I just bought a 2nd hand 3/4 guitar for the kids to learn on. There is quite a big gap between the fret board and the strings making it hard for their little hands. So I though about taking out the ivory/plastic bridge thing to lower the strings.

Se before i get stuck into it with a pair of pliers and brute force, does this sound sensible?

Yeah, normally you can just pull it out and then file the edge down a bit. You’ll have to take the strings off though. There’s plenty of you tubes about re stringing guitars

The white/ivory bit in question is called the ‘saddle’ and should just pull out. You can then sand the bottom off by rubbing it on a piece of sandpaper held on a flat surface, be careful though as it’s very easy to take too much material off causing string buzz. The height of the strings in relation to the fret board which is called the ‘action’ can be high for various reasons such as the nut slots not being deep enough, the neck bending too far forward which is called the ‘relief’ etc Might be worth taking it into a guitar shop to have it looked at.

It’s fine, if you make an arse of it, you’ll be able to buy a new one, only thing to look out for really is making it too small, you’ll gte fret buzz then(strings too close to the fretboard.) go for it though, action makes alot of difference on guitars.

So its not glued – great. I’ll have a go at ripping it out tonight. I don’t think I’ll get any buzz as the strings are miles above the board even when I press them down at the bridge end.

As it’s second hand guitar, probably worth taking it to a luthier / shop to get it properly ‘set up’ This can involve nut / saddle fettling and truss rod adjustments. All can be done yourself if you know what you are doing, but best done by a pro. That way you should end up with a nicely playing guitar with correct intonation

But can I run the guitar without it?

No!

Ok ta – filing it down it is.

An a aside – I’m quite excited about this. Never played a guitar myself so when I got it in last night I jumped on youtube and 10 min later I was playing the beginning to the the easiest song possible (free falling) – instant gratification!!!! loving it!