Correcting High Action on Martin Road Series Acoustic Guitar
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- Опубліковано 27 лип 2024
- It's #WorkshopWednesday over here! We are so excited to bring you a new series that will highlight our shop and some of the jobs that our technicians have been working on lately! Today our luthier, Justin, takes you through correcting high action on a Martin Road Series acoustic guitar!
Check back next Wednesday for another Workshop Wednesday feature!
For more details on this job check out the blog here: musicvillageusa.com/blogs/gui...
See all our guitar repair blogs here: musicvillageusa.com/blogs/gui...
If all of your episodes are like this one - I'LL BE BACK - that's not a threat, it's a promise. You made that Martin sing.
This right here folks is why everyone needs to learn how to do their own!
Liked the demo playing at the end, especially Rhiannon, Goodbye Blue Sky, and Shady Grove.
The Zeppelin wasn't too shabby, either.
Nice work, great skill you have, never be out of work.
Good job Sir, what a difference in sound. thank you for sharing
Just got a road series from guitar center with very high action. Going to do the same thing to it. Great vid.
You answered my question in seconds,thank you,this Dx1 has been a journey.
I just bought the same guitar and have the same issue. Thanks, very helpful!
I have a 000 10E RS. TY. PS I didn’t think you were careless at all. You knew what you were doing and were fast at doing it. We call that a Win Win!
I could watch you play acoustic for hours 👍
Nice playing,good job
Thank you. Good taste in music too mate!
When buying a guitar always purchase the correct hard case to go with it and I personally like the humidity packs that automatically adjust. My first Martin had so much humidity my packs lasted five years. They just kept soaking moisture from the guitar. It’s now 9 years old and sounds amazing.
Very informative!
Well done
A true craftsman.
If you bounced the string ball ends off my top like that then we'd be having words!
I got the same guitar with the same problem. Thanks for the video 👍🏻
I have same guitar (D10E) awesome guitar for the price, all solid wood construction and it sounds and plays amazing. However as many pointed out it’s up to the dealer to run this guitar thru their luthier to properly set it up. I bought mine a year ago and hadn’t had to adjust anything - it plays wonderfully. No complaints. Btw original strings on those are Martin lifespan phosphor bronze light
No such thing, you have to pay extra 4 a setup..every store in mich. That are big enough to have a selection to choose..
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Martin sucks!
I just paid 60 dollars for a setup on this guitar and it came at 7/64th action and is brutal to play. Frets don't feel that good either and the body and neck has sharp edges. My 21 y ear old American DX1 plays and feels way better. The sapele wood does sound nicer in person though. definitely has that martin bass and nice smell. The Frets and neck are very level on the guitar though, but thats because all martin guitars are now plekked at the factory. I don't think the luthier even touched the frets.
I agree that the sapele sounds good in person@@cooloutac
@migueldemaria3830 guitar came with mediums once i switched to light strings I really like it.
I take my guitars to Richard Starkey in Franklin TN. To set my E40D Eastman and my DRS 2 Martin. They sound and play great.
I have the 000 12 Koa and I really like it but I have had to adjust the truss rod I bet 5 times since I have owned it. All my other guitars I have never had to touch the truss rod?? And many were cheaper Alverez' They are amazing guitars for the money !
The buyer's first mistake was to purchase a Martin with action that high to begin with.The dealer is to be blamed for selling it in that condition.Now the owner is having to pay for fixing it.
I heard they 'sell 'em high' so that the buyer can set the action the way they like it.
I bought a new Martin several years ago took it to authorized Martin repairman adjust it for nothing and did a great job at that
@@leonarddaneman810 that is true..
Maybe he bought it online and didn't realise the high action until it was delivered.
That guitar has humidity damage . There’s a crack on the top forming behind the saddle at 03:30 you can see it
Very informative video!
What would the ballpark price of that setup & string change? I'm sure my 1977 D35 could use a bit of tlc; If my memory is correct, I bought it new with hard shell case for $700 & haven't done ANYTHING to it except change strings a lot, and polish every couple years! 😁
Great video. I wonder which Martin that was maybe the D 12e? Thank you.
Thanks for sharing - maybe a different lens would work better for videos like this, I couldn’t really see what was going on with the guitar with the fisheye. Though it was a really crazy backbow at first
Awesome work👍👍👍
Hello. I have just bought exactly the same guitar and I have exactly the same issue.
