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UNPLANNED DOWNTIME: 12th Oct 23:45

Neck / Bridge angle wrong. Short saddle on seagull SWS

MaverickMaverick Frets: 8
edited March 2021 in Acoustics
Today i Received a Seagull MaritimeSWS. It's a used model but seemed in good condition and was listed for £500

The first thing i noticed is it sounds a bit dead and not very loud, could be the strings but they look new. Blue ball end on low e? not sure what brand.
So next  i check the bridge saddle, hardly anything there, seems way too short. No room for adjustment it's the usual 2/32 - 3/32 at 12 fret (capo 1st).

I get out the notched straight edge this is resting against the frets.

It's integrated set neck, which i think is a posh name for a bolt on.

Where do i go from here? It was purchased on ebay.

I think it might need a neck reset or the rosewood bridge worked on. Is it likely to cost much for work to be done or should i send it back?



https://imgur.com/oS0wDrI

Straight edge on frets



https://imgur.com/7PVy8xg

https://imgur.com/GjdnsxA

https://imgur.com/as2XTQX

https://imgur.com/naLAna2


Behind bridge

https://imgur.com/sBNPysf









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  • MaverickMaverick Frets: 8



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  • MaverickMaverick Frets: 8



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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 69426
    £500 for a second hand guitar that sells for £629 new and isn't perfect? Send it back.

    You could probably get away with raising the saddle or making a new one, but if it doesn't sound very good then that's unlikely to help much.

    A blue ball end may be a Rotosound - if so the A and D should be white and red. They're OK, that won't be the problem.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • MaverickMaverick Frets: 8
    edited March 2021
    Thanks. Good call on the strings, White and red.

    This is the Rosewood back and side model that i believe is more expensive than mahogany

    Action would be far too high raising the saddle.

    Here is a comparison to my faith Saturn that is a cannon with tons of saddle, It must really make a difference to volume.

    https://i.imgur.com/wg9GEUs.jpg

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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 69426
    That’s actually far too high and risks snapping the saddle. The ideal is a break angle of about 45 degrees or just under, with no more than half the saddle exposed. There may or may not be any correlation to volume - it’s more dependent on the construction of the body than the height of the saddle.

    The Seagull is a bit low, but I’ve worked on a lot of guitars with it like that which sound perfectly good. A bigger problem is that the bridge tends to pull up over time and there’s nowhere to go with that one, without a neck reset or shaving the bridge.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • NogoodboyoNogoodboyo Frets: 4
    I would definitely send it back, there is very little saddle left, and it looks as though the bridge has been slotted in front of the pins. 
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  • MaverickMaverick Frets: 8
    ICBM said:
    That’s actually far too high and risks snapping the saddle. The ideal is a break angle of about 45 degrees or just under, with no more than half the saddle exposed. There may or may not be any correlation to volume - it’s more dependent on the construction of the body than the height of the saddle..
    That's a new martin bone saddle i put in. I do need to shave off a little to bring the action down, but the E, A, D strings are a little sharp so i think i will have to change compensation and then see the height. All the other strings have the right angle it's just the low E that looks like that.

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  • MaverickMaverick Frets: 8
    Nogoodboyo said:
    I would definitely send it back, there is very little saddle left, and it looks as though the bridge has been slotted in front of the pins. 

    Yes the bridge is slotted. I think from the factory.

    The seam that runs down the middle of the back, that joins the wood together isn't flush. So i think that also needs re-gluing...
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  • LewyLewy Frets: 3795
    edited March 2021
    Personally that would need a neck reset before it could be set up in a way I’d be happy with so I’d send it back. 

    One thought...the belly looks to be at the high end of normal. If the guitar also sounds dull and dead could it have been over-humidified for a lot of its life? That would exaggerate the belly and need the saddle to be shaved down to get the action reasonable.
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  • MaverickMaverick Frets: 8
    The seller on ebay  has decided that i don't want it and damaged the guitar and won't be accepting nothing back...




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  • ICBMICBM Frets: 69426
    Maverick said:
    The seller on ebay  has decided that i don't want it and damaged the guitar and won't be accepting nothing back...
    He might think that but Ebay's rules say otherwise.

    To be honest, buyers being able to return things whether there is a legitimate reason or not is one of the reasons I won't sell on Ebay, but the boot is on the other foot here.

    "Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski

    "Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand." - Homer Simpson

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  • LooseMooseLooseMoose Frets: 901
    That’s a turkey, get rid.
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  • MaverickMaverick Frets: 8
    Had an email back from Godin. "Guitar's neck is epoxied to an internal block. It cannot be reset"

    The seller is being a pain. Told me he is not accepting a return, Then accepted and sent postage label.
    I think he is going to refuse delivery...



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