What's High action?

[astrozombie]

in terms of say... 64ths?

I ask because I'm looking for a very clean sounding setup on my guitars. i googled high action and slide setup but found nothing in terms of measurements, any help would be great thanks.

[Kam]

Re: What's High action?

Totally depends on your guitar, neck radius, neck relief, bridge type, etc, etc.

I don't play shred and I don't play shred-oriented guitars. I've always been told that my action is generally either high or medium-high when other dudes play my guitars. I like my E strings to be about 2.5mm to 3mm above the 12th fret.

I think that's as high as I would go without running into intonation issues. I'm no expert on set-ups, though. It very well might be possible to compensate for that.

I haven't read it in a while, but there may have been some consensus reached in this other thread you started.

[karpathion]

Re: What's High action?

Betting big on the underdog?

[Edgecrusher]

Re: What's High action?

Its gonna be subjective depending on how hard you play and your exact guitar.... Why not just keep raising it a quarter turn until you get the sound your after? Why do you need a precise measurement? Go by ear and feel.

[Gearjoneser]

Re: What's High action?

I think that's as high as I would go without running into intonation issues. I'm no expert on set-ups, though. It very well might be possible to compensate for that.

You can intonate for that, although the temperment across the fretboard may not be as precise as a nice medium low action.

When choosing the right action, you MUST adjust it to your right hand pick attack, so that you've got no string warble when you're playing the way you normally do. That's the key to finding the ideal string height.

[Benjy_26]

Re: What's High action?

High action? Isn't that when someone smokes a spliff and gets a laid right afterwards?

J/K. It depends on each person. My high action is my little bro's normal, comfy set up.

[IanBallard]

Re: What's High action?

I tried the super-low action when I put my Floyd on. I didn't like it, so I removed the shim on the neck and used the thin brass shims (all of them) under the nut that came with the unit and it's now like a standard Strat. I wouldn't say "high" but it's medium for sure.

[Ayrton]

Re: What's High action?

I set my action between .060" and .070" measured at the 12th fret. I consider than medium action myself.

[Pierre]

Re: What's High action?

I go for 5mm above the 12 fret on all strings, on all my guitars. I consider that medium action. Allows for a tiny bit of slide, with a clean sound.

However it makes a BIG difference between fretted/unfretted notes and makes finding the right balance in pickup heights a lot tougher.

[jeremy]

Re: What's High action?

5mm seems pretty high. i play alot of slide and i dont think any of my guitars are that high. intonation has got to be way off at that point

[sosomething]

Re: What's High action?

I don't have my guitars near me atm but I'm guessing my action is < 2 mm @ the 12th fret. I consider it low-to-medium, which is what I prefer. Any lower and I have to start putting too much relief in the neck to avoid excessive buzz.

[jeremy]

Re: What's High action?

i think 4/64 is pretty low, 8/64 is kinda high and 12/64 is very high

[bungalowbill]

Re: What's High action?

Mine is higher than a shredstick and lower than a squared necked dobro.

I can play slide on mine and most folks think it is on the high side.

[blueman335]

Re: What's High action?

What's your reason behind wanting a high action? I have high actions on mine, to facilitate deep Peter Green-style bends. If it wasn't for that, I'd have the actions about half that height. I don't measure them (and it varies per guitar anyways), but I raise the strings until my finger tips don't slip when doing those wild bends. Then it feels good to me. But there are certainly guys who couldn't play on actions that high.

[Aceman]

Re: What's High action?

High action? Isn't that when someone smokes a spliff and gets a laid right afterwards?

J/K. It depends on each person. My high action is my little bro's normal, comfy set up.

I was going to say one of Charlie Sheen's girlfriends. We are sooooo brutha's from anutha mutha.