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Posts: 13
| I took my new “Vintage 1987” - 1767 mint guitar with no fret wear to a good Shop.
I Put Ernie Ball , Extra Light , Acoustic Bronze strings on it - & Asked them to lower the action.
They called me back the next day and said they wouldn’t - cause the action was already
As low as they felt it either could or should be.
The factory manual states that the Bottom of the Bass E should be 6/64 th’s from the 12th fret
The factory manual states that the Bottom of Treble E string should be 4/64 Th’s from the 12th Fret .
The Shop said they measured 5/64’s and 3/64’s and it was already lower than the factory specs.
They said lowering it further would also not be so good for the ’Tone’
Q:
1. Does anyone have a legend with lower action than 5/64’s and 3/64’s ?
2. Can’t a shop ‘Try’ - to Lower the action further and see if it doesn’t buzz or
Not and then if if does buzz - just put the Shims back in ?
3. Is it that bad for the Tone if you lower the action even lower ?
Myself - If I pay 50-60 bucks to lower the Action and it doesn’t work .. I would pay them gladly just to Try it .
NO - I do not feel comfortable trying to do this myself - I understand it is supposedly ‘Easy’..but I am quite inept at all thing mechanical.
Kudo’s to the shop. They did adjust my truss rod for free and gave me my guitar back.
Edited by Liteblueskies 2022-01-20 7:00 PM
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Posts: 15653
Location: SoCal | Where are you located? |
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Posts: 13
| Seattle ! |
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Posts: 15653
Location: SoCal | Are you an electric player coming to an acoustic?
In 20 years of the OFC, I can't remember that there's ever been a discussion regarding string height like this before. Most people bring it down to where it's comfortable and doesn't buzz. Also, you're using very very light strings. It's hard to go really low and not get buzzing. Have you ever thought about using strings that are a little heavier? Maybe a light gauge set, .12-.53? You'll get much better tone out of the guitar.
Trust me, removing or adding a shim is Guitar Adjustment 101. You can do it....... |
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Posts: 13
| I have always played an Acoustic like an electric.. a whole lot of string bending . A whole lot.
I also feel I need less hand strength with extra light strings and it's easier on my fingers.
Also - I think it's psychological with me.
20 years huh ? Trust me - I could screw this up easy.
The loss of tone is concerning to me , as is your threat to come beat me up if I go ahead with this.
However , as you seem to be the one of the freaking 'experts' around here - I also respect your
opinion - and so here's what I am going to do for you .
I will take the guitar to another well known, local shop and attempt to try to convince him to try initially with the Extra light strings after having the conversation with him about the wisdom of even attempting it .
I will also bring along a set of the same Ernie Ball Aluminum Bronze strings ..BUT .. in a LIGHT Gauge ..not
Extra light. 11 -> 52 . The extra-lights are .10's and the medium would probably be .12
Then I'll offer him another measly 25 bucks to play with the 2 sets of Strings.
Maybe he will and maybe he won't.
Thanks for your replies.
Edited by Liteblueskies 2022-01-21 11:27 AM
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Posts: 15653
Location: SoCal | Keep us posted. This is a really great guitar and it should have great tone and not be punishment to play. If we lived closer, I'd bring over a couple of my guitars and you could see what I'm talking about regarding strings and tone. On some of my O's I have mediums (.13-.56) and on one or two, I have lights (.12-.54). But from SoCal, Seattle is a long drive. My daughter and her husband just moved up there, so I'll get there sooner or later.......
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Posts: 2303
Location: Lake Forest, CA | You don't need to remove or change the strings to add/remove shims from underneath the saddle.
1) Place a capo at the 5th fret.
2) Slacken the strings one at a time. As you slacken the string, pull on it so the string loosens below the capo.
3) Once all the strings are loose, remove the saddle from the bridge.
4) Add/remove shims.
5) Slip saddle back into the bridge.
6) Tighten all the strings.
7) Remove capo.
8) Tune guitar and check the action.
If the strings are still too high, or too low, repeat the above steps until the guitar plays like you want. |
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Posts: 138
Location: Birmingham, AL | What other model of acoustic have you played?
