How to Measure and Lower Your String Action Height on an Acoustic Guitar with a Fixed Saddle

00:00 Intro
00:11 Use String Action Gauge
01:16 Most Common Action Heights
02:23 Capo at First Fret
02:42 Measure at 12th Fret
05:29 Remove & Adjust Saddle Height
07:57 Sanding down Saddle
09:27 Re-measure String Action

[hamricmike]

I really like the videos with this guy. Not only is he a wizard but he does a great job of breaking everything down and making it easy to understand.

[JesusMartinez-fpyh]

Thanks for explaining why we have to double the amount we have to sand down on the saddle.

[chucks]

Best overview of how to do this that I have seen. Crystal clear explanation with precision measuring. Thanks

[thadstuart]

This was spectacular, as was your truss rod adjustment video. Just ordered the guages from on of your dealers. Thanks a bunch

[sundance]

Thanks, just ordered the 3 way feeler gauge and the string action gauge ruler. I just received the 5mm truss rod adjustment for my new Martin guitar.
Having done all my electric setups by feel and eye, it's a good time to use gauges this time around as to reduce the potential of error...basically set up ALL my guitars properly with measuring tools

[quirkygreece]

Good explanation and using the capo to secure the strings is a really useful tip. I’m confident enough to do this job now, thank you.

[PeteR-rrof]

My luthier moved out of state so i bought the musicnomad kit and watched this and your neck relief video. Thank you!
After correcting the relief and lowering the action the guitar sounds great and is much more playable. The whole process took me about an hour including a restringing and thorough cleaning.

[gtbones]

Good, clear instruction. One thing to note IMO is this instruction applies only to a saddle that already has the correct radius on top.

[moobutt]

Adjusted my truss rod and took a mm off the saddle on my Martin this weekend. Wow what a difference.

[johnminer]

I've watched a lot of videos on this and yours is probably the most clear, helpful, and concise tutorial. Thank you!

[guitardoctordon]

What would you think about getting a new saddle to lower the action and switching back to the original for change of seasons.

[STEVEM]

Always check your bridge to make sure the previous owner hasn't stacked a bunch of shims in there, could be the reason the action was so high.

[guitarreromxl]

What belt/disc sander do you guys recommend? I have a 4x36” from harbor freight but I want to upgrade.

[rodrigoresende]

This Taylor doesn’t have NT neck, which means that if yes, probably the best way to reduce the string action is changing the pair of shims and consequently changing the neck angle. Otherwise the instrument lost its braking angle on the bridge and loose tone and volume as consequence. But anyway, the video quality is top and very easy to follow. Cheers.

[Djangoat]

thanks for the good video. If you shave more on one side of the saddle than the other, how does the saddle stay balanced/flat when put it back in?

[jamesfourie]

Thank you for the informative video. What does the pick capo do that a normal capo wouldn't do in terms of bringing the string down to the top of the first fret?

[hotin]

Thank you! Very helpful. Why do you fret the 1st fret when measuring the action height on 12th? Would that cause the measurement to be smaller than the actual height?

[lmawd]

Great lesson. Just one question please, how do you get the saddle flat if you are taking different amounts off each end? Thanks

[KhoaVo]

How do you keep the bottom of the saddle flat if you need to shave off different amounts for the low E vs the high E?

[ddp]

This is so informative. I feel confident to setup a six string. I'm going to need to set up a Fender 12 string acoustic which for sure will have high action. Do I just do the same steps but in pairs? The nut will be cut different for the pairs?