lowering the action on my acoustic

[clint_41]

i have a fender acoustic guitar, and the action is too high for my taste. actually, its only too high at the higher frets (about 9th fret and on), but down lower on the neck, its very low, which i like. so my thinking was that i should adjust the truss rod. the adjustment is at the base of the neck, inside the body. if this is the right way to fix the action, do i need to take the strings off to do it? which way should i adjust the neck? and if this isnt the way to fix this problem, what else can i do? and finally, should i just take this thing to a luthier?

 

[darkshadow54321]

Re: lowering the action on my acoustic

BUMP for him... I'd like to know too.

 

[danglybanger]

Re: lowering the action on my acoustic

hmm... take it to the luthier. If you get the truss rod adjusted so that the action is fine on the higher frets, you'll probably have buzz/dead notes on the lower. He'll do some fretwork to make it right. Just tell the guy what you want

Alternatively... for good tone acoustics should have fairly high action... though I can't judge for sure because I don't know how high it is on yours. Don't expect electric guitar action

slade

 

[lex666]

Re: lowering the action on my acoustic

hmm... take it to the luthier. If you get the truss rod adjusted so that the action is fine on the higher frets, you'll probably have buzz/dead notes on the lower. He'll do some fretwork to make it right. Just tell the guy what you want

Alternatively... for good tone acoustics should have fairly high action... though I can't judge for sure because I don't know how high it is on yours. Don't expect electric guitar action

slade

+1 Take it to a luthier...

Its not an electric so you don't want the action too low. Someone else may be able to provide a ballpark measurement of how high the action should be on the lower frets. But I don't think adjusting the truss rod will help. If the action is fine on the lower frets (towards the nut) adjusting the truss rod will probably create too much bow in the neck or fret buzz on those lower frets...

Take it to a luthier. He can file down the bridge and that will keep the action towards the nut the same while lowering the action on the higher frets at the same time...

 

[Bludave]

Re: lowering the action on my acoustic

i have a fender acoustic guitar, and the action is too high for my taste. actually, its only too high at the higher frets (about 9th fret and on), but down lower on the neck, its very low, which i like. so my thinking was that i should adjust the truss rod. the adjustment is at the base of the neck, inside the body. if this is the right way to fix the action, do i need to take the strings off to do it? which way should i adjust the neck? and if this isnt the way to fix this problem, what else can i do? and finally, should i just take this thing to a luthier?

There are a few things you can do to lower the cation yourself.
1. Check the truss rod. To do this hold the 6 string down at the first fret and the last fret. at the 7 thru 9th fret there should be a small amount of space between the top of the fret and the bottom of the string. This is called relief. To a degree relief is a personal thing. In general if you have too much relief the open strings will buzz against the first fret. If you do not have enough relief the strings will buzz all over. Truss rod adjustments can help action, but should not be used to adjust other problem areas. When adjusting the truss rod make small adjustments (¼ turns). After each adjustment chek the neck and see if additional adjustments are necessary. A good way to remember which way to turn the rod is tightening the rod will decrease the amount of relief, loosening the rod will increase the amount of relief. The way I try to think of this is you are raising or lowering the middle of the neck to the strings. Turn the truss rod to the right to raise the middle turn the rod left to lower the middle. The truss rod is designed to battle bowing in the neck due to the string tension.
2. The next thing that needs to be checked is the saddle. If the neck is set with the proper amount of relief, and the action is still to high the saddle will need to be shaved down some. My preference on doing this is to remove all the strings, then remove the saddle. Place a piece of 150 grit sandpaper on a flat surface and slide the saddle back and fourth on the sandpaper taking off a little at a time until you have the saddle at the correct height to maintain the correct action desired. I would recommend purchasing a new saddle blank. I like to have a "winter" saddle and a "summer" saddle. The humidity or the lack of can cause the string height to change as the air become more dense with moisture or less dense. Rather than going thru this with every change of season, just drop in a different saddle when you need to change strings! This may sound complex, but it is really not that hard to do. If yoy really want to learn to do a lot of your own guitar maintenance buy Dan Erlwines book. It is available at Stew Mac. Every guitar player should have it!

 

[Ken]

Re: lowering the action on my acoustic

If you're having trouble with the upper frets, my general experience would suggest filing the bridge (evenly from the bottom!)

You have to make huge adjustments at the bridge to affect the lower frets. Generally 1-7 are more or less handled by the truss rod and the higher frets are for the bridge...

That's just my experience though. I wouldn't mess with the truss rod for the circumstance you described.

 

[ex-250]

Re: lowering the action on my acoustic

i need to get my dads acoustic worked on. at about the 15th fret, the strings are around a centimeter off the fretboard.....thats just silly.