How high is your action at the 12th fret?

PAL

I set my guitars up with necks as straight as possible and action at twelfth fret 4/64ths this works on all my guitars even my
  vintage radius Fender Esquire.

imalrightjack

1mm max. 

Grampa

grungebob said:

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. 

Exactly this 

guitars4you

grungebob said:

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. 

That is about right - All guitars are not equal, so you'll rarely get the same measurements (if you measure them) on all guitars - As you say, set it up until the guitar is happy - That way you should be able to get the best out of each guitar 

guitars4you

There is a case to be had, that to high an action at the 12th fret and it can give you intonation issues - The true note is the open E and/or 12th fret harmonic note - You then fret it at the 12th fret to compare - But with a highish action you are effectively vertically stretching the string - So the same as a slight string bend - Hence not comparing a correct note 

OilCityPickups

Most of my guitars are set up as close as I can get to 1.2mm top E 1.6-1.8mm bottom E 12th fret 10-52 strings 
I absolutely hate playing high actions ... feels like trying to tap dance in thigh waders.  

WezV

I want the fretwork to allow 1.2mm, but generally set a little higher once I know it can

OilCityPickups

WezV said:

I want the fretwork to allow 1.2mm, but generally set a little higher once I know it can

Yep ... sometimes I can get there ... on the odd guitar I can't.

Back when I was teaching guitar regularly I used to make a point of telling students lowest possible action encouraged the lightest possible touch. With a low action chord changes benefit almost more than solo lines from minimum movement/tension/pressure.  Less finger tension equals less strain in playing for long periods ... less chance of hand injury and smoother more 'joined up' playing. 

Get a super low action and you can always raise it if you prefer ... 

paulnb57

Around 1.8mm on everything

stickyfiddle

I've never measured it, and I'm sure every guitar will be slightly different; in fact I know it is because one guitar playing friend always comments on them all being slightly different because he makes a point of every one of his guitars having the lowest action possible. 

Personally I want to be able to windmill and not get any more than the tiniest bit of fret buzz. 

I'll measure a couple this eve and see where they are on numbers

CoffeeAndTV

Blimey, I’m an outlier here.  On the low E I’m 4 mm on my electrics. I’ve always liked the action high, but might reconsider.  

Nerine

I've always considered the action on my LP to be "pretty low".

Anecdotally at least.

I've just measured and seems to be about 1.75mm on the bass side at 12th fret, 1.25-ish mm on the treble side. 

My Suhr Classic Pro I would anecdotally say is higher than my LP. 

It measures approx 2mm and 1.5mm respectively.

So it's what I thought, but not by as much as I would have thought. The Suhr has much taller frets. That may play a part, even though the string's distance to them isn't much greater.

stonevibe

My 12th fret is roughly...

Haych

Not sure how high, but wouldn't want to limbo under them!

Years ago I would obsess about measurements but mostly do it by feel these days.  

I notice that if ever I send a guitar away for a setup it usually comes back with a lower action than I like and I end up jacking the action up quite a lot afterwards.

Also, how are you all measuring the action?  Some measure with the string open, some measure with a capo on 1st, I think Dan Erlewine does it that way, and that's the way I was always taught to measure the action too.  

WezV

Haych said:

Also, how are you all measuring the action?  Some measure with the string open, some measure with a capo on 1st, I think Dan Erlewine does it that way, and that's the way I was always taught to measure the action too.  

open strings for me


fretting at the 1st fret removes the influence of high nut slots, so can be useful for assessing things that are a bit more fixed, like acoustic saddles, but I don't see the benefit for electrics with fully adjustable bridges

PrecisionGuided

1.6mm across the board - also the same on all my basses.
The acoustic is a tad higher.

Loobs

CoffeeAndTV said:

Blimey, I’m an outlier here.  On the low E I’m 4 mm on my electrics. I’ve always liked the action high, but might reconsider.  

is that actually playable?

fretfinder

Loobs said:

CoffeeAndTV said:

Blimey, I’m an outlier here.  On the low E I’m 4 mm on my electrics. I’ve always liked the action high, but might reconsider.  

is that actually playable?

No, but it’s perfect when you need to grate some cheddar. 

guitarjack66

I'd love to try a 'very low' action as all my set ups just dont feel quite right for me. This is a major disadvantage of buying mostly on line and not having a lot of choice of techs in the area.

stickyfiddle

Probably the lowest I have is my ES-355, which is 1.6mm both sides. Highest I have is about 2mm bass, 1.8mm treble. 

I wouldn't want lower than that but wouldn't want much higher either