Maybe I don't want my action so low???

axisus · September 2023

I generally like to get the action on my guitars relatively low, but here's the thing. Relating to my recent 'scalloping a fretboard' thread - I bought a cheap neck and scalloped the top 8 frets or so. I fitted it to one of my guitars for a tryout. Initially the action was sky high so I stuck an expensive shim in (Cornflakes are £2.75 these days!). The action was still - to use a technical term, mad high, but I just wanted to have a go and I couldn't be arsed with all that taking the strings off again.

Well, I liked the scallops, and the neck generally felt nice to play. Enjoyably so! After a day or two I stuck another shim in to get the action lower, but weirdly it just didn't play as nicely. It was no longer playing like butter, more like treacle, or maybe porridge that doesn't have enough milk in, but I digress ...

So a day later I changed it again back to the original setup. Woah! the magic is back! This was actually unsurprising from a logical point of view but I'm just trying to enhance a rather dull story.

Well, having had a little fun with the mistress, I went back to my good lady and number one guitar. That kind of fails as my guitar is most definitely not female, it's just wood and bits, but having started the sex analogy I kind of felt obliged to run with it. Note to self - avoid dubious analogies. So yeah, picked up no 1 strat and it just felt a little weird, a little low on the action front (Own up - who was that at the back saying just like your sex life???). It just seemed a tad 'dead' to play in comparison.

So the next logical step is to raise the action on my strat and see what I think. I'll probably have a go later today and report back.
Strat action is probably about 1.2mm at the 12th fret
Scalloped neck about 2.5mm at the 12th fret

The higher action just feels better for bends and vibrato*, also the notes are ringing out quite nicely. I will be interested to see if it 'improves' the strat in my eyes, or better still, in my hands.

*It should be noted that my vibrato on bent notes is bloody awful, but it really does feel easier.

Any comments on action in general feel free to toss em in!

StuartMac290 · September 2023

I'm a big fan of the absolutely bog-standard factory setting of 1/16" on the top E and 5/64" on the bottom. Lower than that starts to annoy me pretty quickly.

Actually, I hate low action on a guitar. It neuters the tone and kills sustain, plus I hate how it feels!

LionAquaLooper · September 2023

I set up all my guitars with the lowest action as possible but I've been finding recently that it doesn't actually make me play any faster or make it easier to fret strings at 12th fret or above because at that point I'm usually fretting the string with my index already anyway and my other 3 fingers then fret an already lowered string. And you're right about the strings ringing out nicer when the action is higher. As long as it's not too bloody high though. I can't be dealing with action as high as a lap steel or violin

HAL9000 · September 2023

Despite received wisdom being the lower the action the better I actually don’t like too low an action. I don’t mean I want a guitar that fights back but I prefer to have to work at it at least a bit.

dazzajl · September 2023

I’m certainly no virtuoso but I do like my guitars to feel a certain way and that’s not always via a low action. I think it’s something about getting the right amount of fight, or push back on the string tension that balances the energy/force that I play with.

Too little and it feels like I’m not keeping up, too much and it feels like the guitar is the one dragging. I’ve come to learn that getting in that Goldilocks zone is more important to me enjoying a guitar than a low action is.

beed84 · September 2023

Yeah, I don't like low action either. I prefer it mediumish height so I can get my fingers under the strings and work with them. I also find it better for chords and deadening strings too.

Low action is great for legato and such but doesn't do much for dynamic playing IMHO. But each to their own, of course.

lovestrat74 · September 2023

I never get hooked on "factory" standards. I can't even see the ruler good enough to know the exact measurements!

TTony · September 2023

Page 73 of the manual says

If it feels right, and you enjoy playing it, then it's right.

But no-one ever reads the manual.

soma1975 · September 2023

I keep thinking I'd be able to play faster with a lower action. Then I lower it and can't get under the strings to grab and shake them.

That lady/sex/mistress stuff makes me do a little vom in my mouth.

I wonder if Rodin referred to his chisels as his sexy bitches.

axisus · September 2023

soma1975 said:

I wonder if Rodin referred to his chisels as his sexy bitches.

Well he was never happier than when he was tool in hand.

axisus · September 2023

Well, I have raised the action on my no 1 guitar, and it's a big thumbs up! A quick 30 mins of playing and it's a much better feel. I can't believe it's taken me all these years to find out!

Philly_Q · September 2023

I like a fairly high-ish action but neck relief is also relevant here. If there's a bit of relief the strings have room to breathe around the middle frets without having to be ridiculously high at the 21st or 22nd.

stickyfiddle · September 2023

I have literally never measured action in 23.5 years playing guitar. Mine is never super low but feels fine and sounds fine. I'm definitely a believer that slightly action sounds better because you get less buzz/losses from mild rattling against the frets. Although admittedly I very rarely play able the 15th fret so I don't care about string height for the really widely bits.

I recommend this approach to everyone.

Sassafras · September 2023

I hit the strings hard so I like a bit of clearance for the strings to vibrate.
I'd say 1.2 mm is ridiculously low.

paulnb57 · September 2023

Ive had an action measuring gauge thing for years and I’ve never been able to read the markings on it, I set it on a fretboard of a guitar I liked the action of and stuck a bit of masking tape along it so I can see it, I now know its 1.8mm, at the 12th…everything is set io the same, I got a new guitar recently and the action was amazingly low, hated it, the top of the low E was level with the line, not the bottom! A bit of adjustment and all is good….is 1.8mm at the 12th considered high?, I really dont care it works for me…

richardhomer · September 2023

I’m old. Low is good…

hollywoodrox · September 2023

A bit of a raise will no doubt give the strings more room to vibrate will it ? Plus you won’t so easily make it go sharp by pressing too hard & it might be better for alternate picking etc .

