The main problem I had with my Academy guitar was the very high and non-adjustable action (the height of the strings above the neck). This made playing bar chords and playing high up the neck very difficult and tiring due to the high force needed to press the strings down to the fretboard. More expensive guitars allow the action of each string to be adjusted—the Academy has a simple curved plastic bridge which does not allow this.

What I did was to modify the bridge to provide a fixed lower action. If you try this, note that it is an irreversible modification, short of buying or making a new bridge, so make sure you’re not just wimping out of developing strength. Also make sure the fault isn’t in the neck—ensure that the neck is reasonably straight. I take no responsibility for any damage caused by following my lead—you are on your own!

Measurement

Find a guitar that you find easy to play and want to copy. Make sure the difference isn’t all in the string gauge, then measure the distance from the bottom of each string to the top surface of the 12th fret on this guitar. Measure these gaps on your guitar—you should find the gap is larger by a couple of millimetres on yours. Note this difference (x[n]) for each string.

As the 12th fret should be positioned exactly halfway along the string between the nut and the bridge, we can see that to achieve a lowering of x[n] at that point, we need to lower the point where each string touches the bridge by twice that amount: 2x[n]. This will affect the intonation very slightly, as the string length will be reduced, but the effect is negligible.

Surgery

Using a knife, make a small nick in the bridge to indicate the point where each string touches. Mark one side of the bridge so that you know which side faces the neck. Remove all the strings and slide or pull the bridge out. Make a mark at 2x[n] vertically below each contact point. Using a small round file, gently file a dip into the bridge vertically down from each contact point to each depth mark.

If you want to be cautious, don’t file all the way down to the mark first time. You must ensure that the lowest point in the filed-out section is vertically below the original string contact point to retain the string spacing and alignment. Round off the edges of the dip such that the string will touch the bridge at the centre of its thickness at a single point.

Completion

Replace the bridge (right way around!), re-string, tune up and try it out! Here’s a couple of pretty poor quality pictures of the finished article: