sunrise Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 Hello, I just got my epiphone AJ-100. The first thing I notice is that the action is way too high. According to the manual, the action at the 12th fret should be 5/64" (2 mm) for the 1st string, and 7/64" (2.8mm) for the sixth string. What I've measured is 4mm for 1st string and 5mm for 6th string at 12th fret. This is a bit too difficult to play on for a beginner like me. How can I adjust this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIX Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 Hello, I just got my epiphone AJ-100. The first thing I notice is that the action is way too high. According to the manual, the action at the 12th fret should be 5/64" (2 mm) for the 1st string, and 7/64" (2.8mm) for the sixth string. What I've measured is 4mm for 1st string and 5mm for 6th string at 12th fret. This is a bit too difficult to play on for a beginner like me. How can I adjust this? There are two things you can do to improve the action. First the truss rod may need to be adjusted; this will bring down the act a bit. Second, if the action is still too high then the saddle will need to sanded down to the desired height. Caution, on both of these if you have not done this before it is best to take to a guitar tech and have them do the work for you. It is not difficult to do, but you can possible ruin your guitar if you are not experienced in doing these adjustments. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrise Posted September 30, 2012 Author Share Posted September 30, 2012 There are two things you can do to improve the action. First the truss rod may need to be adjusted; this will bring down the act a bit. Second, if the action is still too high then the saddle will need to sanded down to the desired height. Caution, on both of these if you have not done this before it is best to take to a guitar tech and have them do the work for you. It is not difficult to do, but you can possible ruin your guitar if you are not experienced in doing these adjustments. Hope this helps. I check the curvature of the neck, it is spot on. I think it's just the saddle / bridge that's too high. I think I'll just get some sand paper and sand it down a few mm. I'm just a little surprised that the guitar shop didn't bother to set it up before shipping it. The specs for action are right smack in the manual. I've also sent an email to the dealer before I do anything. Thanks for the advice. If I do it I'll be sure to watch more instruction vids first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIX Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 That sounds like a good plan, just remember that you want to remove material from the bottom of the saddle not the top where the strings sit on. What was the relief at the 6th fret? And how did you measure it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrise Posted October 1, 2012 Author Share Posted October 1, 2012 I check the curvature of the neck, it is spot on. I think it's just the saddle / bridge that's too high. I think I'll just get some sand paper and sand it down a few mm. I'm just a little surprised that the guitar shop didn't bother to set it up before shipping it. The specs for action are right smack in the manual. I've also sent an email to the dealer before I do anything. Thanks for the advice. If I do it I'll be sure to watch more instruction vids first. So I adjusted the truss rod bit, I can't reduce the string action all that much. I've also tried loosening the string to see if the bridge will pop out. Seems like I need to get myself a hairdryer so I can heat it up, but before that I'm just going to wait. The truss rod method is out. As of now, this is how much action I have on the 12F 6S and 1S 12F 6S: Big Pic At about 4mm. (spec: 7/64 = 2.77mm) 12F 1S: Big pic At about 3mm. (spec: 5/64 = 1.98mm) Both are a little 1mm off, ideally I want to get it to the thickness of a canadian quarter at about 1.6mm.. Any other suggestion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrise Posted October 1, 2012 Author Share Posted October 1, 2012 That sounds like a good plan, just remember that you want to remove material from the bottom of the saddle not the top where the strings sit on. What was the relief at the 6th fret? And how did you measure it? What do you mean by relief? Sorry I'm a noob. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIX Posted October 1, 2012 Share Posted October 1, 2012 My advise is to take to a guitar tech and have a setup done on it. Let them know what type of action you are looking for and they can set it up for you. BTW, don't use a hairdryer on your guitar the saddle should left right out. Even some of the most expensive guitars require a setup right out of the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrise Posted October 1, 2012 Author Share Posted October 1, 2012 My advise is to take to a guitar tech and have a setup done on it. Let them know what type of action you are looking for and they can set it up for you. BTW, don't use a hairdryer on your guitar the saddle should left right out. Even some of the most expensive guitars require a setup right out of the box. Alright, thx. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrise Posted October 1, 2012 Author Share Posted October 1, 2012 After reading a few articles and and watched a few instruction videos and went ahead with the adjustment. I secured the string at the nut and removed the pegs. With the string gone, the saddle came out nicely, although it was a little snug. With a 60 grit and 100grit I sanded down the saddle, periodically rotating the piece and checking with a square that I am sending straight. I took off about 1mm uniformly across the bottom. This improved the string play, but still not anywhere near the specification. Before hand I adjusted the truss rod to have a back bend, but it was getting too tight to turn for my taste, so I stopped after 3/8 turn. If I place my hand gentle on the end of the stock, I can totally see the string action being lowered to the spec easily, but the idea of tensioning the truss rod more scares me. Following the video, I sanded down the saddle slanted to achieve lower action on the bass side so that too an additional 1mm off the bass side. There's still about 1mm clearance from the saddle contact point to the top of the bridge. The neck is tensioned towards a back bend, but there really isn't a back bend. At this point, I am sitting here wondering why in the world would Epiphone put down the specs in the manual that's no where achievable even with this extreme sanding and neck truss rod adjustment. Could this be a QA issue? My friend has promised to enlist the help of his guitar tech friends on this, and I'll report back later. The guitar plays fine, I have no point of reference how good or bad the sound is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaysEpiphone Posted October 2, 2012 Share Posted October 2, 2012 Hummmm... can you post some good photos so we can see, if your a beginner and have never played an acoustic guitar then you may not know this but the action on an acoustic guitar is supposed to be high(er) if compared to an electric guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrise Posted October 2, 2012 Author Share Posted October 2, 2012 Hi I am not very good at playing instruments, but I have worked as an engineer and scientist so I am generally handy. I understand that electric guitars have lower string action as I've played with a few before. Here are two things that summarize my confusion at the moment. 1. People set up their guitar to have string action of an american or canadian quarter coin thickness at the 12th fret. This is about 1.8mm. This is my goal. 2. I can't even reach the specs of AJ-100 after aggressive sanding. This is weird to me. I don't really expect any beginners (target consumer) actually adjust the truss rod or sanding things off. The shop I purchased this guitar from has also expressed concerns. They think it's the neck causing the problem and has thus asked me to send back the guitar. The guitar plays much better after I've lowered the action, but if I could i'd still aim for lower string action because it's really hard on my still tender fingers. Sanded down saddle, String action at F126S String action at F12S1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotdogsforfingers Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 Hi, Just wanted to join the conversation and point out a certain tip (or common to-do-fact) that I have found very useful. I own also the AJ-100 and had similar difficulties also. Now, I did not measure (or have done so yet) the exact action when I got it, but it seemed pretty high to me also. I tested a couple of other acoustics also (that are somewhat more expensive/more of higher worksmanship) and found them a lot easier to play. I didn't want to start pulling the nut or the bridge off, since at the moment I need to focus more on the basics off playing and hence I have the LP that has a lower action as electrics do. And also IF something would have gone wrong, that would have just been not good at all. So, I just swapped the strings into lighter gauge (.010-.048) and this really lowered the action enough and improved the playability for me, at least. Naturally the current action is propably slightly too high at 12th fret, but closer to the headstock (where I mostly play with the open cords) the action is good enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaysEpiphone Posted October 4, 2012 Share Posted October 4, 2012 A quarter fits nicely under my top "E" string some where around the 7th fret. The highest my action is set at is around three 16th's of an inch, it's closer to one 16th at it's lowest point. My guitar is a more affordable ($500 retail) Epiphone Texan so it's not a good one to compare perfect action with as the neck is not class-A perfect but it's a very usable guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrise Posted October 5, 2012 Author Share Posted October 5, 2012 Thanks hotdog, I guess the next course of action would be to try a lower gauge string. The shop contacted me again after I sent them photos of what I've