So I got my SG tuned up a few months ago at this guitar shop down the street from my apartment. I took it out once right when I got it back, and the action, which was really high when I brought it in, was much better and much lower. Then I had to go do something else so I stuck it back in its case and left.

A couple weeks ago I took the guitar out again and the action sucks. Not sure if I just didn't notice it the first time, or if it just got really bad, but the strings are much too close to the neck now, and the three lowest frets on all the strings are pretty much useless due to muting and buzzing. I'd bring it back, but I'm not sure if they'll do it right this time or do it for free this time since it's been so long. Anyone care to advise if this'd be something to even risk doing myself? I've found a few how to's on Google, but I'm not sure if it's at all a good idea that I try it.

Try turning the thumbscrews under the bridge. That's assuming the guitar shop didn't shave the nut.

You'll probably need to slacken the strings before doing so.

Don't simply lower the bridge. The bridge didn't raise itself while sitting the guitar case, right? The neck likely began to bow while it sat which is possible with a thin SG neck. It's also possible the shop you took the guitar to doesn't have a good tech and they did a shite job of it.

I would suggest looking for a decent luthier in your town and tell him/her what happened and ask them what they would suggest doing to the guitar to bring the playability to your liking. Note that the condition of your frets will also have a lot to do with how low you can go.

It's most likely that it had to do either with the humidity changing or the guitar shop moving the truss rod too much without giving it time to settle.

You should really only need to adjust the truss rod to fix it.

Don't move the bridge. That would be fucking stupid.

Antero wrote:It's most likely that it had to do either with the humidity changing or the guitar shop moving the truss rod too much without giving it time to settle.

This is why I'd suggest finding a different tech/luthier to take you instrument to. I'm not saying that climate change (temp/humidity) couldn't bow your neck drastically but it's unusual to happen that quickly under fairly normal conditions. Like this fellow over wrenched and didn't let the instrument settle before handing it back to you. I'm not a fan of messing with truss rods myself because stripping one can become a very expensive repair.

There are a few skilled workers I need in my life - an honest mechanic, a good cobbler, and a skilled luthier.

If the strings are too close to the neck, sure, try raising the bridge a tiny bit with the thumbscrews. You might also want to try loosening the truss rod by the slightest possible amount--probably a 16th of a turn, but think a 32nd or 64th. Let it sit overnight. You'll need to reset the intonation (position of the bridge saddles) afterwards.

What the hell are you people smoking?

If the action and intonation were fine when he got it back, there is no fucking reason on earth for him to move the bridge at all because the bridge did not move itself while it sat in the case.

Period.

Jesus, it's not like his guitar case is filled with fucking bridge-sabotaging gremlins.

Antero wrote:Jesus, it's not like his guitar case is filled with fucking bridge-sabotaging gremlins.

But if the atmosphere's relative temperature or moisture are different from what they were during the set-up, he could be looking at a change in neck profile, for which the truss rod and bridge changes compensate.

Antero wrote:If the action and intonation were fine when he got it back, there is no fucking reason on earth for him to move the bridge at all because the bridge did not move itself while it sat in the case.

Period.

If that's true, then why does my intonation setting sometimes change from winter to summer and back? Maybe in LA you've forgotten what it's like to live somewhere with weather and seasons and general temp/humidity dynamics?

Also, the tension of the strings is a crucial player in all this. If it's tuned a couple frets lower or higher than it was set up for, that could change the action in noticeable ways. I'm assuming it's tuned the same it was when it was set up, so this isn't the culprit, but just throwing that out there, that changes in string tension (i.e. changes in what it's tuned to or to the gauge of strings on it) can have a big impact on action, especially if the action is set really low to begin with.

hell, if it was sitting in a case face-down versus face-up, that could have an effect even, whether gravity is fighting to bow the neck the same way the strings are fighting to bow it, or fighting against the strings. real small and all, but still.

chambered aluminum neck-through and "hippie sandwich" wood neck-through guitars are more resistant if not immune to these temp/humidity/tension problems.

scott wrote:If that's true, then why does my intonation setting sometimes change from winter to summer and back? Maybe in LA you've forgotten what it's like to live somewhere with weather and seasons and general temp/humidity dynamics?

I didn't say seasons and humidity wouldn't have an effect; the exact opposite, in fact.

Antero wrote:It's most likely that it had to do either with the humidity changing or the guitar shop moving the truss rod too much without giving it time to settle.

((Over four years in Chicago I only had to adjust the truss rod with the season, rather than reworking the intonation at the bridge; neck-through is perhaps partly responsible for that ease))

In this specific case, his guitar was entirely fine when he put it down, and the action was inappropriately low when he pulled it out again - no mention of intonation issues - with buzzing on the first frets. That looks like a neck relief issue to me. Raising the bridge in reaction to such a change would be fixing the problem backwards, and wouldn't help the fact that the neck relief remained improperly set.

While I'm no tech, I see no reason why the problem he describes would call for a bridge adjustment.