'72 Guild S-100 woes...neck straight, bridge down, action too high!

[adamthemute]

Hi there.

I have this old beat up Guild S-100 I love but it seems to have an issue. With the neck straight, very little relief, and the bridge all the way down, the action is too high starting at about the 8th fret (about 3mm) and rises from there (4mm at the 12th).



Can this be fixed without a neck reset?

Any info would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Adam

[PB Wilson]

Probably needs a reset, but can you avoid this by finding a low-profile tune-o-matic?

[adamthemute]

Originally Posted by PB Wilson

Probably needs a reset, but can you avoid this by finding a low-profile tune-o-matic?

I thought about this...did you know of any solid replacements?

[Sweetfinger]

Set the neck with no relief or even a little back-bow, slot the saddles as deep as possible, eliminate bridge height wherever possible. You can refret with taller fretwire. It may be an artifact of the photo but it looks like a big hump in the neck where it meets the body.

[Chris Scott]

You might post some picks, in order to get a better idea what bridge might work on that thing - Guilds sometimes have some slightly odd hardware...

[adamthemute]

Originally Posted by Sweetfinger

Set the neck with no relief or even a little back-bow, slot the saddles as deep as possible, eliminate bridge height wherever possible. You can refret with taller fretwire. It may be an artifact of the photo but it looks like a big hump in the neck where it meets the body.

There is a very slight increase in height when the neck meets the body, from the 18th fret to the end of the fretboard. There is also an uneven paint job over the binding at the 17th fret (looks like a bend in my first picture), which leads to to believe the guitar may have been reset or repaired in it's 40 year life (possibly the problem!).

Originally Posted by Chris Scott

You might post some picks, in order to get a better idea what bridge might work on that thing - Guilds sometimes have some slightly odd hardware...

Bridge shown below, with the saddles all the way down:

[liberator32]

Originally Posted by adamthemute

There is a very slight increase in height when the neck meets the body, from the 18th fret to the end of the fretboard. There is also an uneven paint job over the binding at the 17th fret (looks like a bend in my first picture), which leads to to believe the guitar may have been reset or repaired in it's 40 year life (possibly the problem!).



Bridge shown below, with the saddles all the way down:

Is that bridge on backwards and does moving it around 180 degrees get anything lower? I am not near one of mine to know. But I would try that for starters. Worst case is you re-intonate. If the re-set is necessary you'll be pulling it apart anyway!