How high is your action at the 12th fret?

Loobs

On Gibson-style guitars, it's about 1.5mm at the low E and 1mm at the high E, give or take.

Fenders with more radius it might be 1.75-2mm at the low E and then 1.5 or under at the high E. 

I don't like string buzz. 

Offset

Not checked (way too much faff for me), but the easy answer is always As Low As It Can Go.

Sharky77

That would give too much string buzz for me on a Gibson - I would class that as VERY low action. I normally aim for 1.75mm on E-A-D-G and 1.5mm on B-E across all my guitars and I would say I like a low action and the guitar to be as easy to play as possible. B and E can sometimes be 1.25mm on certain guitars but 1mm seems crazy!

Also to note all my guitars have perfectly levelled frets and the necks are almost dead straight with very little relief.

What string gauge do you use?

BillDL

It very much depends on how you play the particular guitar.

On most of my electric guitars my action is much as @Sharky77 has his set.  On a couple of Gibsonish ones with absolutely perfect frets it may be down to 1.5mm and 1.2mm or thereabouts.  I really don't measure my action though.  I set it too low then raise it in stages while listening until it's just right for playing with a pick, fingers, or hybrid (depending on the guitar) and also just right for bending strings without them choking out.

StuartMac290

1/16" top E, 5/64" low E. Factory spec, in other words.

Too low and the guitar sounds choked.

earwighoney

Loobs said:

On Gibson-style guitars, it's about 1.5mm at the low E and 1mm at the high E, give or take.

Fenders with more radius it might be 1.75-2mm at the low E and then 1.5 or under at the high E. 

I don't like string buzz. 

Do you play with a really light touch? 1mm seems really low. 

I remember measuring a few of my guitars and I have 2mm or so for the Low E and 1.5mm for the High E. 

I just got a new (to me, old guitar though) Guild acoustic and it has a string height of 1.75mm on the high E and I'm unsure whether it is a little too on the low side of things.

RandallFlagg

5/64th low E and 4/64th high E on all guitars, been the same for decades.

Loobs

My bad, it's more like 1.25/1.5 at the high E on at the 12th and 1.75/2 for the low E on my Les Pauls! 

I play with 10-52 or 11-49 and don't have a very light touch. 

kennedydream1980

1.5mm across the board. That’s on a 14 inch radius. 10-46 gauge.

ElectricXII

ES-335 here. 1.6mm on low E, 1.25mm on high.

Philly_Q

I never measure, but high enough that the strings don't buzz at all, and I like to have a little bit of relief on the neck so there's plenty of room for string movement.  So, probably not very low.  All pretty academic since I can barely bloody play anyway.

Lewy

As low as I can get away with without choking on 3 semitone bends on the High E, so it varies from guitar to guitar depending on radius and the state of the frets. Lowest is my Jackson with Low E of 1mm and high E of 0.8mm. Highest is my Strat which has a 9.5" radius and that's 1mm on the Low E but 1.75 mm on the high E for choke-free bending high up.

KevS

I find going with the exact same numbers of action and neck relief can make one guitar play amazingly and make it resonate nicely,but the next one of the same model feel dead and lifeless..Often the resonance won't come immediately after a restring,the strings settle in then everything pulls together ,resonance increases and string rattle calms down....I have an advantage here as I can retweak things..An actual guitar tech has to get things as right as they can first time..That doesn't account for change in humidity etc..A very difficult thing to get right... 


My Method...If I can get it which I usually can....I base my set up off a 5 semi tone bend on the 13th fret of the B string..The one in Another Brick in the Wall pt 2 solo..
I like to get a minor third bend at the 12th fret on the high E..Sometimes the frets won't allow it.I then work around the radius of the board ..Sometimes I might have the D and G a little closer to the frets...The neck as straight as I can get it without rattle,although at times a smidge more concave bow can mean much more tone and a better bending feel...If the guitar feels right..I'm then more likely to increase the relief rather than raise the action..If the relief starts to mess with me elbow..I have a rethink...Once the strings settle in..You can often tighten the truss rod just a smidge..That can make a nice difference in playability..

If you set up a guitar to your own touch..It may rattle with others,or the opposite,,be difficult to play...
An obvious statement maybe..Since I started doing my own set ups..
A bit over 20 years now..My touch has got lighter..Or the median of my touch has got lighter...
I now get less injuries and split nails etc..Well I don't get split nails now..

An actual guitar tech has a difficult and often thankless job,,they have to find a much wider more ubiquitous set up..That still isn't going to please everybody..

I use 9 to 46 light top heavy bottom D'Addario's on 25.5..I hate flappy wound strings,I find the Trem pulls down in pitch a little less when I do string bends..Especially noticeable on Unison and Country style bends..

I use 9.5 D'Addario on 24.75 Scale

I use 11 to 49 D'Addario on Gretsch with Bigsby..Harder to bend,but the guitar works much better for me and the feel pulls something very different out of me as well..24.75 Archtop I use 11 too but with a wound third..

HAL9000

Very roughly about 1.5 - 2mm. Mix of 7.25” and 9.5” radii. Very little neck relief. I do have a light touch though.

Stevepage

On most guitars it’s around 1.5mm. 

My Strat is around 3mm at the moment, the bloody thing needs a fret dress, new nut and set up

Chuffola

I used to obsess about string height and measurements and getting action as low as possible.

A few years ago, not sure why, I stopped and just set guitars by feel. I'd say my action is lowish but I've no idea what the measurement is and if, for example, high stings choke on a bend, I just raise it a smidge until they don't. I'm much happier now!

I've also stopped worrying about fretboard radius. I used to hate a 7.25" on a Fender but my most played guitar now is my Roadworn Strat with vintage frets and a 7.25" radius. Action very slightly higher than it would be on a 9.5" but not that much and it's a dream to play. 

3mm sounds very high, mind you!

Fishboy7

I've no idea what my action is - I just tweak until it feels right.  I don't think it's all that high, but sometimes I have picked up someone else's guitar and found the action unplayably low.  

Paul_C

RandallFlagg said:

5/64th low E and 4/64th high E on all guitars, been the same for decades.

That is my standard set up for customers (and for me), which is positively received by just about everyone.

Revolutions

Not bragging, but the action is very high when I switch to my g string.

Offset

Chuffola said:

A few years ago, not sure why, I stopped and just set guitars by feel.

Yes, I've done this for over 50 years.

I've also stopped worrying about fretboard radius. I used to hate a 7.25" on a Fender but my most played guitar now is my Roadworn Strat with vintage frets and a 7.25" radius.

I can't get past a 7.25" radius and tall narrow 'vintage' frets - regardless of the guitar, it would be an absolute deal-breaker for me.  Anything from 9.5" to 12" is fine; I can handle flatter than that if it's higer up the neck on a compound radius board.

Aren't we all a funny lot when it comes to what suits us individually?!

grungebob

I don’t measure. I just set it where it feels best for that particular guitar. 

If the nuts cut right and the relief is correct then I just tweak until the the guitars happy.