eldegas.com

Barry wrote:

charles wrote:perhaps in the width or thickness of the saddle material?

That's what I was thinking

charles wrote:I'd look at that saddle - it does appear very high as Barry noted.

Problem I've found is that saddles for these guitars are kind of hard to come by. Since you have one that fits in there...

It's a generic saddle, and it was accually too wide to fit in the metal piece. I had to shave the bottom half of it down with a razor blade to allow it to slide into place.
I think I'll shave it down a little more to try and get the action the way I like it. If I screw it up, It's another $10 saddle and a few more hours. Right now, it seems to hold it's tuning fairly well. Does changing the string height off the fret board have much impact on the intonation? If so, I might just leave it as is...

Here's the first pics I thought to take while I was fixing er' up:







I know of a good guitar builder in Halifax I'll take it to for an opinion. I love this guitar more every time I pick it up!!

Cheers, Matt

matty wrote:...It's a generic saddle, and it was accually too wide to fit in the metal piece. I had to shave the bottom half of it down with a razor blade...

Oh no!
You should not be using a razor blade. You need to be rubbing it against a fixed piece of fine grit sand paper and ensuring that the edge is perfectly flat and straight! Take your time, remove a small amount at a time, and continuously check with a steel straight edge.

...Does changing the string height off the fret board have much impact on the intonation?...

No. Intonation is a function of the distance from the last fret to the saddle. That's why you need to have the correct compensation angles (faceted parts) on the saddles, since there is no individual adjustment on an acoustic as there is on an electric.

I know of a good guitar builder in Halifax I'll take it to for an opinion. I love this guitar more every time I pick it up!!

Very good idea. And yes, you will continue to love it. It's a great guitar.

HEY, ive got myself a GB 23 originaly purchased in NS ... belonged to my father... id be interested to see how many of these things are kicking around NS i know growing up in BC i was the only kid i knew with an el degas not to mention this model...

just realized my guitar has no serie No. ... weird

Sativalover420 wrote:just realized my guitar has no serie No. ... weird

No loss - there is no recorded serial numbering system to cross reference it to anyway.

Matt - Wow; this truly is an amazing find. I'm in the midst of tuning up/repairing this same guitar which was my Dad's and the one I learned on as a kid; still blows newer acoustics out of the water in sound/tone/volume. I'll post some pics so we can compare the two..

The only thing that I need to replace is the crappy string-pitted plastic saddle. Any suggestions? Anyone know if bone is a good/possible replacement for this model or must it be plastic?

adam wrote:...The only thing that I need to replace is the crappy string-pitted plastic saddle. Any suggestions? Anyone know if bone is a good/possible replacement for this model or must it be plastic?

Hi Adam. Bone should be just fine, many people prefer it over plastic. Just be sure to match the curve on the top.
I'm not sure what you mean by "string-pitted" though. Is the original one damaged or split? Some light grooving is normal but if the string has chewed deeply into the edge then it needs replacing.

Barry; had to go with a new plastic nut and saddle as bone or anything else is just too hard to track down in my area...yes, the old plastic saddle was severely string chewed.

Groovy!

Plastic is not the end of the world - Gibson ships all their electric guitars with plastic nuts.
Bone, Tusq, Graphtec, et. al. are BETTER, but hey

Plastic vs. Bone: I can only see there being an audible difference with the saddle; does the nut really matter that much being so far away from the sound hole?

adam wrote:Plastic vs. Bone: I can only see there being an audible difference with the saddle; does the nut really matter that much being so far away from the sound hole?

Many would say "yes". The distance to the sound hole doesn't matter, it's how much of the string's energy (vibration) transmits through the neck and bridge to the sounding board (top). Tusq and natural bone simply do a more efficient job of that, hence more volume and a better tone.

Barry wrote:

adam wrote:Plastic vs. Bone: I can only see there being an audible difference with the saddle; does the nut really matter that much being so far away from the sound hole?

Many would say "yes". The distance to the sound hole doesn't matter, it's how much of the string's energy (vibration) transmits through the neck and bridge to the sounding board (top). Tusq and natural bone simply do a more efficient job of that, hence more volume and a better tone.

That's exactly why I got rid of the adjustable bridge and the plastic saddle on my edj200.How can the strings effciently transfer vibrations to the soundboard through a piece of plastic that sits in a pot metal slot of a plywood guitar ! Stupidest design gibson ever came up with.
Charles I still have the adjustable bridge , it's yours if you want it.Should fit the hummingbird.

el dougo wrote:

Barry wrote:

adam wrote:Plastic vs. Bone: I can only see there being an audible difference with the saddle; does the nut really matter that much being so far away from the sound hole?

Many would say "yes". The distance to the sound hole doesn't matter, it's how much of the string's energy (vibration) transmits through the neck and bridge to the sounding board (top). Tusq and natural bone simply do a more efficient job of that, hence more volume and a better tone.

That's exactly why I got rid of the adjustable bridge and the plastic saddle on my edj200.How can the strings effciently transfer vibrations to the soundboard through a piece of plastic that sits in a pot metal slot of a plywood guitar ! Stupidest design gibson ever came up with.
Charles I still have the adjustable bridge , it's yours if you want it.Should fit the hummingbird.

PMing... now!