7.25" Radius: Where's your action?

[Silence Kid]

I have two 7.25" radius guitars (a sixties Fender and an MIJ...) Action on both guitars at the octave is ~mean of 2mm, give or take a fraction, depending on the string.

Don't take into account fretting out or bending at all; what action have/can you achieve, without buzz and playing with a reasonable/not delicate hand?

I've been playing Superstrat-type things with flat/conical radii; going back to higher action on those guitars is more of a pain than I figured it would be. Most people tend not to like action as low as I do anyway, so wondering if anyone's attempted/succeeded in going lower on a vintage neck. Lucky me, bending is still decent on the guitars and I can do as much as I need without fretting out; I get regular fret buzz first if I go too low.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: 7.25" Radius: Where's your action?

With that radius and small frets, what you get is a neck that feels good for open chords, but not so comfortable for soloing up high. The action has to be high enough, so full note bends don't fret out.

Some players can work with that, while others can't. With the action set perfectly, you have to decide....yes or no.

If not, a 9.5" radius with medium jumbo frets is what you'll need.

Over time, Fender listened to the feedback from players, and started finding a middle ground between the two, and charge a premium for necks that split the difference on Custom Shop models mostly.

 

[Funkfingers]

Re: 7.25" Radius: Where's your action?

Eyeballing my Fender AVRI '62 Stratocaster, (10-46 gauge strings, vibrato bridge tilted up at the back edge by approximately one quarter of an inch), the gap between the open low E string and the top of the twelfth fret is more than double the thickness of the low E string.

I am a "dig in" kind of player. I also play bass and acoustic guitars. The action on this Stratocaster only ever bothers me immediately after playing something really flat, such as an Ibanez RG

 

[ItsaBass]

Re: 7.25" Radius: Where's your action?

With a truly heavy hand, no amount of playable (meaning fretable and intonable) string height prevents buzz, regardless of the radius or frets. Give me a guitar with any amazing setup there is, and I can make it buzz like hell no problem; just play a few chords Pete Townshend style and you're there. With a "reasonable/not delicate hand," which I take to mean right in the middle between really heavy and really soft picking, I'd probably start with 2.5 mm as an initial setting, and adjust to suit. 2–2.5 mm are pretty standard for most people, so they make a good initial baseline when first setting up a guitar. Be sure to judge it through an amp at real-world volume. Most buzz doesn't translate in a negative way when amplified; in fact, it often adds to your tone for certain applications. I.e. if you are playing hard anyhow, you probably want the effect that it causes (which includes buzz), so striving to eliminate it reduces your tonal control via changes in right hand intensity. If you go chasing every last unplugged buzz, you'll end up with your strings a quarter inch off the frets, and be no better for it. Only people who play with a very gentle right hand attack can prevent all buzz.

 

[vinta9e]

Re: 7.25" Radius: Where's your action?

2mm sounds about right. Many Fenders are not built for low action.

 

[treyhaislip]

Re: 7.25" Radius: Where's your action?

With that radius and small frets, what you get is a neck that feels good for open chords, but not so comfortable for soloing up high. The action has to be high enough, so full note bends don't fret out.

Some players can work with that, while others can't. With the action set perfectly, you have to decide....yes or no.

If not, a 9.5" radius with medium jumbo frets is what you'll need.

Over time, Fender listened to the feedback from players, and started finding a middle ground between the two, and charge a premium for necks that split the difference on Custom Shop models mostly.

Most of my guitar playing through the years has been on Charvels and Jackson and I found I'm not a fan of the Shreadstick radii–9.5" to 12" to me is the perfect balance I can chord and solo comfortably.

There will be a trade off and you have to find what works best for you...some guitars I really want to play but just play but they just don't feel right (such as the 2 Ibanez Prestiges I had with super flat radii.)

 

[beaubrummels]

Re: 7.25" Radius: Where's your action?

If the bridge heights are set to a similar radius, there's no reason you can't have a comfortable, low action and still have flexibility to solo. I can't deal with flat necks like 12" radius and I've rarely fretted out on 7.25" necks.

 

[Mincer]

Re: 7.25" Radius: Where's your action?

My Strat has a vintage radius and low action, but because that was my only guitar for 20 years, it forced me to play very lightly to avoid buzzing and fretting out. I don't like such curved necks now, but I think it probably helped, technique wise. There are probably better ways (over shorter time) to achieve that, though.

 

[AlexR]

Re: 7.25" Radius: Where's your action?

If the bridge heights are set to a similar radius, there's no reason you can't have a comfortable, low action and still have flexibility to solo. I can't deal with flat necks like 12" radius and I've rarely fretted out on 7.25" necks.

Yeah, but OP's preferred action sound like it could be too low to work with 7.25.

 

[Silence Kid]

Re: 7.25" Radius: Where's your action?

Thanks for all the constructive feedback, alarmed no one just told me to suck it up and deal with it (I'm trying )

The old neck still has vintage/low frets, the MIJ was re-fretted (larger) a couple years back after I wore the original (super-soft frets) to the bone. The worst for me is first position/open chords on the tiny vintage frets... I cope a lot better with the jumbos.

If ~2mm action is the best I can get on the guitars, it won't stop me from playing them, so long as it doesn't signify something "wrong." My preference for very low action makes me feel unqualified to judge whether something is high or not, haha.

 

[Boogie Bill]

Re: 7.25" Radius: Where's your action?

The key to low action on any guitar for is making sure that the radius of the bridge saddles matches the radius of the fingerboard. You can check this with a set of radius gauges from Stew-Mac.

After many years of playing vintage Fender instruments, I now play G&Ls Legacys with medium-jumbo frets and a 12" radius board. This makes it easier for these old hands to bend strings and also makes it easier to transition to one of my Gibsons when I want 2HB tones.

Years ago, I owned a 1960 Strat, and when it came to me, the owner had it strung with set of 13-56 flatwounds and super low action and it played phenomenally. Definitely not a blues bending machine, though.

Bill

 

[Mincer]

Re: 7.25" Radius: Where's your action?

^ this...I realized how useful radius gauges were when setting up my Strat. Also, I know my guitars buzz like crazy when other people play them..that is why they are set up for me. Providing the frets are level, and the neck angle is right, you can set u a vintage radius to play like flatter ones.