Guitar top unlevel

[sumpm1]

Hi, I checked the "Is my guitar sick?" sticky and I didn't see anything for this issue. I noticed that my action was kind of high. And after checking, my saddle is raised, and the top of the guitar is bowed out slightly causing the action to raise.

 

The guitar is a Fender Jumbo cutaway with a laminate top. The guitar is about 2 years old, and I just keep the guitar on a stand in my living room. I don't own a hard case, but I do have a nice gig bag.

 

Is this a humidity issue? Can this be fixed?

 

Thanks

[sumpm1]

Ok, since I got no replies, perhaps my explanation was bad. The "top" of the guitar that I am referring to is the soundboard. The soundboard is raised slightly at the bridge. I have used medium strings for the last year, .13 gauge. Could this be part of the problem?

[Queequeg]

So, you are using medium strings. OK. Standard pitch?

A "slight" bow might be considered normal. Put a straight edge across the lower bout and measure how much bow you are getting. Let us know.

 

Consider the saddle.

Here are some thoughts to ponder.

[Freeman Keller]

OK, well the tops of "flat top" guitars are not flat, they are very slightly domed. If you place your straightedge across the top right behind the bridge there should be a gap of maybe 1/8 inch at the edge of the rim.

 

Low humidity usually maked the soundboard sink (the straightedge might touch the rim) and usually lowers the action - high humidity could raise it (but is far more uncommon). String tension tends to pull the top up BEHIND the bridge and push it down between the bridge and the sound hole (the saddle is acting like a little lever) - over time the lower bout will develop a belly and the upper bout and neck will sink (this is what I try to show with the yardstick test in the Sick sticky).

 

It sounds like yours is pretty normal and just need the action lowered a bit by sanding the bottom of the saddle. If you need help with that let us know.

[EvilTwin]

Here's a great page FK hipped me to:

 

http://www.larrivee.com/flash/features/education/humidity/humidity.html

 

Sounds like there's a remote possibility that you could have a guitar that has suffered from high-humidity storage.

 

However, you don't really hear about this type of thing as much with lam-tops. If it's just very, very slightly convex (see #2 under examing your guitar from the link for a detailed descripton), it shouldn't be too much of a problem. If it's arching much more, though...there could be cause for concern. Where do you store your instrument?

 

(Not to try to alarm you or anything with the humidity stuff. It sounds like you just need to sand your saddle down a bit.)

[sumpm1]

Sorry Queeq, I keep saying "saddle," I mean the BRIDGE. The soundboard is slightly "bulged."

 

[sumpm1]

Maybe I'm just paranoid and think that my action was raising! After checking this article at FRETS.COM, it says that my neck angle is the same as how they build guitars. http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/NeckAngle/neckangle.html

 

He says THIS is how the neck angle is usually set from factory:

 

And this is my neck angle:

[Freeman Keller]

Everything looks normal, except that I couldn't see the last pic (my firewall blocks a lot of hosting sites). How much is your saddle sticking out of the bridge? What does your action measure (top of 12th fret to bottom of low and high E strings)? You might want to back off to lights (0.012) to drop the top tenstion a bit, shouldn't hurt the playability, particularly if you plug in.

[sumpm1]

My saddle height is about 3/16" and my action is a hair over 1/8" at the 12th fret.

[Freeman Keller]

Perfect - the rule of thumb is that you want at least 1/8 of saddle sticking out, and I happen to like some where around 3/32 of action. Since you take twice as much off the saddle as you want to lower the action, you should be just right.

 

Here is how I would do it - first I like to check the neck relief and make any adjustments with the strings under tension. As you know from the Sticky I like somewhere between 0.004 and 0.006, not more than 0.010. Adjusting relief probably will affect the action, but that is not why you are doing it.

 

Now loosen the strings but don't remove them. Pull the saddle out with a pair of pliers (it should be tight but come right out). Draw a pencil line 1/16 up from the bottom of the saddle parallel with the bottom (you don't want to go beyond that). Tape a piece of 220 or finer grit sand paper to a flat surface (my wife hates it when I use the kitchen counter). I like to clamp a block of wood on top of the sand paper - I can use that as a fence to keep the saddle perpendicular. I would take the 1/16 off in about three steps - take half off the first time by simply sanding back and forth - then put the saddle in, tune up and measure it at 12. Maybe play a bit. Pull it out and take off about half of the rest and check again. Keep going until you are satisfied.

 

You might leave the last little bit and do it in a few days - it is always easier to take more off than to put it back on. Your strings will probably be shot after this, change 'em and enjoy your git.