How to fix low action (and fretbuzz) on a gypsy jazz guitar?

pickitjohn

@Nathan Sist

About the humidity issue, I can't be really accurate

Sure you can, AcuRite 00613A1 Indoor Humidity Monitor is what I use.
can be gotten from Amazon, last one I got was from Lowes in the Garden Center with the weather instruments. There about $10.00.
I believe the Philippines has relatively high Humidity, same as Corpus Christi Tx. You may keep an eye out for a DeHumidifier. I keep mine set at 50% and dump the collected water as needed.

Buco

Also consider the possibility that the guitar may have been set up for 11s and maybe you have 10s on it now. If you do have 10 gauge on it try 11s and see what happens.
That's the case with my guitar, last time it was in shop I had 11s on it and that's what it was set up for. When I put 10s, (which is what I most commonly use, I was just experimenting with 11s) it has a slight buzz on the open high E and not every bass note is perfectly clear but if I put 11s everything clears out perfectly.
Eventually I'll take it in and have it set up for 10s, for now I just shim it.

Franz Morales

I just read a description of your guitar model, and I think the guitar naturally comes with a low action? It's described as the most modern playing Gitane model, has lesser volume, with a tone between regular archtops and traditional Selmer copies. So maybe it is as it should be?

Buco

Well that's a good point too. When I listen to some of the top players you can tell they play with very low action because slight buzz is audible in a lot of places. It would bother me but some prefer the playability over tone.

Al Watsky

It all boils down to the geometry of the sound board in relation to the playing surface .
You measure heights and set the action based on player preference and end use. If you don't know what the standards are you will not have any thing to base your set up on.
The model may have its design goal but the player chooses their action based on personal preference.

dondoucette

Neck set angles can vary slightly even on consecutively numbered (identical ?) instruments; the beauty of Maccaferri's design is that the bridge is relatively easy to adjust when it's not glued down. You can raise bass or treble sides independently to a small degree without removing the strings ( just loosen as required ) So you can experiment with various arrangements without committing to any until you've got it. No way to overestimate the importance of humidity control, especially in dry environments. Play on.

chazz

I have some ideas but it is in a general sense.

You may want to do a truss rod adjustment before your bridge, simply because you can make a fixed Gypsy bridge too low and unusable. The shims described may take away sustain and sound, or change the tone.

If you amplify this may not be as big a deal.

Best case is a bridge sitting right on the guitar top unobstructed by a shim or paper.

There are $6 rosewood gypsy bridges you could experiment with sanding and slotting. Do the string slotting, then sand very little set it high, then take a minuscule bit more off, then try it again. When it gets close to where it feels ok check every fret for buzz, plink, deadness.

Also a truss rod may not go lax or loose past a certain point.

But tightening a little at a time is best. Be careful ruining the hex truss rod fixture is a major bummer.

The tighter your strings are, as in thicker with standard E tone tuning, the more it slightly pulls the neck up. A super heavy set tuned to standard could actually pull the neck up a minor bit, so if you use an extra light set and tune the low strings to D G etc the neck may go back down a bit causing a tion to be slightly lower.

JOKE FOR THE DAY

WOULD MARTIN LUTHIER HAVE WORKED ON OTHER BRANDS?