Action too high with new saddles

I recently purchased the generic brass compensated bridge saddles from stewmac to replace the factory ones on my Hwy 1 Tele. Intonating the strings was simple enough and what a difference in tone!

Now I have a new problem - the action is way way too high. The rest of the guitar seems to be set up properly. However, the diameter of the saddles seem to raise the strings about three times higher than desired.

I'm going to try to grind the saddles down to fix this issue. Has anyone else had a similar issue & how did you remedy this?

Your Comments are much appreciated!

A much easier solution would be to place a shim in the neck pocket. A thin piece of business card placed in the butt end of the neck pocket (toward the bridge) will change the angle of the neck, effectively lowering the action.

A much easier solution would be to place a shim in the neck pocket. A thin piece of business card placed in the butt end of the neck pocket (toward the bridge) will change the angle of the neck, effectively lowering the action.

QFT. Sometimes it takes two layers of card.

When you put the neck back on, make sure you don't overtighten and strip the holes in the neck. Don't be afraid to do it, though. Just don't go crazy with a powerdrill with a screwdriver bit. LOL

I recently purchased the generic brass compensated bridge saddles from stewmac to replace the factory ones on my Hwy 1 Tele. Intonating the strings was simple enough and what a difference in tone!

Now I have a new problem - the action is way way too high. The rest of the guitar seems to be set up properly. However, the diameter of the saddles seem to raise the strings about three times higher than desired.

I'm going to try to grind the saddles down to fix this issue. Has anyone else had a similar issue & how did you remedy this?

Your Comments are much appreciated!

Yeah, those # 5167s are not recessed on the underside. It is a 5/16ths section all the way 'round and on some guitars the excess brass on the underside of the 2 outboard (E-A and B-little E) saddles needs to be filed down. It is any easy job and makes way better sense IMO than completely throwing your setup out the window - which is what a neck shim will do.

For that particular guitar model, a Glendale, Callaham or Barden set will premit you to sidestep this issue - but not all Highway Ones need the mod or the more expensive saddles:

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t25/Bubbanov/30August102008021.jpg

I should say these "were" # 5167s. I retapped all the bores to 6-32 and replaced the hardware with filistered slot heads.


This image shows what relieved # 5167s can look like from the side:

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t25/Bubbanov/29OCT052008005.jpg

Yup - shim it. Easy, reversible, and effective. I actually do shim some guitars to get a better bend over the intonation pieces. It gives you better tone.

I'm with Boris on this one. Why risk messing with the important coupling between body & neck by putting a shim in? (granted I have never done this). Seems like grinding the back side of the saddle would be easy enough with little risk.

IDK, when I got my tele set up last winter at the shop the guitar tech there put a shim in to adjust the action. From what he said as many as 50% of all bolt-on neck guitars he sees have a shim in the neck pocket. Good luck picking them out by ear. :mrgreen:

I have had to shim my last two guitars' necks; a Peavey Generation EXP and a Squier '51. Both had first position action issues rather than bridge/string height issues, so the shims went toward the top instead of the bottom of the pocket. Both guitars were able to come into perfect adjustment after the shims were installed. The problem I had in both cases was that the nut action was perfect, but it required too much neck relief to eliminate buzzes with about 5/64" 17th fret string height, plus it was buzzing on the first fret with it open. I agree with Ninja - shim the bottom of the neck pocket, adjust the truss rod and the saddles and you should be good to go.

I know shims are fairly common, but I haven't seen very many myself. I have never used one either. I avoid stuffing things in the neck pocket, so I explore other options.

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Since I'm not seeing any negative responses on filing the saddles (other than the effort involved), I'll go with that - besides, they were only $15.

Bubbanov - when you filed your saddles down, did you have any issues with the screw thereads? Or is the Brass soft enough to just muscle the screws through?

Just this weekend I setup a cheap strat I picked up. I found someone placed a shim in the heel of the neck pocket, but the neck had almost no relief, and super high bridge saddles. In this case the shim was the easy but wrong solution, a proper setup was what it needed.

I wouldn't use business card(s).... What I use for shims is old guitar picks. Just take a medium Fender or other brand pick and cut a couple of strips from it. They should be just wide enough to go between the screw hole and the back of the neck slot. Just make 'em the length of the pick and that'll be alright. Slip em in flat behind the screw holes so the back of the neck will rest right on them, then set the neck right in the slot and tighten it down. If you still don't have enough angle, cut another two of them and slip 'em right on top of the others, if you just need a little more, use thin picks for the second two..........JH in Va.

I've got the opposite problem if any one can help. I've just stripped the paint off a 72 deluxe reissue and oiled it leaving it natural and the bridge is too low. On full bridge height the strings are barely above the neck. Shim the bridge ? Shave the neck? Shave the body ? All tips more than welcome thanks.