Furch set up (lowering action) advice prior to taking to the tech!

Jetsam1 · September 2018

Hello,

Have a Furch OM30 Vintage that I feel needs the action lowering for me. I mainly play electrics and I am feeling that I am neglecting this guitar as it is much harder to play at the moment. It was a replacement for a previous Furch that died tragically.............

Everything else about the guitar is absolutely fantastic, the neck feels right, the body is just a nice size for comfortable paying and the sound is great. Loads of volume for such a small bodied guitar and it does have a really nice voice.

I have never had a guitar of this value put in for work before and I was wondering for those with more experience if they could take some trouble to suggest some things I should be aware of and look out for and what I should be asking for. Is there anything I maybe should ask to be done whilst it is in? Can`t think what though.......

I am planning to take it in to Stageshop in Budapest and as a main dealer they should have experience and be capable of carrying out the work to a good standard. Shouldn`t they? I bought the guitar from them new originally and was happy but over the last few months feel I should have it adjusted......

Thank you!

earwighoney · September 2018

Jetsam1 said:

Hello,

Have a Furch OM30 Vintage that I feel needs the action lowering for me. I mainly play electrics and I am feeling that I am neglecting this guitar as it is much harder to play at the moment. It was a replacement for a previous Furch that died tragically.............

Everything else about the guitar is absolutely fantastic, the neck feels right, the body is just a nice size for comfortable paying and the sound is great. Loads of volume for such a small bodied guitar and it does have a really nice voice.

I have never had a guitar of this value put in for work before and I was wondering for those with more experience if they could take some trouble to suggest some things I should be aware of and look out for and what I should be asking for.

The things which I would ask for is having the relief looked at and the string height at both the saddle and at the nut.

Funkfingers · September 2018

Jetsam1 said:

Have a Furch OM30 Vintage that I feel needs the action lowering for me. I mainly play electrics and I am feeling that I am neglecting this guitar as it is much harder to play at the moment.

In my opinion, unless you use Medium gauge strings on your electric guitars, an acoustic guitar should be harder to play.

Jetsam1 said:

It was a replacement for a previous Furch that died tragically.

Do you find the OM30 to be more difficult to play than your previous Furch acoustic guitar?

Jetsam1 said:

suggest some things I should be aware of and look out for and what I should be asking for.

It might help to research the published specifications for your Furch. It is possible that the action is correctly set for the string gauges fitted. Perhaps, you simply need to apply a little more pressure in order to hold the strings down compared to electric guitar?

Jetsam1 · September 2018

Funkfingers said:

Jetsam1 said:

Have a Furch OM30 Vintage that I feel needs the action lowering for me. I mainly play electrics and I am feeling that I am neglecting this guitar as it is much harder to play at the moment.

In my opinion, unless you use Medium gauge strings on your electric guitars, an acoustic guitar should be harder to play.

Jetsam1 said:

It was a replacement for a previous Furch that died tragically.

Do you find the OM30 to be more difficult to play than your previous Furch acoustic guitar?

Jetsam1 said:

suggest some things I should be aware of and look out for and what I should be asking for.

It might help to research the published specifications for your Furch. It is possible that the action is correctly set for the string gauges fitted. Perhaps, you simply need to apply a little more pressure in order to hold the strings down compared to electric guitar?

My old Furch was a better set up for me personally and that was the factory set up from 2007 that I never touched and used 10 gauge strings. I barely get a chance to look at the guitars at the moment but I use 10s on my electrics. I feel the pressure I have to apply for barre chords after G is too much. Its not comfortable. I`d need to double check but the distance between the top the frets and the strings leaves plenty of scope to reduce the action without leading to buzz.

Jetsam1 · September 2018

Just had a check, the spacing between the strings and the fret at the 12th fret is around 5mm. Does this not seem a bit high? I think the strings are 10, feel that way. I have yet to replace the factory strings as the guitar is only a few months old.

ToneControl · September 2018

5mm??? bloody hell

main issue with a new acoustic is usually the nut not being cut right, so it is too high,you can check this, try a capo at fret 1 and see if it feels better, or look at the action at fret 1, then press the string down there and look at the action at fret 2, it should be less, but not 5x less
also you need to check neck relief, you can search online how to assess this yourself.

