Adjusting Acoustic Guitar Saddle Bridge Height And Neck Adjustment

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Here is a quick video How to adjust an Acoustic Guitar Bridge.

[@Ks-zz9lh]

So for anyone wondering: clockwise, or tightening, pushes the neck against the strings. Too much will resort in a backbowed neck. Turning counter clockwise, creating more space in between the neck and strings, will lead you to have a bowed neck, with more relief. That is if you look down from the bridge, or sound hole / pickups 🕳 up to the headstock, right is tight, left is loose. Measure on 7th fret with first fret pressed in and the last fret pressed it. Strings should just hover above the 7th fret. Good luck! Easy does it. Don’t wrench 🔧 it like the guy said. Also tune up your guitar first. Make a change. Then tune up again. Measure. Repeat process. Don’t be shy to leave it overnight and come back to it next day. it can take some time if there is a large adjustment to be made. It’s an instrument. Treat it like a puppy. Never more then 3/4 of a turn in one go. If it’s feels rough or stuck maybe leave it and have some one look at it. Better prevent then repair. EZ DUZ IT!!! One love.

[@prathmeshpetkar2261]

Thanx man ♥️✌️

[@AntoniOrszykowski]

Thanks Man👌

[@Mustaine1ify]

Quick tip: Capo around the 7th fret and just loosen off your strings a little to remove the saddle.

[@spiccolirocks3580]

Glib Great quick tip to keep your strings separated and out of the way!

[@AldrinJohn]

Is is safe to remove saddle if your guitar pick up is in piezo type?

[@mastershifu6217]

I didn't get it/.do you have at least video on how you doing that thing?

[@rodneyguyette1129]

Darn!!! Got this tip too late. Next time! Thank You!!!

[@Mustaine1ify]

@@rodneyguyette1129 No worries 👍

[@RaymondPoston]

Just one suggestion. When I do this, I loosen the strings then put a capo on the first fret to help keep the strings from getting too out of order for the re-stringing part. It works very well for me.

[@eliraven9259]

Thanks, i have just adjusted the truss rod and fixed the saddle, plays like a dream now!

[@GearZombie]

Glad it helped!

[@cheska_chickeleyt3009]

Men how many inch did you shave off ur saddle

[@waldensmusicandgifts858]

My tip on sanding the Bridge even if it has notches: Sharpie on the bottom. And sand till the marker is removed. We do similar a similar thing with tone holes on saxophones.

[@GearZombie]

Great suggestion!

[@RameshKumar-ng3nf]

After the saddle adjustment it sounds buzzy when you play. Does that need fix of truss rod adjustment ?

[@javierdiazsantana]

I got an old bajo sexto that got top - bent from 12 string tension and i just threw some D'Addario Light 80/20's on it but the action was pretty high and i was harming my left hand with it. Thanks for the vid, i am adjusting the height, sanding down the bone nut and saddle.

[@JustinTime-rg7ks]

Thumbs up Great video subbed 👍, I just got a Brand new epiphone studio parlor, the first frets are perfect string hithe,but around the 15th fret is high, I think I'll try this,thanks a million

[@sayshuh]

The saddle is at it's lowest, it's a beautiful early 70s Guild acoustic, I've got the neck adjusted correctly and now my options are leave it with terrible high action or sand or skim the actual bridge. Resetting the neck is something I can't afford to pay. I'm capable of most anything on the guitar but I need your help please. Thanks from Atlanta. TL

[@Jambi462]

I’m a simple man. I see Fractal shirt, I click.

[@jesuisravi]

I think a little more specific info on truss rod adjustment might be in order--also, naming the parts--the plastic thing and the wooden piece into which it fits...Still, pretty good vid.

[@samraphael1941]

Instablaster.

[@deadpool1966]

Theres a trust rod ruler you can buy

[@supercraig2009]

Van you tell me what grit sandpaper? Also, could you just cut minor slots in the bridge? I just purchased a Yamaha Lou ARE sunburst and doesn't sound as should 🤔 Action is too high. Maybe a new set of strings?

[@robertlangford6639]

Hey my man, awesome video thanks for the help. I had a little question though, when inserting a new bridge to a guitar should you make the cuts in the top yourself? (so that the strings it in nicely?) and if so what tool should I use for this? Thanks! x

[@GearZombie]

+Robert Langford In many cases there are not cuts to be made on the bridge but may have a small notch in them already. If you need to have the top of one filed you can use a simple small file, but keep in mind its pretty easy to harf your action and tone doing that if you dont have it straight. If it needs to be notched you could always look at have a local music shop do it for you. Should be pretty cheap if you go that route.

