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Putting finishing touches on my latest build and normally I bolt up the bridge and neck to test fit everything one last time before gluing. Broke my own rule this time thinking everything looked good and getting too anxious to hear it play sooooooo.

I ended up with a short saddle which I think has impacted the volume but not bad enough to make me want to risk removing the bridge or neck to correct. My action is a little on the high side so looks like I need to take the saddle down even further which is my concern.

I also think the bridge is thick enough to take some off the top at the saddle and bridge pin area which would expose more of the saddle and hopefully create a string break angle that will increase my volume.

Any thoughts on this approach?

You might be less likely to damage the top of the guitar if you just removed the bridge before reshaping it. How is the neck attached? If it is a bolt-on, I'd reset the neck angle before I adjusted the bridge. I've never steamed a dove-tail but those who do repairs regularly say that it is not too bad a job but you do have to have the required equipment.

How tall is your bridge? If it is the correct hieght then reset the neck angle. If it is a bolt on, you should be able to make the adjustment without completely removing it. Just loosen it up and floss it.John How38674.3519328704

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

Ahhh, never thought of flossing. It is a bolt on but the fret board is glued on. If I am understanding you, I will simply remove the bolt and remove some wood with sandpaper??

As far as pulling the bridge - I was trying to avoid that because I have never had great success getting it off without some damage to top. I did consider Todds thought of ramping the bridge a little and might do a little of that also. I think I have a little too much bridge height.

Thanks guys

John is right. You need to fix the neck angle. Even if it's playable now, it won't be for long as the top bellies a bit and everything settles in under tension. You've got no room for saddle adjustment so a neck reset will be needed at that point anyway. To lower the bridge is a bush league band-aid for a larger problem. Pwoolson38674.3609143519

I agree with Paul.

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Rian Gitar og Mandolin

you don't have to remove the screws, and in fact i would recommend against it.loosen just enough to get your stickit gold in between the heel and the body.

this presupposed that there is not too big an adjustment to be done. what is the height of your action at the 12th fret? where does a straight edge laid on the fret board meet the bridge, i.e. how far below the level of the bridge at the saddle?

if there is a significant amount to take off, it may be quicker and less frustrating to remove the neck to remove the necessary amount of heel.

That's a lot of angle to correct, so you may as well un-glue the fretboard extension(easy job...) and start over.

No need to remove the bridge at all.

It looks to me like you have over a 16th of saddle showing, I like an 8th or slightly more. It takes relativley little material removal from the heal to get a big gain in height at the saddle. I would simply loosen the neck bolts and use some say 80 grit machinist cloth and floss the heel. Just a few passes on both side of the tenon and you'll get the string height you need. A lot less painfull than removing the fingerboard. At least I'd try that first. You can always remove the neck later if you can't get the height from flossing.

By the way, how tall is your bridge? It's difficult to see but in the picture, it does appear to be a bit on the tall side but maybe not.

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Tickle your guitar daily, and it'll tickle you back.

How much do you want to lower your action, first? Then add how much more saddle you want. Then do the math. I like to see 3/16" of saddle on a new guitar.

Un-gluing the fretboard is a 2 minute task that will shave an hour from the rest of the job. I don't see this as a simple 'few swipes' reset.

Ahhhh lots of great feedback here, really appreciate it.

I think I am going to attack this in a few ways. First I plan to measure up the bridge and saddle as suggested and do the math. Might gain a slight bit by thinning the bridge which may be a little thicker than needed and intended.

Then I will attempt the flossing to see what gains I might accomplish.

And if that doesnt give me what I need, will heed the advise of the others and pull the neck to reset.

Thanks to all, very helpful

Update

Well, I looked at the bridge height and it was dead on height
based on Martin specs. Decided to take harder road and
removed the neck which came off more easily than I expected
(or maybe experience is finally kicking in). Shaved the heel
and re-installed and now I have good saddle height, string
break angle and good action.

I always get nervous about removing fingerboard and bridge
joints. In the past I seem to have caused more damage than
expected. This time, I took my time, polished up the thin putty
knife I used and used some duct tape to protect the
soundboard at the edges where the fingerboard edges lie.

To my pleasant surprise, no damage done and no need to
touch up finish.

Thanks again guys for encouraging me to do the right thing and
for all the tips as well along the way. I needed more adjustment
than I think I could have got by flossing the edges and did give
that a shot before moving forward with the removal of the neck.

Hey Rich,

How did you heat your neck and f/b extension to soften the glue? Was it a dovetail joint, or m/t? I may have to do something similar soon...and I'm afraid...very afraid!

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http://www.presnallguitars.com

I understand. In fact I have faced this a few times and have ruined a couple of nice tops to the point I had to strip the top and re-do. This was totaly the result of my lack of patience and taking care.

Here is my approach this time which worked great.

First, I pust some duct tape along the edge where the fingerboard attached to the soundboard. Did not press to much on tape as I was concerned about tackiness of duct tape and didnt want to lift finish. Just laid id down so when I started to slide my putty knife in I wouldn't mar the top at the entry point.

Next, I polished the putty knife to around 400 grit to make sure there were no burrs or defects that would mar the top,, and also wanted it to slide into the joint with least amount of resistance.

This was a bolt on and only glued at fingerboard so I removed the bolt

Then with dry household iron (no steam), heated the fret board for about 3-4 minutes as if I were ironing my shirt. In other words kept it moving the entire area of the board where it was glued to the soundboard.

Little my little and very carefully, got the putty knife to enter from the corner near the soundhole, rather than attacking it from the side.

Once I got it to slide in just a little, it went very smooth. Just kept heating a little and gaining with the knife. Also attacked the other side again near soundhole to gain entry, and then simply kept moving from focus on one side to the other, heating and gaining with entry.

At one point, the knife started making real progress like it was sliding through butter and the neck simply popped of. No damage to the soundboard and just needed a little scraping with a razor blade to remove the light glue film.

Hope this helps.

Rich, glad it worked out for you. A couple of suggestions for the future (hopefully there won't be a need)
On the top beside the fb extension, I use corregated cardboard. It does two things for me. The thickness helps insullate from the heat and I feel the corregations act as a heat sink. There is very little heat that gets to the top. I use this for bridges as well.
I'd keep duct tape far away from guitars if I were you. I think you are lucky that it didn't mess up your finish. Even the blue painter's tape will eat nitro. I'd stick to plain masking tape and get it off as quickly as possible.

Thanks for the advise Paul and your idea of cardboard sounds very interesting - will definately try that