done and measured. They requested the guitar to be returned to them at their cost. I felt a little reluctant to ship the guitar back again from Tokyo to Osaka (1 day trip), but eventually I did. They promised to at least get the guitar to spec for me. The shipping itself cost close to 20bux, but I guess it's their resolve to provide customer service. I'll update again how it plays. I am a beginner and I've attempted a few times to play guitar, I've picked up the important chords, but my pointy fingers have been keeping me playing guitar for long. This is the sole reason why I was aggressive in getting a guitar with high playability. I'll update again in a few days when the guitar returns to me. I've also fired an email to Gibson Japan but heard no reply yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunrise Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 I got the guitar back! the shop says they've tightened the neck some more and got it down to 2.2mm at F12S6 and 1.6mm at F12S1 respectively. It's sooo easy to play now. The shop really came through with their customer service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodger11 Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 good to hear of a good experience with customer service Sunrise enjoy your new AJ100 - I have had one which is on loan to a mate's son as I thought it was the perfect guitar to learn on. I don't think I'll get it back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RIX Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Glad to hear that the shop was able to improve the action for you. Anyway, your problem got me thinking about something I wrote for someone else who was having similar problem and found it this morning. Maybe this will be helpful to you or someone else in the future. What I have written below is in no way the last word in guitar setups. Also, I would recommend Dan Erlewine's book "How to Make Your Guitar Play Great". Setup checklist After you replaced the strings did you check the following? 1. The relief. With a Capo on the 1st fret and holding down the 6th string at 12th fret measure at 6th fret from the top of the fret wire to the bottom of the string. Repeat this for the 1st string. It can be zero if you don't have any strings buzzing anywhere on the Fretboard. I usually shoot for .012" or .305mm to .020" or .508mm. 2. The action. With a Capo at the 1st fret and measure at 12th fret from the top of the fret wire to the bottom of the 6th string. Repeat this for the 1st string. I like an action of 5/64" for the 6th string and 3/64" for the 1st string; I think that's 2.14mm and 1.5mm. Action though is dependent on playing style, guitar, and strings. You might get away with a little lower action if you’re not too aggressive of a guitarist or you might need it a bit higher if you are. If it’s too high you’ll probably have intonation problems. 3. The string clearance for the nut. With a Capo at the 3rd fret and measure at the 1st fret from the top of the fret wire to the bottom of the strings. This is a little subjective as to feel rather than a set height as long as you don’t have any strings buzzing. It’s probably too high if when you press the "G" string down hard at the 2nd fret to play an "A" and it plays out of tune. One last tip for sensitive finger tips. Try tapping them on a hard surface whenever you can to desensitize them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaysEpiphone Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Good deal man! Sounds like they came good on the guitar for you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rikigo Posted January 21, 2013 Share Posted January 21, 2013 Hi Sunrise, I just wanted to say thanks for raising this issue, as it's helped me enormously with my AJ-100 VS. I have since fixed the string heights to the optimum by using a Nail Shaper to sand the base of the bridge saddle. Kind regards, Richard Sydney, Australia quote name='sunrise' timestamp='1349152627' post='1263067'] Hi I am not very good at playing instruments, but I have worked as an engineer and scientist so I am generally handy. I understand that electric guitars have lower string action as I've played with a few before. Here are two things that summarize my confusion at the moment. 1. People set up their guitar to have string action of an american or canadian quarter coin thickness at the 12th fret. This is about 1.8mm. This is my goal. 2. I can't even reach the specs of AJ-100 after aggressive sanding. This is weird to me. I don't really expect any beginners (target consumer) actually adjust the truss rod or sanding things off. The shop I purchased this guitar from has also expressed concerns. They think it's the neck causing the problem and has thus asked me to send back the guitar. The guitar plays much better after I've lowered the action, but if I could i'd still aim for lower string action because it's really hard on my still tender fingers. Sanded down saddle, String action at F126S String action at F12S1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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