Can I do it myself or do I have to take the guitar to a luthier?
How mm or inch did you take of from the saddle?
Thank, and cheers from Poland.
Love the capo trick to remove bridge pins in one fell swoop. Guess everybody knew it but me.
and me
and me too.. and I've been playing guitar most of my life, 33 years. There's always something new to learn.
Great guitar playing by the way. Do you work on every guitar like this in setup? No concrete measurements taken on neck relief , no finite check on nut slot depths and string heights at nut, no 12 fret string height measurements to determine exactly how much to lower saddle (not guessing)? No final 12th fret string heights and final neck relief?
Worked didn't it 🤷
@@stringsattached67
Nope,..it didn't work. Action still looked too high. hardly any difference at all. There's no way I'd let my guitar anywhere this guy for repair. he seems a bit too slap-dash.
At the end, there still looks like significant bow in the neck. The low e still looks approx 5mill at the 12th. This is ok for fingerpicking only, I would suggest
I’m pretty sure the reason the neck looked more bowed than it actually was in the ‘after’ shots is because of the wide angle lens used, it tends to ‘bend’ the image via its optics.
Using a Road Series on tour. BRUTAL action!! Allen wrench has been lost and I’m wary of messing with the bridge saddle as I’ve experienced piezo pickup failure on individual strings on other A/Es. Should the saddle come out easy? Great playing of some faves BTW 👍🏼
Saddle should come out easily. Most of the damage we see to piezo pickups is due to trying to remove or install the saddle from the side with the bridge pins still in place. Saddle can be removed or installed straight up or down with the pins removed. Having said that continuous piezo transducers that are not individual crystals will only get dead strings if either the saddle or saddle slot are not dead flat where they touch the transducer.
@@MusicVillageUSA Thank you! Found the correct wrench and filed down the saddle a little. Still kinda “stiff” but a great guitar. Thanks again.
Tightened the trust rod with the stings under tension? Hope I'm wrong!
Some one know maybe what is a proper action strings in Martin GPC 11E ? I think bay this guitar but I'm afraid that action strings will be to high.
I have one of these and strings keep breaking (every gig) any ideas?
Hey master, i have the Martin GPC X2e but i dont know what messure of Allen I need to make the adjustment, could someone help me please?
A magician Jesus ❤
That low E string looked like it didn’t have much tension in standard tuning. It must have been very ‘slack’ then when dropping to D or C. How do you maintain string tension when dropping down (apart from using a thicker gauge low E which makes the guitar unbalanced to play)?
I'd wager that is an effect of the recording rather than it being actually that slack
Have a question. I signed up for newsletters and found it was store in Utah. Are you in San Jose? I prefer you guys as I have been in and out of the SJ Music Village since it opened.
We are located in Utah!
I Was going to Buy The Martin Road Series 10 But The Takamine93 Wood's Was a Little Better And a Spruce Top is The Best Top as Paul Reed Smith Says -- My Guitar is Rosewood Back and Sides - Mahogany Neck -- Rosewood Fretboard....... Sounds Pretty Good Quality
Mediocre craftsmanship from Martin. Give me a nice Epiphone or Yamaha. They'll smoke the road series! You did a hell of a job on this one dude! 👍👍😎😎😎😎
Ur insane. Martins are plekked from factory and have bass.
@@cooloutac
Many other brands equal Martin. Today, Martin is just an historic brand name and nothing else. We've moved on over the decades with many boutique labels producing excellent all-solid wood guitars at affordable prices.
@Stringbean421 first of all Boutique guitars are way more expensive than Martins. Secondly something being all solid wood doesn't mean it's a quality or good sounding or Good Feeling guitar. I returned the fender Paramount and Alvarez Masterworks and I ended up with a Martin d10 for the plek'd Frets and good bass sound. They still have no competition for my preferences.
@@cooloutac
'For your preferences',..exactly,..what's good for one in terms of standards may not be good enough for another.
@Stringbean421 yes exactly I like even Frets and smooth edges, something that doesn't smell like toxic chemicals and has a great bass sound. Someone like you would trade that all in for all solid wood. Lol
Great video! Btw, what song was that at 10:20 ? It sounds familiar but I can't remember it
Rhiannon Fleetwood Mac
@@vocalsg13 thank you 🙏
Just wondering how easy is it to shave down a micarta bridge compared to a wooden one?