[@PaulTheSkeptic]

I got a question or two since you asked. I just bought this guitar and the action is clearly too high. I think it needs to be sanded just like this. But I was thinking, maybe I'd bring it in to be set up by the guy since it was obviously never set up correctly. That's probably why I got a good deal on it. But if I'm going to do all that, maybe I could pay for a nice bridge and/or nut. Would that make a difference? I've heard about like, bone nuts or bone like nuts. Are they good? Are they worth the money? Are they very expensive? And should I even bother having someone do this at all? Will he be able to do something I don't know about or can't do myself? If you can't answer all those questions, I understand.

[@GearZombie]

So, I personally really only even change them if there is a reason to. Cheaper guitars tend to have plastic nuts and bridges. More expensive will have bone, tusq and companies like Graphtech make man made ivory and such. If it's a guitar you like, you wont regret replacing them with their higher quality alternatives. But, also make sure your neck isn't causing your action problems. If there is a huge amount of relief in the neck (big droop in the middle when you look down the neck) a simple truss rod adjustment could make it more playable for you. Higher quality nuts and bridges do impact tone and sustain, generally in a more favorable manner. As far as should you take it to someone? I have jobs that I will do and jobs I won't do. Example, if I murder a nut or a bridge, I can order a new one and drop it in. Anything that's well above my skill level or something that would take me forever I generally take to a luthier that I trust. Example, I will file and crown my own frets but I won't replace them. I've never done it, I don't have the tools for it and it would take me forever to do. But for the cost it's worth it to me to have a pro do that. So I personally don't ever look at it from a "should I" perspective. It's a guitar I like and want to play and I don't want to do the work, take it in and get it right. I just took 3 of my electrics into my luthier because they were all guitars I had recently acquired and all played terrible. I could have done them myself, but I dropped them off to my guy and they were ready by lunch. It would have taken me much longer to dial them, and one I was changing pickups. It was worth the money to have an expert hook them up.

[@PaulTheSkeptic]

@@GearZombie Okay. That helps. Thanks.

[@RayFromLA1]

So I just tried my truss rod and it was already all the way to the clockwise and meanwhile the bridge it's too low so I wish you would have shown us what the shim look like that you had in your guitar so maybe I could make one

[@TheGrimjerk]

You should wear a mask regardless but especially when sanding bone. Bone dust can be dangerous. Like fatal dangerous as in if it gets in your lungs it can cause several very nasty infections. Nice video.

[@GearZombie]

Good to note! Mine is plastic but very valid point!

[@sharonterry5698]

nice vid, and nice playing. what was that song you played?

[@bucotisol]

What song are playing at 5:08?Nice explanation as well

[@Adrian-yi8fl]

OMG what is that backing music? That was sick!

[@MxRyder19]

hey ! Just a ''try it'' thing... I think you would gain from using a lighter pick for such a low tuning. You would gain on clarity and chord struming ''stability'' ( struming too hard deforms chords ) ✌️😎🎸

[@luissantiago1832]

Thank you very much

[@GearZombie]

You are welcome

[@arplast1]

Would have expected some sort of protection for the back of the guitar from the workbench🤔

[@AntoniOrszykowski]

I might buy two saddles and plane both just one less than the other

[@FKtdyvan]

Can you explain why the adjustment of the plastic or bone section of the bridge has to be adjusted with regard to the buzzing of strings? How is the problem of the buzzing strings related to the bone part of the bridge? In other words, how does the filing of that bone section of the bridge eliminate the buzzing of the strings? I thought the buzzing of the strings is caused by the strings laying too flat on the frets at the higher end of the guitar neck, and that, therefore, the bone part of the bridge should be raised up instead of being filed to go deeper in the bridge and thereby cause the strings to lay flatter on the frets and buzz more. My guitar also does not have the neck adjustment rod, so how do I fix the buzzing of the strings with regard to that problem? Please advise.

[@druiddoode4089]

Great advice there is a great tool for getting square flat bottom saddle and nuts on the stew mac channel but would be for serious repair shops but worth a look as it's a great device I have the same problem only that I have a Alvarez ad 90 that im positive the low e isn't making contact as the whole string sounds dead even more so when you fret it like a G chord with the muted 2 sting sounds really dead this isn't the usual dead spots that you get on a lot of guitars it's on every fret of the low E I'm terrified of messing with the peizo strip I but I'm also interested in what tuning you used in your test noodle I thought it could be drop D or DADGAD or even drop C Would love to know bud as I can normally tell which flavour of D it is but you had your own thing going on there but you made it sound pretty cool which ever it was.Give us the secret tuning dude ✌

[@jonathannorman7356]

how high should the saddle be? should the strings just be parrellel?

