I recently purchased a Yamaha classical guitar, new, solid top, just a workin' man's ax. I often need such an animal for gigs and lessons and recording, and I get nervous borrowing one from a good and reliable friend, feeling it's not fair to put his guitar at risk. I haven't actually owned my own in years. Not wanting to waste any life the factory strings had, I left them on until they pissed me off for the last time. I prefer hard tension nylon strings because they don't slip and slide around so much under my fingers, but the guitar was shipped with what felt like rubber bands.

While I was at this little chore of changing strings, I did a general set-up job. Though the guitar sounded acceptable when I bought it, I knew there could be some improvement. While I had the strings off, I touched up a couple of fret ends and dropped the action a hair. The saddle was very uneven on its bottom and I suspect it made poor contact with the bridge. The bottom of the saddle slot was flat enough, though someday I may remove the finish from it as it impedes the transmission of vibration to the top. The saddle itself I sanded flat on a thick slab of Corian with medium to fine sandpapers. When I returned the saddle to its home I discovered that the slot itself was too wide. My option here was to make a new saddle, but instead I returned the original, shimming it (with an appropriate grade of paper) between the soundhole side of the slot and the saddle (NOT under the saddle). I chose that side of the saddle because I had noticed that the intonation erred that way with the factory strings, and suspected it would with the new ones.

It's a good thing classical strings last a long time for me because it takes an annoying day or so to get the stretch out of them. Once I had the strings broken in I did some measuring. The action was much better, and the intonation was dead on. Sustain improved too, as did the individual note clarity and tone. Next time I change strings I'll make a new saddle that fits the slot snuggly without a shim, but save the old one in case of an emergency. My actual time investment was less than an hour and I've got a much better guitar than the one I bought.

I am one of those non-traditionalists who likes strap buttons on my classical guitar. Heel and tail, as on most steel strings these days, was all I wanted. I love locking strap buttons, but on acoustic instruments which may be recorded or played seated with the strap on loosely, I avoid the locks if they are the variety which rattle.