Members fuzzylogic220 Posted November 7, 2003 Members Share Posted November 7, 2003 i was just wondering this, i have a taylor, i was wondering if you are able to do adjustments on an accoustic, like setting innotation and string height and such,,,, also how can you tell if your truss rod needs adjusted??????? .....i have a hard time seeing the bow in necks.... i was getting one of my electrics set up one day and they tech tried to show me that the neck was bowing a little bit, so he needed to adjust the truss rod, he tried to show me but i couldnt see it,............ i would assume that the string height would involve a little fileing on the nut and the bridge correct?........ its not that my string height is bad. ....... on the lower frets its way close, feels great.. but on the upper frets like 12 or so.....it could go down a mm or two.........is this possiable....... and since its a taylor i would really want to get someone who knew what they were doing to do it so they wouldnt jack up my guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members irpacynot Posted November 7, 2003 Members Share Posted November 7, 2003 Depending on often you play, it probably could use a set-up every year or two. You're right - you'd probably do best by bringing it to a reputable acoustic guitar retail store and have someone set-up it up for you according to how you'd like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members acoustiholic Posted November 7, 2003 Members Share Posted November 7, 2003 Don't mess with the ....innotation... yourself. Same with the fileing on the nut - it's possiable you would really wreck your ax. Good God son, take your time and spell you words correctly. It will serve you well in the future. And honestly, a good luthier or technician can do wonders with the intonation, regulation and overall playability of your guitar. It's worth it to pay someone to set it up for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members guitarcapo Posted November 10, 2003 Members Share Posted November 10, 2003 Truly re-setting the intonation would be adjusting the scale length at the saddle by compensating the bridge. It's not something you ever want to tackle on your own, nor should ever have to. It involves filling the slot with ebony and re-cutting the slot. (or worse having to move the bridge and all the finish problems that can entail. There are some subtle adjustments that you can make by carving the saddle strategically, but if the intonation is really off, the guitar was just made poorly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FingerBone Bill Posted November 10, 2003 Members Share Posted November 10, 2003 Originally posted by fuzzylogic220 i was just wondering this, i have a taylor, i was wondering if you are able to do adjustments on an accoustic, like setting innotation and string height and such,,,, also how can you tell if your truss rod needs adjusted??????? .....i have a hard time seeing the bow in necks.... i was getting one of my electrics set up one day and they tech tried to show me that the neck was bowing a little bit, so he needed to adjust the truss rod, he tried to show me but i couldnt see it,............ i would assume that the string height would involve a little fileing on the nut and the bridge correct?........ its not that my string height is bad. ....... on the lower frets its way close, feels great.. but on the upper frets like 12 or so.....it could go down a mm or two.........is this possiable....... and since its a taylor i would really want to get someone who knew what they were doing to do it so they wouldnt jack up my guitar. Intonation on acoustic guitars is not the big deal it is on electric guitars. The intonation on acoustics is never right anyway but as we rarely play past the 12th fret it isn't as critical as it is for electric guitars. Neck bows are easy to see - just sight the neck from the headstock looking down to the bridge - the strings give you a perfectly straight line to compare the neck to. It's a really good idea to leave the truss rod well alone if you do not know what you are doing as it is a major repair if it goes wrong (breaks ). But adjusting the string height is a job anyone could attempt. To lower the action you need to remove the saddle and sand it down ... follow the instruction here http://www.frets.com/FRETSPages/Musician/Guitar/Setup/LowerAction/loweraction01.html , I recon a trained chimp can do this and if you do stuff it up completely you are only up for the price of a new saddle. Unless you have good reason to, leave the nut alone (even then you'd be better off seeking out a competent tech). It rarely needs adjusting to allow for string height at the 12th fret. