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Lets say I want to lower the action at the 12th by 1/32.Does this mean I half to sand off twice that amount from the bottom of the saddle? I can never remember these things.
James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

Hey Skin - Yeah twice the desired measurement at the 12th but I would go a bit less, try, evaluate, go further if needed. In other words sneak up on it gradually. It's easy, at least for me.... to get this wrong and lower the saddle too much.

Yes.

If you can lower the action at the nut, that will drop the 12th fret action by 1/2 the amount too! Another reason to get the nut action as low as possible.

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http://www.chassonguitars.com

Get the nut set first .. as it will influence how much you need to remove at the saddle - thats why the press between the 2&3 fret, and look at the first fret "gap" works so well .. it takes the 12th fret action height out of the equation. Once the nut is set , then measure and adjust the saddle - like hesh has mentioned, take off slightly less than double what you want - easier to take off a touch more with 400/600 grit than start over or shim.

Oh .. let me also add, at least how I do this .. set the relief before either of these is done ...

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"

I set the 12th fret action before the nut, but with a capo on the 1st fret. Of course this is after the relief is correct. That's the way I was taught years ago.

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I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said.
http://www.brackettinstruments.com/

Tony that`s a good tip about the relief.I learned that the hard way which resulted in a blown nut. I`m still a bit confused about the gap at the first fret.I try to get mine as close as I possibly can without touching.I`m not sure if this is correct,but it seems to play okay.
James

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James W Bolan
Nashville Tennessee

Then you pretty much have it... there can be almost no gap on the 1 and 2, then a bit on 3 4, then a touch more on 5 and 6 .. if you were to feeler gauge the gap without pressing down at any fret, at the 1st you get somewhere from 16-11 thou E-e ... BTW taylor spec is about 23-20 or so IIRC. But of course, everything is player specific.

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Tony Karol
www.karol-guitars.com
"let my passion .. fulfill yours"