DIY - Fixing and creating new issues

Pickups, Pots, Caps, Wiring

Moderators: Slowy, Capt. Black

Post Reply
motoadv
Stagg
Stagg
Posts: 4
meble-kuchenne.warszawa.pl
Joined: Sat Apr 15, 2017 12:17 am
Location: Auckland
Contact:

DIY - Fixing and creating new issues

Post by motoadv »

Mods, if this is not the right section for this, please do share the right section and I will repost.

Situation
I recently went back to playing the guitar after a gap of about 12 years and didn't want to spend too much money on a fancy guitar till I was convinced that I would keep at it. In the process, I picked up a Johnson acoustic from a shop in Auckland, the owner sold it at 40% discount, so I got it for $140.

That was my first mistake, 2nd came from the eagerness to take it home and see what I remembered. Which led to not checking it out completely at the shop only to realize how high the string action really was once I tried playing it at home. Of course, the shop owner didn't agree to lower the action when I took it back to him, even though he had a workshop at the back that works on instruments.

Problem
Long story short, I did plenty of searching online and stumbled upon a blog that talked about a simple DIY fix to lower string action by taking measurements on fret no 14 and lowering the height accordingly.

So I measured, pulled out the saddle, marked the saddle and sanded down the base of the saddle. Two trails and sanding attempts later, I had better string action (considerable lower) and side effects were
- long high pitched resonance from the body even after muting the strings
- louder & a changed tone from string no 2

Something I thought off, to work on the resonance
1) placing some damping material inside the hollow
2) Painting the guitar body with rubber paint to dampen some resonance

While examing the guitar further, I noticed there is a crack with a 0.5 - 1mm gap the support structure near the sound hole towards the bridge. Would that have anything to do with this resonance, or is it highly unlikely?

Questions
1) Any idea why there could be the long high pitched resonance from the body even after muting the strings & why string 2's tone has changed?
2) How much of a possible tone change could I expect from spraying the body with rubber paint?

For the price I paid for the guitar, i do not want to consider spending the same amount of money going to a professional to fix / setup the guitar. Hence the trails with these fixes.

Worst case scenario - buy a new saddle and tighten the truss rod to see if that lowers string action at all.

I am looking at picking up an electric soon, once I find one that I like playing & then a deal on the same.
- Johnny Be Goode - A riff I would love to play someday -

User avatar
calling card
Vintage Post Junkie
Vintage Post Junkie
Posts: 4279
Joined: Fri Nov 23, 2007 10:56 am
Location: Hoodoo dump, BOP
Has liked: 855 times
Been liked: 274 times

Re: DIY - Fixing and creating new issues

Post by calling card »

You sometimes have to kiss a few frogs before finding the right thing.
2024; I have explored the extent of the perimeter dome, there is no escape. I am become Morpheus

Post Reply