[@beaconing7689]

should i use harsh or soft sandpaper ?

[@GearZombie]

Use a fine grit, you can always take off more but you can't put more back on.

[@MULTIMOONSHOTS]

Awesome tutorial..Good info!Thnx!👍💯🎸

[@thelab8799]

Cool song :)

[@guitarado]

what should I do when my B string is buzzing on first 3 frets, all other strings are OK... its annoying. my height is 1,6 and 1,2 mm

[@1013ministries]

How do you avoid putting the saddle back in backwards? Mine has like 2 notches only

[@jayzbond007]

So how much do you sand down the saddle in order for the strings to be at the correct height? And also how do you know when you put the strings back that the gap between the strings and the fret board is at the correct height? thx

[@samstewart8345]

+Googlegenius The strings should sit about 2mm from the 8th fret for good action on an acoustic guitar. Measure the amount and sand of what is needed. You can always put a spacer in if you sand too much. I've cut up thin pieces of plastic to use as spacers before which work fine.

[@randyscott9034]

Curious I just purchased a new guitar it has tons of volume and the overall construction and finish are great my question is will these ad judgments improve sound ? The guitar sounds way to bright

[@jeffyontz2928]

It won’t change the sound. A setup is for playability (ie. Some people prefer lower/higher string heights) as well as adjusting the guitar based on the strings you play and the conditions it’s living in. Strings will probably be the easiest way to address what you’re looking for. 80/20 strings are really bright, phosphor bronze (sometimes called 92/8 strings) are a bit more mellow and with a little bit of age you won’t get tinny highs.

[@Ks-zz9lh]

Could be new strings. Most people love bright acoustics!? Maybe it’s really bright!?? What type of wood is it made off?

[@deadpool1966]

Best sound is a older used guitar an a nice set of strings to compliment it. For example aged all mahogany guitar with bronze strings

[@GearZombie]

Here was a quick run-through on a basic bridge adjustment on a cheap acoustic. I still use that acoustic today as well as a Taylor 224ce-K Check that out here. kzbin.info/www/bejne/i3yXqIuoi6yefpo

[@yusriabdulrazak1894]

Thank you for this vedio.

[@RevstarGuy]

cool vid!

[@donalddenison8896]

Well.......? How many thousandths relief and on what fret, stringed and tuned or with no strings, how high at the 12th fret when tuned up from the bottom of the Big E to the fret, and how much for the little e at the 12th? Any one who knows how to change strings can do what you just showed us, by the way, why not while you have the saddle out, get a nice piece of bone or fossilized Ivory and cut a new saddle, what about the nut how much clearance on the first fret under the strings? Not enough questions answered.

[@LuwieMangubat]

Thanks.. ❤

[@kidpoker9408]

if your intonation is off than should you sand the saddle evenly?

[@randelcliff2694]

if the saddle is glued in , Can I sand it above instead of under??

[@goinbzurk]

A lot of stuff we could do, but no actual example of how to do it! How about telling us how high the saddle should be?

[@perry9492]

I have an old guitar and it buzzes real bad with open strings but you go down one fret and it stops. The neck looks straight to me. So would this mean the nut is bad or too low?

[@RandyFnRhoads]

Yep, open string buzz is do to nut slots being too low

[@cattrackssmith5641]

A very slightly concave neck is better than completely straight. Start with truss rod.

[@bighes100]

Neck should have a very slight bend not completely flat

[@robertaldridge4472]

Ok, scrolled down and found it. My bad. Cheers

[@IvanZulueta13]

I heard some buzzing after you sand paper the bridge.

[@GearZombie]

I heard the ocean in a sea shell.

[@aranbhattacharyya361]

my acoustic guitar touch was very high and it was rough on fingers...... i adjusted the touch like as in the video.....but during playing when i play a barre chord the strings touch the barre on fingerboard and the sound becomes bad...help me to adjust that.... i live in india.. so there is not much facilities...

[@mukundagarwal6873]

srsly no facilities

[@RICREYNOLDSMUSIC]

I want to adjust my saddle bridge on my Takamine EG524SC-NS Accoustic but they have electric pickup wiring built in. But the height is so dang high, it is hell on the fingers. I don`t know if I am stuck with this action.

[@GearZombie]

+Ricky Reynolds I google that model and I would have to look and see how that is wired. Looks like yours is a split bridge, but the same theory should apply. Some of those pickups are glued to the bottom of the saddle some are not. You may be able to get away with doing the same thing I describe here or it may be more work. Next time you change your stings, just slide the saddle out and see what you got going on! Also make sure you have an escape route! Check the price and availability of a replacement saddle just in case. Thank for watching!

