Members Stackabones Posted July 13, 2011 Members Share Posted July 13, 2011 I'm thinking about jacking up the action on one of my acoustics, and I've heard that the saddle shim is the way to go. Talk me through it. Old credit cards? Cardboard? Dried pasta? What? What else do I need to know? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members poppytater Posted July 13, 2011 Members Share Posted July 13, 2011 http://www.guitarsaddles.com/SaddleShim.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members garthman Posted July 13, 2011 Members Share Posted July 13, 2011 Credit cards work fine. Just about anything does, in fact, although I haven't tried pasta - which type would you recommend? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members meandi Posted July 13, 2011 Members Share Posted July 13, 2011 I've got 5x7" pieces of brass in various thicknesses, .015, .020, etc, that I got at the Ace hardware store for couple dollars each.Brass is an excellent sound conductor.Cut a piece to size & drop it in.Rule of thumb: if you want a .010" increase in string height at the 12th, you'll need .020" shim at the saddle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted July 13, 2011 Author Members Share Posted July 13, 2011 Good ideas, folks! I think I'm going to go with old credit cards. It's cheap. I don't have to go anywhere. And I can screw it up without too much . Still, keep the ideas coming. Free is better than cheap, though cheap may work better than free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bluzboy Posted July 13, 2011 Members Share Posted July 13, 2011 I use slices off a strip of oak veneer that I have lying around. (Posted some pics of it a while back.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FretFiend. Posted July 13, 2011 Members Share Posted July 13, 2011 I've used a small scrap of wood from the shop. Any good hardwood will do. Work on it with a good sharp Xacto knife til you have it to the shape you want. Regardless of what you use, lap it flat with some hundred grit sandpaper on a good flat surface. BTW, if you use pasta, I would definitely not recommend using cooked pasta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Grant Harding Posted July 14, 2011 Members Share Posted July 14, 2011 I'd always just get a replacement and put that in. That way you've still got the other one for when the action gets slowly higher over time and you want to ease it. Make sure you label the original in your box of a million parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted July 14, 2011 Author Members Share Posted July 14, 2011 Sweet. Even more good ideas! More? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members masterbuilt Posted July 14, 2011 Members Share Posted July 14, 2011 I have some shims lying around at all times... since I have so many ukuleles and other instruments coming and going. I shimmed the latest uke, the Ohana CKP-70 (Vita-Uke reproduction I posted a few days ago). The action was too low and there was a dead spot as a result on the 3rd and 4th fret of the "E" string. The shim helped, but, didn't fix it. I switched strings to Martin Fluorocarbons and that fixed the issue. I left the shim in place and the action is great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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