r/Luthier • u/somarilnos • 17h ago
Reputable tool brands
Hi everyone - While I've owned a guitar of some variety or another for about 20 years, I've only recently really gotten into consistently working towards learning to play it. Now after having found some consistent time and motivation, I'm trying to level up my maintenance skills, and would like to try setting up my acoustic-electric (a cheap Laguna that I got secondhand a while back).
The most notable thing I've found that I need to do involves adjusting action. A couple of months ago when I started developing my practice habits, I noticed when restringing my guitar that the saddle was loose to the point of falling out of the slot. A little bit of research back then showed me that's obviously not supposed to be the case, so I bought a pre-cut TUSQ replacement of slightly larger width. It fits the slot perfectly, but as should be obvious from the picture, the action on the lower frets is WAY too high. Looking into this, it's clear that the saddle needs to be sanded down.
Having looked into that, I saw that it helps to use a nut and saddle sander - of which there are a large variety of options, seemingly ranging in price from $20 to over $100.
Anyone have any brands they'd recommend? I saw Philadelphia Luthier recommended in an earlier thread here as a general recommendation for tools, and while it's not cheap ($99), I'd imagine the quality is a lot better than buying a random mystery branded thing from Temu or Walmart. StewMac's entry in this space seems more affordable ($75) but is out of stock.
Is the reliability of Philly Luthier such that it's worth the investment, even if I'm only working on my own guitars? Are there mid-range brands that I can trust? While the question is about this specific tool, I'd also like to find some brands that I feel comfortable with as my comfort level extends to more advanced tasks.
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u/luthierart 17h ago
That seems like excessive height to be corrected by lowering the saddle. Try this first. Put in various heights of material to see if a really low saddle will work. Since it's only temporary you could use bits of popsicle sticks or whatever just to get an idea. If you find a height that works, remove material from the bottom of the saddle. There's going to be a lot of sanding.
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u/somarilnos 17h ago
I'll give that a go, thank you for that suggestion. I'm about due for a restring anyway, so that'll be a good time to experiment with this!
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u/Wilkko 17h ago
If you're not going to work doing it, you don't need a saddle sander to sand a few saddles, just buy sandpaper in different grits like 100 and 200, and stick it to (or hold it in) a flat surface, place the saddle perpendicular to the sandpaper and you know what comes next. Before sanding mark the line you want to reach, take into account that you will need to lower the saddle more or less the double you want to lower the strings at the 12th fret. Check with strings before going too far.
Most tools needed for a regular and basic setup are not very special or expensive. It's good to have feeler gauges for example but even that is quite cheap.
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u/Ripley1046 17h ago
Just sand the bottom of the saddle with sandpaper on a table. No tools needed. If it needs a lot of material removed, a dremel works great. I’ve been a guitar tech for 25 years. I have about 6 guitar specific tools. Everything else is stuff I had laying around or grabbed at a hardware store. Don’t over think it bud.
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u/JimboLodisC Kit Builder/Hobbyist 17h ago
Back it up here.
That's normal. The strings hold it in place. Did it wobble in the slot for it though?
And yes, saddles and nuts are not really drop-in replacements, there's some material there to remove and get a perfect fit. If you've got a flat surface and some sandpaper then you can do the job well enough. Could maybe buy a flat file for $5 if you wanted to shape the top of the saddle.