Dreaded Dreadnought Blues

[dodger]

You could always fill the empty space with an affordable HB dread...

[Djangle]

dodger do you own the 00 size HB that sells for around £126?
If so what like?

[Deleted]

You may not need to deepen the slot if you keep the meatier ends Djangle. Good luck with it. Would love to see the pics if you get it to work.

[dodger]

Jun 21, 2018 18:35:15 GMT Djangle said:

dodger do you own the 00 size HB that sells for around £126?
If so what like?

No Djangle - I have the 000 CLA28ve and the CLD41se - both about £270 I think

[Djangle]

Here's hoping @defjef .when I get round to it I'll post pics.

I see there's one without the preamp priced at £195 dodger ......nice.... love the back and those those open geared tuners.

[Vincent]

Jun 21, 2018 18:08:00 GMT Djangle said:

That bridge fix method where there's some meat at the ends to support the saddle is a fine idea. I have a palm router I use at work so when I have the time will make some jigs to cut away some of the bridge and another to go deeper in the saddle slot. Hopefully I can source a router bit that matches the saddle slot size. Vincent pointed out I may weaken the structure and there's every chance that could happen but I'm willing to take the risk as even 3mm at the 12th was bugging me however 2.5mm could be a compromise.
At the end of the day I'd be sad to let it go and If it fails I lose £90 however this would leave an empty space in my guitar rack that would need filled at some point.
Thanks for the tips fellas
 
Vincent it's a dovetail neck joint.

Regardless of what you paid for the guitar it sounds like you were perfectly content with it prior to this issue happening so I can relate to your disappointment. Would also like to point out that if your bridge measurements are the same as my SP6 you will not be able to dig 4mm down in the saddle-well floor without cutting through the table top. However if you are willing to compromise with having the action down just a little without doing any serious damage then I wish you well with this endeavor.

And of course if it has a transducer under the saddle you would gain some wiggle room by removing it.

Good luck!

[dodger]

Jun 21, 2018 19:26:32 GMT Djangle said:

Here's hoping @defjef .when I get round to it I'll post pics.

I see there's one without the preamp priced at £195 dodger ......nice.... love the back and those those open geared tuners.

I've been gigging more and more every week with mine - mine was bstock but not sure why.  Very pretty guitar and I love the sound too.  Really comfortable and light as well.  If you're not looking for a preamp then the CLA15M looks beautiful. 

  

[Djangle]

Ok so got round ta sorting out my bridge problem and opted for a quick easy job and so went for the Guitologists poor mans neck reset.
Using 120 grit sandpaper sanded down the saddle on a flat surface and took off roughly 3mm which barely left enough saddle on top for the low and high E strings. Tuned to pitch and got a buzzing sound from the bridge on the open low E string, the rest of the strings were OK but the guitar sounded dead as a dodo. The buzzing and dull sound was due to the string break behind the bridge being too shallow. I've read somewhere that if you can lift the string off the saddle when tuned to pitch (check) the break angle needs more break...... so using a small needle file preceded to file away for about half an hour on the string path at about a 45ish degree angle creating the necessary break for better tension on the saddle. I only filed about 5mm further toward the saddle on each string and tuned to pitch checked the action (2.5mm at the 12th) and strummed a few chords which brought a big cheesy grin to my face. Even though the strings are well over six months old the guitar sounds as sweet as the day I bought it and the action is back to roughly where it should be. It has a set of custom light PB Martins at the moment but going to order some 10 -47 Dadariio Nickel bronze as I want to get a few more years out of this sweet old box .
Pictures to follow

[Djangle]

[blindwilly3fingers]

Jul 22, 2018 19:15:13 GMT Djangle said:

Ok so got round ta sorting out my bridge problem and opted for a quick easy job and so went for the Guitologists poor mans neck reset.
Using 120 grit sandpaper sanded down the saddle on a flat surface and took off roughly 3mm which barely left enough saddle on top for the low and high E strings. Tuned to pitch and got a buzzing sound from the bridge on the open low E string, the rest of the strings were OK but the guitar sounded dead as a dodo. The buzzing and dull sound was due to the string break behind the bridge being too shallow. I've read somewhere that if you can lift the string off the saddle when tuned to pitch (check) the break angle needs more break...... so using a small needle file preceded to file away for about half an hour on the string path at about a 45ish degree angle creating the necessary break for better tension on the saddle. I only filed about 5mm further toward the saddle on each string and tuned to pitch checked the action (2.5mm at the 12th) and strummed a few chords which brought a big cheesy grin to my face. Even though the strings are well over six months old the guitar sounds as sweet as the day I bought it and the action is back to roughly where it should be. It has a set of custom light PB Martins at the moment but going to order some 10 -47 Dadariio Nickel bronze as I want to get a few more years out of this sweet old box .
Pictures to follow

Nice one, glad you got it sorted 👍

[easyrider]

Congrats, Djangle! As I see on the picture, your action is not 2,5mm, it's almost 2,20 which is totally perfect. Lower action gives you some fret buzz and higher is hard to play. I set up all my HB guitars at the same action, it's really perfect and pleasure to play, although I use very different brand and gauge of strings. For low action, which 2,20 really is, works better D'Addario or DR, they got less fret buzz 'cos they are not so smooth and liquid as Elixir for example. They got less oscillation amplitude. But little bit harder to play. Needs little bit more time to practice in the beginning to get familiar with them.
Actually we all need to spend more time to practice than to waste it here as talking about the gear . Sorry, nothing personal.

[Djangle]

Cheers easyrider.....yeah the action is slightly less than 2.5 mm so happy days also I'm hoping switching to extra light strings will prolong its life before it becomes a. slide guitar. I'm actually going to do some more file work to get some more break as hoping to get some more volume from it and order a new tusq saddle as the old one has worn string grooves into it. Also going to change the plastic bridge pins to bone or ebony. I've always used Martin strings on acoustic but I'm intrigued by the Dadarrio nickel bronze as they're supposed to have the feel of electric strings with less finger squeak compared to phosphor bronze which is always a bonus.