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After reading the other thread on strait edge to bridge ht. I think I'm ok on that. (3/64ths)
but when I try to mark my saddle ht. I end up with quite a bit of saddle above the bridge. I'm useing measurements from Kinkaids book of 1/16 at the 1st string and 5/64th at the 6th string. This is with a strait edge laying on the 1st fret and the measurement at the 12th.
How high should the saddle be above the bridge?

John-
Unless you have a very stiff top and bracing (overbuilt??) you will probably find that the top will 'rise up' a bit after the guitar is strung up to tension for a while.
So you may not end up with as much saddle 'showing' as you fear, once the final setup is done.

Cheers
John

definitely not a pro here (one guitar), but i believe the measurement you want is with the strings on, no straight edge. get your string height right at the nut, then start out with a saddle that you know is too tall. measure the distance between the bottom of the string and the top of the fret at the twelfth. a set of feeler gauges is good for this. you can then start lowering your saddle to get the correct string height. thats the condensed version anyway. there is quite a bit of info out there on set up.

theres some good info here:

http://www.bryankimsey.com/setup/index.htm

good luck!

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sweat the small stuff.

Ok people here are the measurements with strings on.
-Bridge ht. at cntr. .348
-Saddle ht. at cntr.from top of bridge .150
-Open strings 1st string .053
6th string .061
-held at 1st & 12th 1st string .015
6th string .017
My nut slot is alittle low on the 6th almost touching 1st fret when held at 3rd
I haven't tried to remove any relief yet. This is where it ended up after string up from strait
My extention falls more than I would like but I haven't measured that yet.
It plays with a slight buzz (very slight). What do you all think?

I've got a "test" saddle I put in all new builds. I let them sit for at least a week, but most of the time 2 weeks with string tension before I attempt any adjustments.

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I guess I'll learn something here, because measuring saddle height from where a straight edge hits a bridge does not make sense to me. Determing the neck angle from where a straight edge hits the bridge does make sense to me. Once the neck angle is set (the neck is glued or bolted on) in relation to the bridge, why bother to use the straight edge for the saddle height?

- Make the saddle taller than will be needed after final adjustment.
- Use your fretboard radius plus the extra 1/64" of height on the bass side you mentioned to shape your saddle top.
- String up the guitar to standard pitch with the string gages the guitar will be played with.
- Adjust your nut action to/very near fret height (say .001" to .003" above fret height, or even at fret height if you like)
- Adjust your neck relief to near straight (say .004" using straight edge at 6th fret)
- Let it sit for a week or so IF the guitar is new
- Now lower the saddle so that the 12th fret action is where you want it. (5/64" to 7/64" is reasonable depending on the player). The saddle height will just be whatever its going to be to get the right action for AFTER the nut action AND after neck relief are set. Using near fret height nut action and near straight neck will usual leave plenty of saddle height if you your neck angle is correct. No need to spend you time MEASURING the saddle height since it will be whatever its going to be based on doing the other things correctly. If there is too much buzzing when played really hard then you can add a little more nect relief to stop it.

OK, I'm ready to be taught, what good is to take the time to measure saddle height when the saddle will be changed during set up anyway??? In other words, final saddle height is NOT determined by direct measurements like the nut and neck relief and action.

Ed

Ed setting the neck angle correctly so that your saddle and bridge height will be within acceptable specs is probably one of the very most important things in building a conventionally designed acoustic guitar. Saddle height and bridge height are a function of the neck angle not the other way around.

You will hear various builders site various neck angles, 1.5 degrees or near that works well for me, etc. but again the angle, what ever it is is really not the important thing here. What is important is that the neck angle on your guitar is properly set so that the bridge height and saddle height fall into a range that will work well and not cause a premature need for a neck reset, a cracked bridge, etc.

As a starting point what Martin does has always worked for me. I like to see about 3/8" of bridge measured at the leading edge and 1/8" of saddle for the low E. When measured from the bottom of the low E string at the face of the bridge 1/2" is the measurement that I go for initially and before dialing in further if need be.

Setting up a guitar properly is an exercise in a structured approach to zeroing in on the action and relief that is desirable for a specific guitar and/or player. But it all starts with setting the neck to an angle that will permit a bridge height and saddle height that is structurally sound and again within specs.

So what does this all mean to you? It means that the neck angle is set first and correctly but all along the way the desired bridge height and saddle height are taken into account.

A good starting point for setting the neck angle for a typically designed guitar is to simply set the neck angle, unfretted, so that a straight edge on the fret board just kisses the top of the bridge when the bridge is properly located on the top and in my case I also floss the bridge first so it is sitting as low as it will in real life. I suspect that most of us will use different numbers for different purposes but what I just described to you is how millions of guitars have had their neck angles set. This method is also described very well in Stew-Mac's free-for-download d*read guitar kit instructions.

So you can see that the neck angle, what ever the number is, is not the important thing here. What is important is that the neck angle is properly set, what ever the angle ends up being, so that the rest of the guitar can be properly constructed and set-up.

I hope this helps. There is a really good thread from about 3 years ago about setting the neck angle. My first search didn't find it but I'll try again later.

Hesh,

I couldn't agree more. It seems like you missed my second and third sentences which were "Determining the neck angle from where a straight edge hits the bridge does make sense to me. Once the neck angle is set (the neck is glued or bolted on) in relation to the bridge, why bother to use the straight edge for the saddle height?"

It seems to me that the poster was trying to measure saddle height. But if you have a certain bridge height and a certain neck angle then the saddle height will "fall out" as a result of the neck angle and bridge as finally determined by the action setup. So I think you and I are saying the same thing.

Ed

Hi Ed and sorry about that I did indeed misread your earlier post..... I was in the hospital last week with a 15mm kidney stone and as such I am still enjoying.... er I mean taking pain medication so my comprenhision is not 100%...

I found the thread that was mentioned and unfortunately some of the pics that were posted are no longer available. But still there are a lot of great posts and it will give you some idea what a number of us are doing.

I hope this helps and again sorry for my misread. http://www.luthiersforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10102&t=10945&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=setting+the+neck+angle

All of the advice here is good but to answer your question, .150" of saddle above the bridge is certainly in the ballpark if you like the action . It will probably need to come down some in the first month or so anyway.

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Ken Franklin
clumsy yet persistent
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