I just peruse for the entertainment value 
Thatās a beautiful guitar.
D18 Report
That looks like a nice guitar. Iāve seen quite a few Bourgeois guitars over here at festivals and shop but not had the opportunity to play one. How would something like this compare to a D18 or D18GE?.. My guitar hero Bryan Sutton played Bourgeois at one stage but seems to have gone back to Martinā¦ But I suppose in reality he has all the best guitars available with sponsors wanting him to play ātheirā guitars.
What would be the ultimate setup for a bluegrass guitarā¦Say, for moderately hard rhythm playing and some lead also.
I mean to the nearest .0001"ā¦Action at the nut end and 12th fretā¦and neck relief? We use a single mic in the band and foldback is very restricted because of this so hearing what Iām playing is extremely hard and I tend to overplay. The volume of banjo and Mando is huge at close proximity and at my age when the hearing is tailing off a bit this can be an unpleasant experience. I can get more volume if I increase neck relief and action at the 12th fret but playability then suffers.
What strings are people using? Thickness?
Thanks, Martin ā¦Wet ānā windy in England!!!
Hey Martin,
The ultimate setup depends alot on the player and the basic geometry of the guitar in question. As you mentioned, adjusting action involves tradeoffs between sound and playability. My personal preference is generally to have the action slightly on the low side of median factory specs (I use Martin specs, since thatās mostly what I play). Many bluegrassers prefer very high or very low action.
There are some things that you can do that help playability without hurting tone. One of those is adjustments made at the nut. The actual height of the string at the nut will depend on the height of the frets on the guitar in question. You can measure the fret height and add some thousandths to get a number, but my current favorite way is a way described by Frank Ford here:
frets.com/FretsPages/Luthier ā¦ wnut3.html
In essence, you lower the nut action until pressing down on the string between the 2nd and 3rd frets will result in a very tiny clearance showing between the string and the first fret (a sliver of light type of clearance). I used to measure and use stacked feelers as a stop, but Frankās method has resulted in far better job. I have only done one of my guitars this way, but there is almost no difference in playability when I have a capo at the first fret versus no capo. I think the nut is basically as good as it can get. If I could suggest one thing to start with this would be it. Getting your nut right is a great way to increase playability, and I donāt notice any loss of tone or volume.
My guitars fall somewhere between just under 5/64 to just over 6/64 (3/32) measured on the low E string at the twelfth fret. The high E string is of course a bit lower, but the only time I pay close attention to the high E is when I am shaping a radius on a saddle (not common). My one that has just under 5/64 (low E)is a bit too low for flat picking. I flatpick on it anyway, but it does get a wee bit buzzy when I dig in. I was going to raise the action a smidge, but itās fun to play as it sits, so I havenāt done it. I might be able to remove the buzzing with a fresh fret level and crowning. The way that one got a bit low was I set it up with mediums, but didnāt like the way the belly looked. When I dropped to lights, that was enough change to make a noticeable difference.
I generally set up with very little relief. I start out my setup by setting it flat and generally end up with 5 thousandths or so. I measure relief by putting a capo at 1st fret and hold the string down at 12 and measure the clearance at the 7th fret. I used to always āmeasureā it accurately , but now I generally do it by feel (and eye) and only measure it if something raises a question. I am not looking for a number, but rather the least amount of relief I can do with the other parameters as they sit.
As far as saddle adjustments, this is where I seem to experience the greatest sacrifices in tone when lowering the action. I have seen guitars that sounded great with a very low saddle (and low string break angle). However, how they do that is a mystery to me (and it makes me wonder how good those guitars would sound with a better string break-over angle). As I progressively lower action at the saddle, at some point, I do notice a decrease volume and toneā¦ thatās when I know I might have gone a bit too far.
I am happy to share my thoughts but certainly donāt take my measurements as the āultimateā setup. I am neither a great guitarist nor a great luthier. My picking attack has been changing since I started into flatpicking last year. My setup preferences from my fingerstyle playing before that is certainly different, but not as much as you might guess. Generally a little tweak of relief and I am happy. Some of guitars are set up higher than what I think is ideal, but their tone is great, so I am hesitant to change it. Setup for me is a journey. I will make large adjustments when I first get a guitar, but then I slowly creep up on what I want over time.
My current favorite strings for flatpicking are martin lifespan 7200 (medium phosphor-bronze). I use lights on smaller guitars.
Have fun finding the ultimate setup for you.
Martin,
Not sure how the Slope D would stack up to a D18, I havenāt had a chance to play one yet. I thought it would be a good compliment to my Adirondack/Rosewood D28. That particular Slope D was Sitka/Mahogany. They say those slope shoulder guitars are pretty versatile and are good for fingerpicking as well as flatpicking. Dying to try one.
Good info as usual Mike!
Hey Shawn,
I have played a few sloped 12 fret Martins to compare with 14 fret dreadnoughts. The differences are there, but to me seem subtle. I suspect one would be happy using the slope shoulder guitar for many different things. I have found I enjoy playing the āwrongā way on lots of instruments. I love doing fingerstyle on big guitars and flatpicking on a baritone ukulele. I think if you have a great guitar, it might not the the optimum for a given style, but it will still be a great guitar. Itās all a matter of personal preferences.