How do you like to have your action?

Hertz32 · February 2015

Update: I now have bass side at 1.5 and treble at just under 1.35 At 12th. Liking it so far

Gonna check all the frets are level at my next restring and pup change along with a fret polish

hywelg · February 2015

To me it was always a goal to have a guitar good enough to have a really low action. I always thought that i would be able to play better with a low action. Case of a bad workman blaming his tools!. Now that I do have guitars good enough I prefer the tone of a moderately high action. I hit hard and find that a low action changes the note resonance when playing cleanish. So currently, not measured mind, approx 3mm bass side (52g) and 2mm top E (10g).

Gassage · February 2015

Re the opening post

In a group, with rubber and leather...

Lev · February 2015

I assume these measurements are taken from the top of the 12th fret and not the fretboard?

Maynehead · February 2015

Lev said:

I assume these measurements are taken from the top of the 12th fret and not the fretboard?

Yes, top of the 12th fret to the bottom of the string, whilst the guitar is in the playing position.

Megii · February 2015

I tend to go for about 1.3 to 1.5 mm on the high E, and maybe 1.8 mm on the low E. I don't mind going a tad higher than that though - I find some guitars just don't seem to like a very low action, however good and level the frets are. I use fairly heavy strings and pick quite strongly. I find it easier to get away with a low-ish action with heavier gauge strings, lighter strings kind of flap about more. I can set the action lower than I've said on some of my guitars, but I actually find I need a certain amount of resistance under the fingers, too light an action just doesn't suit my technique.

EricTheWeary · February 2015

On the seedy side.
Failing that how the person who had the guitar before me had it!
I've never tried measuring but I guess mediumish. I do usually tweak it a bit so the strings don't follow the curve of the radius in the way you might expect so I have a higher action on the high E in relation to the set up and a bit higher on the B. IIRC Jimmie Vaughan has something similar as does J Mascis ( I think his action maybe even flatter across the strings).

Hertz32 · February 2015

Mascis plays the bow and arrow, not guitar.

Gassage · February 2015

I'm with the medium action crew.

THing is, I find it hard on vintagey rad guitars to bend big perfect 4ths or whatever if the action is too low. Like to get me fingers under the strings.

Of course, if I could djent it would be different!

ThePrettyDamned · February 2015

On my strat, medium - makes muting easier.

On shred machines, paint them strings on

ICBM · February 2015

High enough not to rattle at all when I hit it in my usual hamfisted manner, or bend a string at least a tone up above the 12th fret and attack it hard.

Probably quite high by most people's standards, although not anything like J Mascis height. I play quite like him though, so I understand why he would do that even though it looks odd - and is probably unnecessary even then, it really is quite hilarious.

Hertz32 · February 2015

is a little bit of buzz generally acceptable when I dig in on an open note?

ICBM · February 2015

Hertz32 said:

is a little bit of buzz generally acceptable when I dig in on an open note?

To me, no - although it depends what you mean by 'dig in'. You can get any guitar* to rattle if you really thrash it, the question is whether you would do that in normal playing.

*Well, apart from J Mascis's Jazzmasters, probably...

JudasVigilante · February 2015

I go with a medium height, but I have 20 odd guitars and different heights (slightly) on them all. As someone above said unless it feels completely horrible and unplayable to you, then no matter the measurement, it'll be fine.

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How do you like to have your action?

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