Neck / Bridge angle wrong. Short saddle on seagull SWS

Maverick

Today i Received a Seagull MaritimeSWS. It's a used model but seemed in good condition and was listed for £500

The first thing i noticed is it sounds a bit dead and not very loud, could be the strings but they look new. Blue ball end on low e? not sure what brand.
So next  i check the bridge saddle, hardly anything there, seems way too short. No room for adjustment it's the usual 2/32 - 3/32 at 12 fret (capo 1st).

I get out the notched straight edge this is resting against the frets.

It's integrated set neck, which i think is a posh name for a bolt on.

Where do i go from here? It was purchased on ebay.

I think it might need a neck reset or the rosewood bridge worked on. Is it likely to cost much for work to be done or should i send it back?

https://imgur.com/1xX40RO

https://imgur.com/oS0wDrI

Straight edge on frets

https://imgur.com/7PVy8xg

https://imgur.com/GjdnsxA

https://imgur.com/as2XTQX

https://imgur.com/naLAna2


Behind bridge

https://imgur.com/sBNPysf

Maverick

Maverick

ICBM

£500 for a second hand guitar that sells for £629 new and isn't perfect? Send it back.

You could probably get away with raising the saddle or making a new one, but if it doesn't sound very good then that's unlikely to help much.

A blue ball end may be a Rotosound - if so the A and D should be white and red. They're OK, that won't be the problem.

Maverick

Thanks. Good call on the strings, White and red.

This is the Rosewood back and side model that i believe is more expensive than mahogany

Action would be far too high raising the saddle.

Here is a comparison to my faith Saturn that is a cannon with tons of saddle, It must really make a difference to volume.

https://i.imgur.com/wg9GEUs.jpg

ICBM

That’s actually far too high and risks snapping the saddle. The ideal is a break angle of about 45 degrees or just under, with no more than half the saddle exposed. There may or may not be any correlation to volume - it’s more dependent on the construction of the body than the height of the saddle.

The Seagull is a bit low, but I’ve worked on a lot of guitars with it like that which sound perfectly good. A bigger problem is that the bridge tends to pull up over time and there’s nowhere to go with that one, without a neck reset or shaving the bridge.

Nogoodboyo

I would definitely send it back, there is very little saddle left, and it looks as though the bridge has been slotted in front of the pins. 

Maverick

ICBM said:

That’s actually far too high and risks snapping the saddle. The ideal is a break angle of about 45 degrees or just under, with no more than half the saddle exposed. There may or may not be any correlation to volume - it’s more dependent on the construction of the body than the height of the saddle..

That's a new martin bone saddle i put in. I do need to shave off a little to bring the action down, but the E, A, D strings are a little sharp so i think i will have to change compensation and then see the height. All the other strings have the right angle it's just the low E that looks like that.

Maverick

Nogoodboyo said:

I would definitely send it back, there is very little saddle left, and it looks as though the bridge has been slotted in front of the pins. 

Yes the bridge is slotted. I think from the factory.

The seam that runs down the middle of the back, that joins the wood together isn't flush. So i think that also needs re-gluing...

Lewy

Personally that would need a neck reset before it could be set up in a way I’d be happy with so I’d send it back. 

One thought...the belly looks to be at the high end of normal. If the guitar also sounds dull and dead could it have been over-humidified for a lot of its life? That would exaggerate the belly and need the saddle to be shaved down to get the action reasonable.

Maverick

The seller on ebay  has decided that i don't want it and damaged the guitar and won't be accepting nothing back...

ICBM

Maverick said:

The seller on ebay  has decided that i don't want it and damaged the guitar and won't be accepting nothing back...

He might think that but Ebay's rules say otherwise.

To be honest, buyers being able to return things whether there is a legitimate reason or not is one of the reasons I won't sell on Ebay, but the boot is on the other foot here.

LooseMoose

That’s a turkey, get rid.

Maverick

Had an email back from Godin. "Guitar's neck is epoxied to an internal block. It cannot be reset"

The seller is being a pain. Told me he is not accepting a return, Then accepted and sent postage label.
I think he is going to refuse delivery...