who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

[appar111]

3 of my 4 guitars are set up with fairly low action (around 2 mm at the 21st fret-- at least that seems low for me), and only one of them has some moderate buzzing on the low E and A set up this way.

The neck in question is a warmoth standard thin contour strat neck with big ol' 6100's (the only neck I have with such large frets... other guitars are medium jumbos or the low/wide gibson type frets). It's set up with 9-46's, tuned down a 1/2 step from pitch.

So I started messing with this neck last night. I gave it a little more relief on the truss rod (1/8 of a turn counterclockwise) and raising the action just a smidge and I'm really liking the results. I haven't raised the action up so much higher that it's harder to play. It's probably 3mm, maybe 3.5mm at the 21st fret now and I'm getting a fuller sound out of it and easier to really dig in with bends. And much less buzzing on the low E and A strings.

I think part of it is the relationship of string action to fret height. On this guitar, I'm much preferring this slight increase in action. Better tone without sacrificing comfort, and easier for bends.

I use Dunlop Delrin 2mm bass pics and don't have a super light touch, but it's not a heavy hand either. I seem to be able to get pretty good variation in pick attack with this thickness of pick, only really digging in on leads-- when strumming I can get away with a much lighter attack.

Anyone here prefer medium action to low action?

 

[ericmeyer4]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

I like my action set about 2mm at the 17th fret. Don't know if that is considered low or not.

 

[GuitarStv]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

I like medium action and huge frets . . . no rattles or buzz, you can attack the strings as hard as you want, and it's still pretty comfy to play.

 

[jcthejester13]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

I use low and medium. The Jazzmaster is set to medium because I think it sounds best that way. The Tele is set LOW LOw Low low for when I feel like playing a wee bit faster.

 

[jeremy]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

i like my action higher than most people i run into. i play slide/lead/rhythm without switching guitars and bend quite a bit. i want the strings to ring clearly no matter what i am doing.

ill set the action as low as i can, im not trying to fight the guitar on purpose, but it usually isnt that low. even with a great fret job

 

[ImmortalSix]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

I like the telephone wires to be way above the train tracks.



















But I love my guitar action low.

 

[sbecker67]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

I'm starting to prefer a medium setting; slightly backed off from factory recommended setting

 

[appar111]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

I like medium action and huge frets . . . no rattles or buzz, you can attack the strings as hard as you want, and it's still pretty comfy to play.

That seems to be the case with this guitar, and probably for the next build I put together... 6100's or 6000's all the way!

 

[Bludave]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

i like my action higher than most people i run into. i play slide/lead/rhythm without switching guitars and bend quite a bit. i want the strings to ring clearly no matter what i am doing.

ill set the action as low as i can, im not trying to fight the guitar on purpose, but it usually isnt that low. even with a great fret job

+1. I don't try to set it high i just set it to where it is comfortable.

 

[STRATDELUXER97]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

I Like medium action...Usually say 5/64" bass and 4 to 5/64" treble measured at the 12th fret..

 

[Kam]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

Mine's set at about 3.5mm at the 22nd fret. I don't know whether that's medium, or high. I've always preferred the feel of higher action, since I bend a lot and can be pretty heavy handed at times. I'd actually like it a little higher on my Westone, as I still occasionally catch an adjacent string on a bend and get all sorts of nasty noises, but I'm pretty sure I've run out of adjustment room on the bridge saddles and I don't really want to **** around with the truss rod too much.

Higher action always just sounds way more lively to me as well. It's not just a feel thing.

 

[appar111]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

I remeasured my guitars and it seems like the action on them is lower than I thought. I tried to stuff one of the 2 mm picks in between the string and the low E at the last fret and no dice. Same thing w/ a 1.5 mm pick. A 1.14 fender extra heavy slipped in ok though.

Looks like I just upped the action on that guitar up to just under 2.5 mm, not 3-3.5.

As the years go on, I realize after measuring stuff like this, and pickup height, etc. etc. that I'll go start w/ what's recommended, but then adjust it to what works best for me. No sense in setting it up a certain way if it doesn't work for my playing style.

 

[appar111]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

Higher action always just sounds way more lively to me as well. It's not just a feel thing.

That seems to be the big benefit for me-- since I'm not a super technical, fast shredder type, any speed I might lose from raising the action up a tad will never be realized since I never play that fast anyway :9:

 

[Diego]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

I always try to setup my height kind of backwards:
As high as I can while still playing comfortably, not as low as I can go. It's worth it.

It just sounds cleaner, fatter, it sustains better and it feels better in my hands.

I hate fret buzz, too.

 

[Diego]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

Time for my usual oversized generalizations that nobody agrees with:

Check this clip of Marty Friedman and Paul Gilbert jamming together on Japanese TV:



I know that Marty likes a higher string action. We also know that Paul likes his strings very low.

And just listen to that. Well, of course they use different amps and settings and Paul uses pedals BUT,

I think it's a fair example of the differences in tone found when you go lower or higher in the string action.

Paul's tone is more plucky and percussive, it doesn't sound like it would sustain for very long. The pick attack is very prominent.

Marty's tone is much fatter and cleaner. It's not percussive but it's a bigger push in the low mids,
and you can tell he could bend and twist strings all day long and the guitar would still hold the note.

Of course this is all very relative, but that's the general effect IMO.

 

[astrozombie]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

:lmao: what key are you in? im not in any key

 

[drpietrzak]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

I like mine set about 5/64".

 

[whatshisname]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

I used to like my action really high, so the strings could have plenty of room to breath.

Over the last couple of years, I've been lowering it. Right now, it's what I consider to be fairly low, but to most people, it's probably still pretty high. I have no idea what the measurements are; I just go by what feels/sounds right.

 

[Red_Label]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

I don't like buzzy strings, and I like to be able to get my fingertips under them enough to feel confident that big bends and vibrato are going to be steady. For years, I only played scalloped necks, so that wasn't a problem. Anyways, I used to think that I was sacrificing some speed due to raising up my strings a bit, but I read that Jake E. Lee liked a high setup (and other great players), so I figure that if they can do what they do with high action, then it shouldn't be limiting me much.

 

[Ayrton]

Re: who likes medium action as opposed to low action?

Measured at the 12th fret, I try to get mine between .060 and .070 (1.5 to 1.7mm)