Help with getting great action guitar-

[jmcorey]

So I am basically a strat guy. I once had a Yamaha RGX-211, an OK guitar with a fantastic neck. Floyd, so never went out of tune, and the action was truly great. Almost like playing a machine, rather than a guitar.

I am a bit torn, feeling like my strat does not let me play as fast as I would like. It has not been setup in a while. But even set up as best as possible, will it have the best action that I can get for playing fast and more effortlessly? Or are there guitars that are better for playing faster?

Thanks...

 

[Bob Zombie]

Re: Help with getting great action guitar-

It depends what fits your hand the best. Slash plays pretty dang quick and he's on a les paul. Rhoades played fast but he was on a Jackson. But setting the action lower will help.

 

[Zerberus]

Re: Help with getting great action guitar-

A Strat fan needs a faster guitar?? A Hot rod, so to speak??? This just SCREAMS Charvel!!!!

www.charvel.com

You will not be diasappointed

 

[jmcorey]

Re: Help with getting great action guitar-

I was thinking of a Jackson SL-1. I tried a used Washburn A-10 once, and its action was fantastic. What about Ibanez? Yamaha also has very good necks and low action.

 

[Bob Zombie]

Re: Help with getting great action guitar-

It sounds like you like shredder guitars. Basically any Esp or Jackson would do fine. They are built to have lower quick actoin. Strats are known to be not comfy with high action. They also usually have smaller frets which will slow your playing down aswell.

 

[Woodcutter]

Re: Help with getting great action guitar-

I have an ibanez s470 and its a fast guitar, but i think jacksons are higher quality.

 

[jeremy]

Re: Help with getting great action guitar-

if you have decent size frets and the strat doesnt have a small radius fretboard a fret dress and setup should make it plenty fast. if you have a 7.25 radius and tiny vintage frets, the guitar just wasnt made to be a speed machine

 

[jimmy]

Re: Help with getting great action guitar-

Rhoades

Rhoads



I would suggest to play with a guitar that has super high action for a couple of weeks, seriously practicing. After you do that, any guitar with low action will be easy to play.

Remember: The guitar doesn't make the player.

 

[Gearjoneser]

Re: Help with getting great action guitar-

if you have decent size frets and the strat doesnt have a small radius fretboard a fret dress and setup should make it plenty fast. if you have a 7.25 radius and tiny vintage frets, the guitar just wasnt made to be a speed machine

Yeah, my best friend has become a sheet of gray 220 grit sandpaper. When I get a new guitar, I take a small piece of fine grain sandpaper, crease it to a similar gauge as the nut slot I'm working on, and run it through the nut till it seats the string completely perfect. One of these days, I'll buy some proper files, but so far this method has worked for me. I've had guitars that went from 'store bought setup' to 'pro setup' just by spending a half an hour working on the nut slots. Beyond that, Jeremy's right, a fret leveling and polishing will get any guitar playing like a dream.