The saddle is Micarta, not the Bridge which is the wooden part that holds the saddle! You don’t shave the bridge unless the saddle can’t be lowered enough without the string hitting the bridge.
Ian do you mean Micarta to Bone, both are easy to do but anyway the bridge is the wooden piece that is fixed to the top of the guitar's body and holds the strings in place. In most acoustic guitars, the bridge is its own individual piece of wood while saddle and string pegs are separate pieces. The saddle that sits on top of the bridge in the slot cut to make a firm fit can be made of lots of different types of material but Micarta and bone are great. They used to use Ivory but we stopped that, we found that the Elephants needed it more than our guitars, Hope this has helped you to understand the parts that you talk about, cheers Terry,
Maybe I could get you to teach my guitar to play like that 😂
Haha! Mine definitely needs a few lessons too.
For the money these cost one has to ask, how did they ever pass QC at Martin?
@@user-otzlixr I just assumed that they'd be extremely playable 'out of the box' and I think many others would come to the same conclusion, obviously apart from the 'experts' which I'm guessing you consider yourself to be...
@@user-otzlixr check the mirror 🤣😅🤣
I have a 2016 Road Series and the action is not high at all.
Necks move. How and where was the guitar ordered and where was it delivered to would be better questions.
Put a straight edge on the fretboard & see how it lines up with the bridge.
I like these for the $, but in addition to needing the adjustment you need to replace the nut as the slot for the high e is cut too close to the edge and the string slips off the fretboard too easily
Mine was also like this as well and it'd heard it was due to a measurement issue in the MExican factory.. Not sure I buy that though as a few other Martins I know of that were made in the USA also have had this issue
I noticed that the string spacing on my d10 is much wider than on my old Martin dx1even though they are both the same nut size I actually like the wider spacing on d10 cause it makes it easier for me for my finger-picking.
My 000-15m (American) is exactly the same! Sounds great but Its annoying to play, lol.
The guitar people near me tula me i was being too picky and it was normal... but none of my other guitars ever had that issue, and you can sure feel it so close to the edge.
I was going to try to cut my own nut and replace it myself but hadn't got around to yet...
Lighter strings could help as well.
Nice bit of Zeppelin!
And Days of the New, and Pink Floyd 😎
And Fleetwood Mac..
I need a CD of your guitar playing. Loved it!!! Where’s this store? I have a guitar I need this work done on.
What size Allen do you use for the truss Rod on these?
5mm
I have the same guitar. D-10E
Do you like it still?
@@gregsanders7064 yes I do
Did arrows come with that guitar?
I saw you adjusting the truss rod several times but I never saw a measurement of neck relief. Woudn't you need to know the relief before adjusting the truss rod since ultimately the truss rod isn't for adjusting action but relief? Action changes are just a side effect.
What kind of strings are those?
What gauge strings did you put on
Action still high. Lower than previously, but still high.
I'm with you it looks still too high, I could add more but most of you have covered what you don't like,
I got the d 10 e new, when delivered I physically couldn't play it! The action was ridiculous high, unbelievable? Don't understand why Martin are letting them leave the factory like that??? So bad
Martin seems to have a lot of neck issues for what they charge for these guitars
What strings you use
I've owned about 10 Martins in my life ... ranging from standard series HD-28 to three nice Custom Shops. Every single one had high action. I've never played a Martin in a guitar shop that didn't have high action. All of the ones I've owned needed the truss rod tweaked, the bridge lowered, and the nut slots filed down. I play with a light touch (I play fingerstyle and no longer use a flatpick). My local guitar store had a guy that was too chicken to file the nut slots. So I bought a set of files from StewMac, watched some UA-cam tutorials, and did them all myself. The first one was nerve-wracking to do. But each subsequent one gets easier. I do the set-ups on all my guitars and they play like butter. My friends are blown away at how easy they are to play. Also, using Martin strings will make any Martin sound like crap!
What strings do you use please
Hello! We use whatever the customer requests on repairs, but if you are looking for a recommendation for strings we love D'Addario strings - especially their XS coated strings! They have become the favorite of our technicians!
I don’t think I would take my guitar to this guy.
This video solidifies for me that the road series Martins seem to have a high action issue out of the box. I’m getting ready to sand the saddle on mine also after a truss rod adjustment couldn’t solve my high action.
