Neck relief or sand the saddle?

[Monter]

After not having used it for years my Variax 300 nylon string action is way too high, the manual tells me how to adjust 'neck relief', but I can't convince myself that will cure the string height which is a whopping 4mm at the twelfth fret. Am I right and does that mean lowering the string height from the bridge by sanding the saddle down?  

[cruisinon2]

After not having used it for years my Variax 300 nylon string action is way too high, the manual tells me how to adjust 'neck relief', but I can't convince myself that will cure the string height which is a whopping 4mm at the twelfth fret. Am I right and does that mean lowering the string height from the bridge by sanding the saddle down?

You're never gonna be able to shave enough height from the nut to compensate for action that high. You'll just end up with strings buzzing on the lower frets. Its unlikely that this is the problem anyway. Nylon strings don't exert nearly as much force on the nut as steel strings. The nut should last decades unless it was cut improperly in the first place. I have a beautiful old Kohno nylon string that's 40+ years old with the original nut, and it's just fine.

 

An acoustic that's been left sitting for an extended period of time could have all sorts of issues, depending on the conditions. An excessively dry environment will likely give you a significant forward bow, which would account for the high action. Too much humidity and the top may have swelled, raising the bridge and the action along with it. If you're not comfortable diagnosing the cause, take it to someone who is before you put axe to wood, or you might make things worse.

[Monter]

Yep, make sense, similarly I have a 1971 Yairi which has never required any replacements and sounds great...but I'm not sure any mic system will work that well, they all look so clumsy and need more boxes in the chain to make it all work. Thanks for the feedback.

[silverhead]

I'm not exactly clear on the terminology being used here. In your question and the reply I see the terms saddle, nut, and bridge all being used. Of course all are relevant but they are different pieces of the guitar. Your question asks about sanding the saddle so it's important to understand that the piezos live in the saddle. You certainly don't want to sand them down. I don't know about the construction of the nylon Variax but presumably you can remove the saddles/pickups and sand the bridge down, then replace the saddles.

[cruisinon2]

I'm not exactly clear on the terminology being used here. In your question and the reply I see the terms saddle, nut, and bridge all being used. Of course all are relevant but they are different pieces of the guitar. Your question asks about sanding the saddle so it's important to understand that the piezos live in the saddle. You certainly don't want to sand them down. I don't know about the construction of the nylon Variax but presumably you can remove the saddles/pickups and sand the bridge down, then replace the saddles.

I thought he was talking about the nut. Guess I forgot how to read the other day...lol