[@mydreadmail1]

I have the same problem here with Takamine ED1NDC.. Have you found the answer?

[@davidallen4174]

Most acoustic guitars are made in a factory with interchangeable parts, that means they are all the same size parts. In the case of an acoustic guitar that may or may not offer PU's under the saddle, they generally use the same size (height) saddle so even if you don't find a factory shim, the saddle rests on the pick ups and may be higher as a result. The idea is, when you buy one of their guitars, you will prefer having the saddle adjusted to your preference anyway so the saddle will be high until personalized to your playing preference. It's sad, IMHO, because I hear of so many "would be" players that give up because they don't know the saddle needs to be adjusted and suffer from too much finger pain. Almost any string can be made to buzz if you pluck it hard enough, the idea is to reduce the action to match you strength and style without causing undue wear and tear on the players finger tips. Personally, I do this to get the action down to a manageable level and fine tune the notches in the bridge, one string at a time, for the final set as this can be done while the other strings are at full tension and a more accurate playing adjustments can be achieved.

[@the_string_sage7724]

Bro does sound improve by changing saddle and bridge ,tell me I can't wait to know ?

[@brizzleaudio7934]

It makes the guitar much easier to fret/play by setting the strings closer to the fret board. It won't change the sound generally

[@cockers6682]

Strings on a 12 are higher than a 6 string to get them lower to frets down tune to d then capo 2nd fret then your have a much lower action

[@laceup8672]

Dude my guitar sound totally went off after I messed up with my bridge

[@williamdimond1548]

What is the correct height that the strings should be above the frets?

[@hosseinahmadi6172]

song in the background?

[@yusuftan1474]

did you find it? i used shazam to find it but couldnt find anything

[@ampegloud]

What grade of sandpaper?

[@zane94oz]

That tune is awesome who is it ?

[@jamesshaffer9501]

That would be the mighty MySelfishMe. Man they're good.

[@humblehumility7797]

what song was that?

[@robertaldridge4472]

What grade sandpaper amigo? 😂

[@jomarcdelacruz]

should the height of the saddle in high E string be the same with the low e string?

[@theboycheef841]

No I believe the high E is lower

[@jomarcdelacruz]

@@theboycheef841 Thanks!

[@neilBjohn]

what recording device is that? Can I have the model, too?

[@GearZombie]

Zoom H6 I have a video talking with zoom about it. I use the snot out of that thing.

[@hiburanzingkat]

The nutt not sanded?

[@GearZombie]

Wasn't necessary in this case.

[@thiccbepis2756]

@5:10 song name pleaaaaaaaase!!

[@Mikemeshell63]

alittle buzz there.

[@lancebaker1374]

NOTE TO OWNERS OF CLASSICAL GUITARS: No truss rod.

[@MasterP48HD]

most of them have a truss rod nowadays though

[@deadpool1966]

Non adjustable trust rods

[@VEE727]

How do you remove the shim?

[@WoolyBuggerPicker]

It should just drop out if you tilt the guitar, otherwise gently stab with a sharp blade and lift out.

[@desdearibasiempre2545]

That is not plstic. It is tusq,. Beter then bone and everithing else.

[@GearZombie]

This one absolutely is plastic. Higher end guitars it may be bone. Plastic is very common. Next step up is what they call Flash Plastics. Then bone, but you're getting into higher end guitars at this point. Or if you really want you could find Fossilized Ivory.

[@paulheagen6318]

Pretty informative and helpful but you lost me when you put that guitar on a hard workbench with a pair of needle-nose pliers slipping underneath the lower bout.

[@outerrealm]

Very helpful video for a nice sounding ACOUSTIC GUITAR, so why on earth do you have to bombard our ears at the end with that obnoxious metal music? Not gonna bother with your other channels, there's a million other tutorials on the subject

[@GearZombie]

Umm is that you singing in your videos???

[@outerrealm]

GearZombie there are credits on the videos indicating each one's content and production.

[@tarzansahole]

What kind of dolt leaves a comment like this.... "Not gonna bother"..... So full of yourself....

[@Sampson2012bot]

I found this to be a good tutorial, and love metal, but found the music to be distracting during the video. I just wanted to turn it down or off.

[@kayrak.6313]

Kids? I am 65 years old, sir.

[@EJ2K2K]

He was joking, sir.

[@seanmurphy1562]

My truss rod won't bend

[@GearZombie]

Take it to a luthier.

[@fourthlaxer4557]

NEVER adjust truss rod without opposing tension called strings!

[@bachrocktheamericahatersan5799]

3:45 begins the sanding.