Members Stackabones 2 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? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Members poppytater 29 Posted July 13, 2011 Members Share Posted July 13, 2011 http://www.guitarsaddles.com/SaddleShim.asp Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Members garthman 248 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? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Members meandi 1 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Members Stackabones 2 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Members bluzboy 1,581 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.) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Members FretFiend. 104 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Members Grant Harding 919 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Members Stackabones 2 Posted July 14, 2011 Author Members Share Posted July 14, 2011 Sweet. Even more good ideas! More? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Members masterbuilt 4 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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