However, 5mm is very high

see: https://www.stewmac.com/How-To/Online_Resources/Neck_Building_and_Repair_and_Setup/Metric_String_Action_Gauge.html ;

Steel-string acoustic guitar	Bass E	Treble E

Action at the 1st fret	.6	.35
Action at the 12th fret	2.3	1.8
Relief: .05 at the 8th fret

as a tip, I recommend you buy this:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Gauge-Guitar-Ruler-Action-Measuring-Luthier-Tool-String-Practical-Accessories/292642076311?hash=item4422d3b697:g:rOUAAOSw-1hbSoEq ;
This is a cheap Chinese one, I paid £8 I think for one, I just ordered this one as a spare

Jetsam1 · September 2018

That`s what I thought. I am going to see if I can get up to Budapest maybe next week as I don`t think there are any more local techs. There`s just so much ona t the moment and that`s a large part of the reason I hadn`t noticed!!

Funkfingers · September 2018

Jetsam1 said:

Just had a check, the spacing between the strings and the fret at the 12th fret is around 5mm. Does this not seem a bit high? I think the strings are 10, feel that way. I have yet to replace the factory strings as the guitar is only a few months old.

Yes. 5mm above the twelfth fret is excessive.

My Stonebridge grand auditorium is strung with twelves. The open string clearance above the twelfth fret is 2.5mm.

ToneControl said:
main issue with a new acoustic is usually the nut not being cut right ... also, you need to check neck relief

If the neck itself is reasonably straight, there could be an issue with the soundboard and bracing.

ToneControl · September 2018

the other thing to check is that the guitar has not been subjected to humidity variation outside the recommended range
https://www.taylorguitars.com/support/maintenance/symptoms-wet-guitar

ToneControl · September 2018

How old is this guitar?
Furch have a 3 year guarantee
I'd say 5mm was a fault, why not send photos and details to them, and ask them to arrange a repair?

Jetsam1 · September 2018

It`s only a few months old, and it has yet to be through a winter. I will probably need to be up in the big city anyway so will take it in and get it looked at. I want to use this shop as I bought it from them and I have dealt with them in the past for other things so hopefully they will be inclined to help!! They do have a good reputation and I think people have bought Furchs from them on this forum in the past.

A little disappointed but these things happen and I have been lucky with all my guitars in the past up until now so I suppose I am overdue a problem.

Lewy · September 2018

Jetsam1 said:

It`s only a few months old, and it has yet to be through a winter.

It’s less about a winter, which would typically be low humidity, and lead to action lowering. It’s about high humidity which causes the top to belly more than it normally would and thus raise the action. It doesn’t take too much on a lightly braced guitar (which I believe Furch tend to be).

Jetsam1 · October 2018

Update. All sorted. Good set up and check and it is now the guitar I wanted in the first place. And no extra charge......

I live in Hungary and up until last week it had been 30 degrees plus for over four months......... And dry, sooooo dry.....

So happy again.

earwighoney · October 2018

Jetsam1 said:

Update. All sorted. Good set up and check and it is now the guitar I wanted in the first place. And no extra charge......

I live in Hungary and up until last week it had been 30 degrees plus for over four months......... And dry, sooooo dry.....

So happy again.

Good to hear it was sorted.

What was the fix? Was it just a tweak to the truss rod and some saddle adjustment?

FWIW, I imagine Hungary could be very dry in the Winter as well so maybe you might need to pay a bit of attention to humidification then as well?

Jetsam1 · October 2018

The saddle was adjusted and I imagine the truss rod a little too. I had the cheapest Furch for 10 years that came from the UK over here and was totally stable in a variety of climates.

We will see what this winter brings, last winter was relatively mild only getting down to the minus 20 it should normally be in January!!! I will keep an eye on the guitar though in Budapest we do have one of the main dealers in Europe so they should be pretty well suited to the climate here....... You would think..... The factory isn't even a days travel away!

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Furch set up (lowering action) advice prior to taking to the tech!

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