its still knackered but at least its adjustable !
)
