my new cigano gj-10

jokash

Hello everybody! i am new here on the forum.
I recently bought a used cigano gj-10 from a guy and i think its great.
But the problem is that i cant play it comfortly because his stringheight was so high.
I am going to have it lowered.

But up by the first frets up by the nut the strings allready seem to be very low so I wonder
if it is going to work to lower it.?
Somebody has put on to small ships of wood under each side of the bridge? a guess when
they adjusted it for higher action, is that normal?

I have a Furch a 17 40 cm archtop, its a great guitar i recomend it.

Hope somebody can give me some tips about adjusting the action on this thing

Tele295

Lowering the action was my initial thought when I first got a Selmac. A buddy of mine (from whom I bought the guitar) talked me out of it. He said, "Play it for a month. If you can get used to the higher action, you will appreciate the extra volume and clarity the guitar will give you, especially in a jam context."

He was right. It took me a little bit to get used to it, but the sound of the higher action is so clean and pure.

My advice to you: Try it for a month. Play the snot out of the guitar. You chops will be stronger, your tone richer, and volume louder. If it's still too high, tighten up the truss rod a little to remove some neck relief.

jokash

Thank you
I understand what you mean, but the action just seems to be to high,
for example its about 5mm at the 12th fret, isnt that to much?

I am passionate guitar player but a bad guitar tech.
So all it takes is to screw the trussrod to adjust the height?

Tele295

Yeah, 5 mm may be too high. One rule of thumb is to bring it down to about 3.5 mm at the 12th fret (generally the thickness of a Wegen GJ pick), which is still a pretty high action. By tightenting the truss rod, it should affect the action in the lower frets as much as the 12th fret. 1/4 to 1/2 clockwise turn at a time, then let the wood rest and adjust.

Perhaps Josh will chime in here.

Argyle Dave

If I understand correctly, It sounds like you have shims under your bridge. I would remove those first. you may end up with the action being more to your liking. I keep mine at 3-3.5mm at the 12th fret. I would definitely try that before adjusting the truss rod.

Dave

Frank Wekenmann

And be sure you meassure correctly from the top of the 12th fret to the bottom of the string (and not from the fretboard).

jokash

Igot it fixed now.
the action is perfect, I played for hours after fixing it.

This is my first solid spruce top guitar and I love it.
I

Argyle Dave

I'm happy to hear that you fixed your guitar to your liking but I can't help but wonder what the solution was?.

Dave

jokash

I just removed one of the pieces of wood under each side of the bridge,
Is it called shims? i dont now.

I prefer a bridge like i have on my archtop in which a can turn the wheels and
adjust the action that way.