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members savethegibbons Posted November 16, 2003 Members Share Posted November 16, 2003 I would recommend doing truss rod adjustments by yourself (providing you read something about checking the relief and adjusting it), its perfectly safe as long as you dont turn it perhaps more than 1/8 of the way each time, even 1/4 should be entirely safe, but 1/8 is a nice cautious way to approach it. You will benefit greatly by learning the basics of correct setup (particularly truss rod adjustment). As for intonation adjustments on an acoustic, take it to a luthier. And back to the truss rod : Make sure you read something about it, browse google, if you dedicate perhaps 30mins to reading, you should be perfectly safe, you have suddenly saved yourself money, and further more, you can also now diagnose potential problems your axe is developing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members JackSonic Posted November 16, 2003 Members Share Posted November 16, 2003 I'm assuming your acoustic came with a compensated bridge piece. I'm pretty sure having this staggered, unadjustable bridge is the best intonation you're going to get on an acoustic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FingerBone Bill Posted November 16, 2003 Members Share Posted November 16, 2003 Originally posted by savethegibbons I would recommend doing truss rod adjustments by yourself (providing you read something about checking the relief and adjusting it), its perfectly safe as long as you dont turn it perhaps more than 1/8 of the way each time, even 1/4 should be entirely safe, but 1/8 is a nice cautious way to approach it. You will benefit greatly by learning the basics of correct setup (particularly truss rod adjustment). As for intonation adjustments on an acoustic, take it to a luthier. And back to the truss rod : Make sure you read something about it, browse google, if you dedicate perhaps 30mins to reading, you should be perfectly safe, you have suddenly saved yourself money, and further more, you can also now diagnose potential problems your axe is developing. Spoken with the confidence of a man that has never broken a truss rod in his life! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members woody b Posted November 21, 2003 Members Share Posted November 21, 2003 http://www.taylorguitars.com/global/pdfs/truss_rod_adjustment.pdf This is a pdf about adjusting your truss rod from Taylor's site. It is pretty simple and these instructions basically fit any guitar not just a Taylor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members FingerBone Bill Posted November 21, 2003 Members Share Posted November 21, 2003 Originally posted by woody b http://www.taylorguitars.com/global/pdfs/truss_rod_adjustment.pdf This is a pdf about adjusting your truss rod from Taylor's site. It is pretty simple and these instructions basically fit any guitar not just a Taylor. The temptation is for novices to try to adjust extreme cases of neck bow with the truss rod when they really nedd a neck reset. Thats what sometimes leads to disaster, not having the experience/wisdom to know the difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dave251 Posted November 21, 2003 Members Share Posted November 21, 2003 does an accoustic guitar ever need to have its innotation adjusted????? In a word, yes, although not as often as an electric. By the time the guitar has settled in for a few years, or if the player is usning radically different string gauges or tunings than what the manufacturer supplied.....hell, most Martins need it right out of the shipping crate, although they are better than they used to be. Since almost all acoustic flattops have the intonation set through measuring and then mathematical computation of compensation for the scale length, rather than through using the actual pitch of the strings, it's very common to find instruments that do not play in tune all that well. Also, if you like a high, "bluegrass style" action, more than likely the guitar is playing sharp. Filling the saddle slot and then setting the length of each string is a common procedure for most luthiers. The charge should be less than $100. I get $65 for making a custom compensated saddle and installation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members greystoke 2 Posted December 16, 2003 Members Share Posted December 16, 2003 Grate Seasers Goste! I was wondering if anyone was gonna remark on the spelling some postings exhibit! I was hoping that the problem lies in the extreme touch-typing speed that everyone besides me possesses. Do the spelling checkers work on these apps. for internet? Anyway, intonation is better handled on acoustics by a pro as far as saddle/bridge work is concerned. Truss rod adjmt.s I'd leave alone totally. I've heard of the adjusting rods/threads becoming so frozen, that heavy-handed tyros have snapped them and caused more probs. than if left totally alone. Now; fret dressing is often needed when getting into this 'ball 'o' wax' and you really have to follow the proper steps to avoid the "snowball" f*cking-up effect. My tech did a nice truss rod adjst and replacement of plastic saddle with compensated bone effort on my Hashimoto D-45 copy for 85.00 $ AND w/new strings. Lowered the previous high action to Martin factory specs. I compare it to-paying a small fee to a mechanic for his appraisal of a vehicle you're interested in buying; And how many times have you wished you did that? Same idea-kinda.Greystoke Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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