Gibson CE action adjustment?

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Gibson CE action adjustment?

Postby Josh Woods » Thu Aug 19, 2010 1:43 am

Was just wondering if there is any other methods of adjusting the action on the Gibson CE other than truss rod adjustment. Anything is appreciated. thanks alot.
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Re: Gibson CE action adjustment?

Postby mpn » Thu Aug 19, 2010 2:01 am

Action is generally adjusted by means of the bridge saddle and or the nut, once the trussrod is adjusted so that the neck is straight FIRST.

If the action is too HIGH, you need to decrease the bridge saddle height by removing the strings and saddle, and sand the BOTTOM of the saddle until you obtain the desired action height.

In some cases the nut slots need to be regulated as well.

In extreme cases the neck has to be reset.
mpn
 

Re: Gibson CE action adjustment?

Postby RonBloor » Thu Aug 19, 2010 6:32 am

Hi Josh, when I got my CE the action was a bit high. There were a couple shims under the saddle, so they were the first things to be removed.... A couple of frets had raised over the years, so a couple of taps on them with a plastic hammer settled them back down. The nut was the biggest issue. I have nut files, so I lowered the nut slots until the strings were just above the first fret. The truss rod is not for lowering the action. It is for straightening the neck. You probably know this, but if you hold a string down at the 1st fret and the 12th fret (or 14th), you should just be able to see some clearance at the 6th fret.. I usually just tap the string at the 6th fret and make sure it has a little clearance. Anyway, my truss rod needed a little tweak, but it wasn't the reason the action was high. The neck needs to be straight so the strings don't buzz when the action is fairly low.
These CEs are built like tanks, so I think it is doubtful that the neck would need a reset... Just my humble opinion.
Last edited by RonBloor on Sat Aug 21, 2010 8:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Gibson CE action adjustment?

Postby Roger Pratt » Fri Aug 20, 2010 2:26 pm

Josh.....DO NOT TRY TO SAND THE SADDLES!! They are individual string saddles and I would not mess with them for any reason. The nut is the only place where you might gain anything but not very much. All the CE's that I have ever played had higher action than steel string guitars. It's the nature of the beast with nylon string guitars. The strings have to vibrate more than steel when they are plucked. Do your best to get used to the action because I seriously doubt that anything is wrong with the guitar. Like Ron said, they are built like a tank.
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Re: Gibson CE action adjustment?

Postby RonBloor » Fri Aug 20, 2010 2:51 pm

You are absolutely correct Roger.... Don't sand the saddle... However, if Josh is lucky there might be a couple of shims under the saddle as there was on mine.. That did lower it a tad.. I also agree that nylon string guitars have higher action than steel strings ones.
My Godin Multiac has a bolt on neck, so you can shim the neck, which makes it more adjustable than most nylon string guitars.
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Re: Gibson CE action adjustment?

Postby tyguy » Wed Aug 25, 2010 8:50 pm

my ce needs a neck set but i'm going to refret it first as that might solve the problem.the original frets were filed down too much when i bought it.the higher fret might do the trick.can't hurt anyway.just refretted a tennessean(gibson)that i purchased recently.less than 5 thous. fret removed and spot leveled only(no filing,for leveling).absolutely beautiful.being a '90 gibson it had some quality issues.i understand labor costs but the sides of the fingerboard were buffed to death.i've seen this on a lot of gits where they overdo it with the buffing wheel making slight indents in the sides of the fingerboard(filling in with ebony now).also the nut(replaced with unbleached bone)was cut wrong and bridge also.git sounds so good though i'll leave bridge alone.this git has the best string balance of any git i ever owned and i love the 5k neck pup. the best, Ty M. 8-)
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