This guitar came in recently with the lady owner complaining of fretwire buzz around the 10th fret – across the fretboard – but primarily on the ‘e’ string.
I took one look at the saddle and saw the saddle falling forward. Meanwhile, at the nut end of things, the slots seemed a little too deep for my liking.
I suggested to the owner that changing the nut and saddle to a set of proper dimensions, and that too of bone, should help solve the issue. A saddle standing straight in its slot, would raise up the strings automatically.
But before any of that happened, I had to put on my hazmat suit to clean the instrument.
And of course there’s always some DNA deposition on the fretboard
In this photograph, mark also the pitting that is beginning to occur on the fretwires. As is the case generally, it was more evident on the treble strings than on the bass strings.
So, first the strings were taken off and the fretboard was given a much-needed bath. Thereafter the brushing and oiling followed, giving the board a well-cared-for look.
Next, it was time to replace the nut and the saddle and dial in bone elements. The operative phrase here is ‘dial in’. For first-timers to the blog, or new to (acoustic) guitar maintenance, one does not throw out old nuts and saddles and replace them with new ones. One has to measure, cut and sand these two very important elements to the optimum so that playing and the sound produced thereof is soul-stirring.
In that line, measurements were taken and pleasantly enough, the nut was near perfect with just a couple of slots requiring lowering. The saddle, however, was a whole different story.
Following the radius of the fretboard, the saddle was shaped and put into the slot. It was strung up to find that the treble side was higher than desired. That was duly shaved off, after which the treble strings sat perfectly. Thereafter, the rest of the process of setting up the instrument followed. The relief was perfect and didn’t need to be touched,
Only the nut slots remained, which were attended to .
Meanwhile, the strings chosen by the owner were
And I leave you with a few last photos