I adjusted my truss rod and still had to take some off the saddle. Good thing is bridge is super thick so if I’m future needed more could take some off there. Mines a D10e
Truss rod is not meant for action adjustments.
@@barbarafogle3541 truss rod adjustment definitely brings the action down around the middle of the board but not right at the end obviously
@@paulbateman81 yeah but unless you are warping the shit out of your neck its not enough to even care about. Less than a millimeter. Its still not the purpose or the right way to do it. Its the equivalence of letting air out of your tires to lower your car. Learn how to lower your bridge and nut slots or buy a decent guitar where you can.
@@barbarafogle3541 D10 is a decent guitar. The relief was massive on mine so had to adjust the truss rod and the action improved massively. From memory almost a whole turn of truss rod to get 8 thou relief.
Saddle got sanded and now it’s great. Nut was cut fine from factory. The action got worse in the first six months on its own which I assume was the wood settling down in uk climate. Now it’s nice and playable.
I thought you are supposed to remove string tension before a truss rod adjustment?
No, you must always adjust the rod with the strings in tune.
@@mind2adaptor can you explain why because I always heard the opposite?
@@plasma3211 I think it's that saying about skinning a cat. It's not going to hurt unless it's a cheaply made guitar. The main thing to focus on is to do very minor adjustments to the truss rod.
@@plasma3211 watch this video, he explains why.
ua-cam.com/video/KFlIFN8oPDw/v-deo.html
@@mind2adaptor Ah ha! That’s how the neck is gonna live! Thanks for the reeducation sir!
anyone know the name of the tune at 7:01?
It could be "Run to You" by Bryan Adams.
You don't tell us how high the E spring was, in 12 frets,? 2 mm the twin E string is ok...
Action looks the bloody same to me. Still looks high. Also, I'm surprised this kind of workmanship with a Martin name on the headstock should even be allowed to be released.
Yes! Have the same issue with Road series!!😤😤👎👎
r u in nj
I have been playing and setting up my own guitars for over 50 years. I’ve never had a truss Rod issue aside from minor adjustments. I just bought a 00-15M from a Reverb seller. It arrived with a very bowed neck and of course very high action. I adjusted the rod until the neck is straight but now the adjustment nut is barely engaged. In my experience there is always tension. If I keep turning clockwise will it just unscrew?
The seller is a scumbag and I’m left with what I think is a lemon.
Without seeing the actual guitar it is hard to say for sure but every 00-15M we have ever seen has a dual action truss rod. It is possible but unusual to have a stripped truss rod or the adjustment may be just in the 'float' range of the dual action adjustment. Definitely hard to say without it in front of us but should the adjustment nut should not just unscrew. If it is not stripped turning it further should force the rod to counteract the current neck relief.
Music Village USA
@@MusicVillageUSA, thank you for the feedback. I thought about a float on the thread but since I’ve never experienced that I was afraid to keep turning. I think I’ll try it. What would it hurt really. If the truss Rod is bad it needs professional repair anyway.
If it is bad, shame on the Reverb seller. Also, Reverb is no help.
Can all Martins be corrected like this? I have a D15m and the action is awful. Makes me want an Alvarez for $600.00 instead. But I want to love my Martin but I don’t because of that action.
All Martins can be adjusted, the methods may be slightly different depending on what exactly needs to be adjusted on your guitar. But take it to a local luthier and they will be able to help you out!
They come with 7/64 action out the factory which to me is okay with 12 gauge strings but I play very heavy. Very easy to just stand down the saddle yourself to 6/64 which is what most people prefer. The biggest difference between the Martin and your Alvarez is that Martin Frets are pleked from factory ans your Alvarez's most likely uneven. The Martin also has a nicer Bass sound and smells like Christmas instead of toxic chemicals.
@@cooloutac well I settled on a Taylor. Now I have two guitars lol I’m satisfied though as that Taylor sounds pretty amazing and the action is good too. But odd thing is I’m starting to really like playing the Martin too. 🤷♂️😬
@jayman1338 Taylor is a good guitar they just don't have enough bass sound for my preference. I think they are the better option though if you plan to use an amp or like to play lead .