Voxman · September 2023

I play with quite a light touch (or so I'm told) and I have 9-42's on all my electric guitars, so I generally like my action pretty low - not silly fret rattle low, or so low that you can't get under the string to bend it, but low.

BillDL · September 2023

I usually set the neck relief by eye and feel then set the action to "too low" and gradually raise the saddles while testing for buzzes, rattles and chokes on wide bends. Once I'm happy that each string is ringing as nicely as it should I tweak the saddles slightly to create an offset radius on the strings so that there is a consistent feel across them. The G string is usually the errant one that needs to be a little higher, so getting a nice radius usually involves raising the high E and B strings a small increment more than absolutely necessary. Once done I normally measure the action for curiosity more than anything else, but also as a future reference point. I probably lean towards having the strings slightly higher than the minimum required clearance to avoid buzzing, rattling and choking, but it depends entirely on the guitar. I would say that most of my guitars are set to around 1.75 to 2mm on the bass and 1 to 1.25mm on the treble, but some of my "rhythm" guitars are a bit higher around 2.25mm on the bass and 1.5mm on the treble.

Dave_Mc · September 2023

I used to always assume I'd like a super-low action, but getting more used to higher setups (let's be honest, because I'm too lazy to fiddle with them too much) I got to the point where I realised, like you, that bends and vibrato are probably more difficult with a low action. My ideal setup is really a balancing act between low enough to play the faster stuff relatively easily (or as easily as I can without practising more!) and high enough that bends and vibrato feel easy too.

LOL at the "expensive shims" comment (that's what your LOL is for, not that it's a stupid thread or anything like that!)

Image: /plugins/EmojiExtender/emoji/fb/smiley.png

imalrightjack · September 2023

Sassafras said:

I hit the strings hard so I like a bit of clearance for the strings to vibrate.
I'd say 1.2 mm is ridiculously low.

Wowsers. I aim for 1mm. Some of mine are set at less than that (I think one is around 0.5mm), although could do with coming up a touch.

ICBM · September 2023

I generally prefer 1.5mm (electric) - 2mm (acoustic) on the high E, and about 1.75mm (electric) - 2.5mm (acoustic) on the low E, but it depends on the guitar and the fingerboard radius to some extent. As low as 1mm on something like an Ibanez RG or a Les Paul Custom is usually fine.

I don’t normally set them to those measurements - I set them to how the guitar plays, feels and sounds - but that’s what I then find if I check.

stufisher · September 2023

I'm old school and do is my guitar tech of choice. Here's an example of the set up data he provides for me ... these are my two most expensive guitars and they are set up perfectly for me, so I absolutely love playing them.

Ibanez AM93-AYS-12-02

Pre setup

12th fret: 5x64ths low/3x64ths high

Nut: 17x1000ths low/3x1000ths high

Relief at 7th fret: 8x1000ths

Post setup

Strings - Ernie Ball Slinky (10 - 46)

12th fret: 3x64ths low/2x64ths high

Relief at 7th fret: 3 x1000ths

Gibson LP Traditional 2012

Strings - Ernie Ball Slinky (10 - 46)

Nut Action:

Low E - 14/1000

High e - 8/1000

12th Fret Action

Low E - 3/64

High e - 2/64

Neck Relief - 8/1000 @ 7th Fret

Pickup Height

Neck - Low 4/64 High - 4/64

Bridge - Low 5/64 High - 5/64

axisus · September 2023

@stufisher I literally can't visualise any of that!?!? No wonder they invented millimetres!

Grumpyrocker · September 2023

I tend to aim for around 1.4 - 1.5mm at the high E, and 1.7 to 1.9mm on the low E, depending on the guitar.

I don't like it too low, but I also don't like high actions. I'm happy to trade some fret buzz when banging out riffs for a lowish setup. But I hate it being so low high up the fretboard that it's hard to get under the strings to bend them.

elstoof · September 2023

Under the strings?

elstoof · September 2023

axisus said:

@stufisher I literally can't visualise any of that!?!? No wonder they invented millimetres!

1/64” is a bit less than half a mm

Grumpyrocker · September 2023

elstoof said:

Under the strings?

Figure of speech

Blueingreen · September 2023

I prefer as low an action as the guitar will take without buzzing. For me any disadvantage to bending or vibrato is removed by reasonably tall frets. I’ve occasionally experimented with a very slightly higher action for a while to see if I grow to like it, but the guitar always feels better when I bring it back down again.

Grumpyrocker · September 2023

String height is a real issue for me with all my guitars. Because of my obsessive and neurodivergent tendencies I get obsessed with how the strings look, not what they measure. And can spend ages adjusting.

That said, this obsession did get me to finally fix and shim the neck on my Ibanez.

bbill335 · September 2023

i've had to make adjustments to both my "daily drivers" as i was struggling to sustain notes when playing slide. i think it must be the weather going from heatwaves to mild and humid. slight turn on the truss rods, slight raise of the string height. they feel slightly less "easy" but the slide problem has gone away.

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Maybe I don't want my action so low???

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