String Recommendations for Flambeau FLW-3 & any info.

Tannin

Wow. Bit of a walled garden, isn't it! No wonder people are grumpy about Brexit. I didn't realise how bad things were.

Soupman

I've fitted Newtone Heritage 11s, (great strings) and the lower tension meant I had to tweak the truss rod.
 I reckon the action at the 12th fret could be lowered by sanding the saddle, but before doing that-

Question:
Would there be any advantage in swapping the saddle out for a bone one? (Not the nut, I'm not touching that!)
If so, do they all have the same radius or do I need those radius measuring gauge template things?
Lastly, the Newtones are round core- if I loosen the tension to remove the saddle, are they going to slip the core? If so I'll wait until a new set are needed.

Mellish

@Soupman ; what material is your existing saddle?

If plastic, bone will make a difference. However, not everyone can hear it, so it's hard to say *you* will

EDIT - no, they don't all have the same radius. 

Soupman

@Mellish , that's a good question. It's the original saddle but the truthful answer is that I don't know. It's not compensated but the intonation seems very good.

Using a steel rule the btm E string measures about 1.75ish mm and the top E a gnat's whisker over 2mm.
Does that sound average? 

Tannin

I would not want it any lower. YMMV but I'd be buzzing notes and sitaring if I took one lower than that. If you have a very gentle right hand you might be different.

Mellish

I'd agree with @Tannin.

My Dove's low E is at 2.48mm and that gives me plenty of volume.

You can take away all of a guitar's fire by dropping action. 2mm at the 12th is lower than I'd want but I'm a hard strummer  

Mellish

@soupm ; what makes you think you  need to take the action lower than  2mm on the low E?

Before you do anything to the saddle check the neck relief. 

Soupman

I'd never needed to adjust the truss rod before, but 5 or 6 weeks ago, I picked it up & the action was noticeably higher.
 It stands out all the time so maybe it was because of the warm weather - humidity has never been a problem up here.
I tightened the truss rod to correct this. 

When the latest Newtones (11s) were fitted, I checked the fretboard & found it had no relief (ie it was flat). I slackened the truss rod to get the small relief at the 6th fret.(Hold string at 1st & 14th fret, check at 6). Having done that & played it a bit, I just felt it was a tad high, hence the question.
After the advice from your good selves I will leave it as it is, and check the neck relief in a couple of days after it settles down. I'm not one for messing about unnecessarily, 'if it works leave it alone'!

Thanks for the advice, this forum really excels at this.