@@cooloutac yeah I lead praise & worship at my Christian church, so I bought me a Taylor 114ce-sb. You’re right on the fact it’s great for lead. But you’re also correct in saying it lacks a little bit of that lower Martin tone that my Martin has. That’s kinda why I’m now gravitating towards my Martin now as well. I had the action lowered a bit on it and it’s pretty good, not bad. But it doesn’t have that nice bright tone like the Taylor Spruce top has, as the Martin D15m has more of midrange tone like for playing folk style music I’d think. But that lower tone is so obviously there. It’s like twice that of my Taylor. But I still gotta take my hat off to the Taylor I bought as it really does sound amazing as well. Got it for $1100.00 and my Martin for $1200.00 but that was while back when I bought my Martin. Now days it’s like 14 to $1800.00 .
My dream guitar is a Martin D18 and then the D45 🔥
Why did he buy a guitar with action too high?
Truss rod adjustments should be done with string tension relieved. That adjustment is for neck relief which should be straight flat or have only the slightest relief when completed. If the guitar has a lot of up bow a truss rod adjust may lower the action some which may then require a saddle or bridge adjustment. However, before any of this is done, nut slot clearance at the first fret, fretting at the third fret is checked for a proper string distance. The order of adjustment is nut, truss rod, saddle.
Wrong
Doesn't really matter what order you do. But me personally I would have avoid moving the truss rod as long as relief is within specs and no major buzz in middle of neck.
Well i watched but i did not see much difference in the action.
You can see the relief in the neck is way too much.
Adjusting the truss rod with full tension on the strings? That can't be right!
The truss rod is often adjusted under full string tension. I think it is correct, at least to a lot of people.
@@borojammin6509 Actually, I always adjusted the truss rod with full string tension, until I saw a luthier say that you should never do that,....so I now loosen the strings a bit first. So if it works either way, I guess it is not important. So you are right. Probably.
@@simmosimmo100 this, I do as well. Loosen, adjust, tighten
Always adjust the truss rod with the strings in tune.
I have a so called unadjustable Yamaha fg460 with high action. Guitar dude wanted 700 to reset the neck. piece of junk!
That guitar has epoxy in the neck joint and thus cannot be reset. (You would destroy the guitar trying to get the neck off.) And the 460 has a truss rod and can be adjusted. Hell, my 230 has a truss rod, and it's from 1969. First generation FG. 12 string.
very careless about the strings scratching the guitar finish.
The finish is not getting scratched just by touching the strings on it, it's not made out of sugar, relax.
@@mind2adaptor It will get scratched by the string ends that are flailing around.
@@teashea1 we agree that he should be more careful and let the strings to the side and not on the top of the guitar. But the way he did it, the strings were not flailing around, the guitar was standing still. He left them there on the top, sanded the saddle and then he put them back into the slots. Maybe the sound that you heard made you believe that the finish was scratched but nothing happened, it's not so easy.
@@teashea1 Then it would be a very poor finish on the guitar if that happened..really!
Loosen strings before tightening the rod
Why? Not necessary
Can’t believe you did that all BEFORE putting the NEW strings on.
If the string gauge is staying the same, adjust everything you possibly can and need to before the string change. The new strings will only make it sound even better.
Correcting a Martin guitar action?! Shameful it left the factory like that from the 'premier' acoustic manufacturer in the world.
Everybody has their own preference with how action feels. Martin tends to have their action higher on higher end models because of a few reasons like how they are made for bluegrass playing and it tends to be easier to adjust action down than up. Depends on model like I said. Keep that in mind. Some love high action. Greater sustain and louder sound.
@@gamersinger5118
Come on man, the action on this guitar was atrocious. Should never have left the factory under that terrible condition.
How discusting that a Martin has these problems i sure wont be buying one there made in Mexico now
Comment?
God , so boring..
And put the strings on right
Imho the action can be lower...
Man, looping those string ends is the worst. Cannot get them undone in the middle of a gig, super frustrating. No need for that.
Agreed!!!
Truss rod adjustment won’t fix that bad an action!
I can fix it
Me too !
Hack
Ya know you’re supposed to loosen the strings when you TIGHTEN the Truss rod don’t you?.?
No, you always adjust the truss rod with the strings in tune.
Nope
That's exactly what I was thinking. Give the thing a chance to adjust. Loosen off the strings so the truss rod doesn't have to work as hard.
@@shawndesjardins3841 supposed to have it in tune for proper tension
no u aren’t haha