Lowering action on an acoustic

lloyd

I have a horrible Stagg acoustic which I never play. One reason is the action is extremely high, can I lower this by just removing the bridge and filing it down a bit?

BigMonka

First step is to check the truss rod.

Then basically yes you just take some height off the bottom of the saddle. You need to ensure that you only take a bit at a time and keep checking it (as you can't put height back on!). You also need to be careful to keep the bottom of the bridge flat so that you're taking the same amount off the bass and treble sides as well as ensuring that the contact point between the bridge and the guitar body is flat (even more important if its an electro acoustic with an under saddle piezo).

lloyd

Nice one cheers mate, I'll have a look over the next few days.

lloyd

Gave it a bit of a go tonight as I needed to change the strings, lowered quite nicely, could do with a bit more though.

Maynehead

One tip is to measure how much you need to lower it by at the 12th fret and then take 2x that amount off the bridge. Mark the bridge with a pencil line so that you don't go over.

Also note the break angle over the bridge and don't reduce it too much as it's bad for tone. If need be shave a layer off the top of the bridge block with a plane to preserve the break angle.

lloyd

If it was any good as a guitar is have taken my tim and done it properly! As it is it was a quick fix.

StanleyAccrington

How low should the action be? and where is the best fret to use for checking this? I realise that measurements alone do not always show what height action should be and some personal preferences come into the equation. Measuring my action (acoustic) at 12th fret. Thin e string is approx 2mm from fret and large E string is approx 3mm from fret. Should it be lower? the only problem I have is a buzzing at fret three on the large E string if I play it hard with a plectrum....it's ok if I fingerpick. Maybe the fourth fret could be too high.

Chalky

If you file the bridge too low you can make a shim to go underneath - find the hardest plastic you can and cut a long thin length and put it in the bridge slot then put the bridge on top.

My Ovation came with shims.

Danielsguitars

Check truss rod first, adjust if needed then check nut height before adjusting the saddle height.
Sometimes a fret level is needed too.