Edited by clrules 2022-01-26 11:56 AM
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Posts: 138
Location: Birmingham, AL |
Edited by clrules 2022-01-26 11:56 AM
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| I have a Yamaha FGX 700SC and an old destroyed ovation legend
Now I have the 1767 |
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January 2022
Posts: 13
| I have a Yamaha FGX 700SC and an old destroyed shallow body ovation legend
Now I have the 1767 |
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Posts: 887
Location: Always beautiful canyon country of Utah | Dan knows everything! |
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Location: Muenster/Germany | 5/64 is about 78/000 is less than 2mm and that´s PERFECT for an acoustic guitar. I prefer low action, too, but most people set guitars too high. But less than the 5/64 will make no sense, except you would use flatwounds. On some 12 strings that are built to play only with a pick I use 90/000 to make them louder.
Be glad you have Ovations, no other guitar can be played with such a low action. |
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Posts: 846
Location: Canada | Related questions: I have a 6756LX and I feel that action is way too low. I have tried to pull the saddle out but it didn't budge at all. Is there a tool that works to pry it out without damaging the guitar? If I wanted to insert a little shim, what is the best way to make one? |
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Posts: 268
| If, for some reason, you don't have any shims left under your saddle, lowering the action any further is problematical. On the other hand, if you do have a shim or shims under your saddle, lowering the action by removing one or more is easily reversible simply by replacing the shim(s). It's not like sanding down the saddle on a traditional guitar.
It's possible the shop isn't familiar with adjusting the action on Ovations.
Edited by BCam 2022-03-04 2:41 PM
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Posts: 2303
Location: Lake Forest, CA | d'ovation - 2022-03-04 9:57 AM
Related questions: I have a 6756LX and I feel that action is way too low. I have tried to pull the saddle out but it didn't budge at all. Is there a tool that works to pry it out without damaging the guitar? If I wanted to insert a little shim, what is the best way to make one?
You could try to gently push on the shrink-wrap tubing on the wiring of the pick-up.
If you want to make a new shim, cut one out of a credit card.
The easiest way to do this is to use a ruler to score the outline with an Xacto knife, then bend the plastic away from the score. This will open up the score and should allow you to bend it the other way to break out the shim. |
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Location: moline,illinois | d'ovation - 2022-03-04 11:57 AM
Related questions: I have a 6756LX and I feel that action is way too low. I have tried to pull the saddle out but it didn't budge at all. Is there a tool that works to pry it out without damaging the guitar? If I wanted to insert a little shim, what is the best way to make one?
I've had a couple O's where the saddle was hard to get out,the little black pins on the end can stick so reach inside the soundhole and try to press them up while gently pulling on the saddle,I don't know of any tools for saddle removal maybe Dan Savage can fabricate you one LOL
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Location: Canada | Thanks. I suspect that there are no shims. The saddle barely sticks out of the bridge and there is not enough there to grab with fingers. I will see if I can pop it out from below when I do next string change. |
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Posts: 2303
Location: Lake Forest, CA | You don't need to change the strings to add/remove shims from underneath the saddle.
1) Place a capo at the 5th fret.
2) Slacken the strings one at a time. As you slacken the string, pull on it so the string loosens below the capo.
3) Once all the strings are loose, remove the saddle from the bridge.
4) Add/remove shims.
5) Slip saddle back into the bridge.
6) Tighten all the strings.
7) Remove capo.
8) Tune guitar and check the action.
If the strings are still too high, or too low, repeat the above steps until the guitar plays like you want.
Edited by DanSavage 2022-03-05 9:32 PM
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Location: Always beautiful canyon country of Utah | There you have it! Play your guitar sing the old songs and count your blessings! |
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Posts: 887
Location: Always beautiful canyon country of Utah | It is no secret that all the best music lies in the past! |
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Posts: 751
Location: Muenster/Germany | d'ovation - 2022-03-04 6:57 PM
Related questions: I have a 6756LX and I feel that action is way too low. I have tried to pull the saddle out but it didn't budge at all. Is there a tool that works to pry it out without damaging the guitar? If I wanted to insert a little shim, what is the best way to make one?
For Ovation acoustics I only use shims made of sitka spruce (from the rest of an old guitar top) because that´s the only material that will have the same velocity of sound as the top itself.
For Adamii I use bone or hardwood. And always only 1 single shim with the appropriate thickness, never 2 or more. We are talking of high-end guitars, aren´t we?
All my guitars have very delicately (self-)made nuts and saddles. It really makes a difference if a guitar has perfect set up contact points with the strings. |
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Location: Utah | How do you get the wood shims flat? |
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Legend 1767 Action Height - Factory specs and Lowering Action.
