My action is too high!

[miles mayhem]

The action on my Epiphone EJ200 has been ridiculously high since I received it as a gift a year or so ago. I have been playing it a lot more recently, but have been getting fed up with my fingers feeling completely thrashed after no time, and finding many chords nearly impossible to fret. Anybody know how to lower the action on these? Any good websites on this topic?

[Jerry NT]

I just typed "guitar setup" into my search engine and came up with a multitude of sites. Stewart MacDonald has several books on the subject plus tools that work well.

 

Essentially, to lower the strings, you take the bridge out of the saddle and sand or file it down a little, put it back in and restring the instrument. You may have to do it several times to get it right. (Better have some new strings ready. The same gauge strings. By the way, have you tried lighter gauge strings?)

 

Also, look at the neck (actually do this first). If it is curved concavely then you'll need to tighten the truss rod. This is a procedure to be done very carefully as you don't want to overtighten and possibly strip the rod.

 

Look up some of these sites. It's easier to see than to tell.

[guit30]

- Honestly, this is a tricky job involving intonation, neck, saddle and nut adjustments. I set up a guitar of mine just once and I did ok, I didn't know any better. It was an old Yamaha, I took the saddle off and sanded it down about 1/16 of an inch, worked great, but I wouldn't try it again. It is too easy and too inexpensive to find a local guitar tech or luthier to do it for you. Almost every guitar or music store has one.

The last guitar I bought, I got a used Alvarez, but I made part of the deal a setup, I brought the strings and boy, he did an excellent job, plays easy and sounds like a charm. That's where I am going next time I need a set up.

Jim

[UGB]

Start by getting a capo, or a 3rd hand, and capo the 1st fret. Next, hold down the 6th string at the 15th fret. Now, see if you can slip 2 business cards between the 7th fret and the 6th string. If they push the string up to fit and the string actually pinches them down on to the fret holding them in place, the headstock of the guitar is pulling/leaning too far back and the trussrod needs to be loosened. This should not be in issue in your case. More than likely when you go to slip the 2 business cards between the 7th fret and the 6th string, there will be gap left and if you let go of the cards, they'll just fall right out not even touching the string. This means your headstock is too far forward and you have to tighten the trussrod. Whenever making this adjustment, detune the strings so they are slack. You are adjusting the trussrod in opposition of the string tension and trying to tighten against the pull of the strings is wasted, dangerous, potentially catastrophic, energy.

 

Fully insert the wrench into or over, depending on the style, the trussrod and s-l-o-w-l-y turn it clockwise. Does it turn easy? Lucky you! Does it not turn at all and you feel like the wrench is starting to flex and you know if you just go a little Conan on it that *&(*&$% nut will move? STOP!! If you've never done this before, now's the time to take it in to a pro. If it turns w/some resistance, that's ok, just don't force it. If you are able to turn it, the number of turns is dependent upon how much of a gap is between the cards on the fret and the string. Just a little gap, maybe one more card, and I'd rotate the nut about a 1/2 turn. If it's severely off, like 1/8" or something, and the trussrod is turning ok, I'll go ahead and give it 1.5 rounds, slowly, max. Tune back up, reapply your capo, fret and check. The wood will continue to move after you make the adjustment. Personally, I'd rather adjust it too far this direction and then loosen it back to the correct position than tune, capo, fret, check, detune, adjust, tune, capo, fret, check four or five times. After the third time, it's either good or will need to be loosened and you won't really know that until the next day for sure.

 

If your trussrod is now properly adjusted and the action is still too high, now it's time to look at the saddle. Saddle adjustments don't always work because it could very well be that the saddles' been adjusted for all it's worth already and the strings are just barely being held off the bridge by the saddle. At this point, you could try to cut the nut slots deeper. If there's no room for that, time for a neck re-set, or another guitar.

[Kevin_FL]

 

Originally posted by guit30 - Honestly, this is a tricky job involving intonation, neck, saddle and nut adjustments.

 

 

I get asked how I lower the action of Acoustic Guitars all the time & I tell them, it's a combination of nut, truss rod, string guage & saddle adjustments.

A quick fix is to try tightening the truss rod a 1/4 turn at a time, play the guitar & see if it improves without fret buzzes. An easy way to check the truss rod relief. is to hold the low E string down at the 1st & last frets & see how much gap you have in the 7th- 9th fret area. A little bit of clearance is required. How much relief depends on the player & the sting guage. Finger style players can get away with very low action, flatpickers need a bit more room.