are you a high/medium/low action person

EdGrip

I think there is a little bit of a value judgement attached to low action. My action's lower than your action, ner, kind of thing.

guitarfishbay

'Medium'. Honestly I usually set up according to manufacturers specs and then do the final tweaks by feel.

Lixarto

High enough to be able to play slide.

ICBM

EdGrip said:

I think there is a little bit of a value judgement attached to low action. My action's lower than your action, ner, kind of thing.

I thought it was the other way round - a higher action was more 'manly' or the sign of a 'real player'. At least when everyone seemed to want to be SRV...

On that basis J. Mascis looks like the best player ever .

I actually can't quite believe he does have it that high, it's surprising he can get the intonation even close - and yes, I have heard him play .

streethawk

ICBM said:

EdGrip said:

I think there is a little bit of a value judgement attached to low action. My action's lower than your action, ner, kind of thing.

I thought it was the other way round - a higher action was more 'manly' or the sign of a 'real player'. At least when everyone seemed to want to be SRV...

On that basis J. Mascis looks like the best player ever .

I actually can't quite believe he does have it that high, it's surprising he can get the intonation even close - and yes, I have heard him play .

He's a strange fella. Never plays a Jazzmaster - or through marshalls - in the studio and get s a bit testy when people ask about that.

I read a long time ago that he likes his action high because he likes the guitar to fight back, which sounds laudable. I suspect he's created a musical badass persona and it pays. Bit like a WWF wrester. 

Gru

Apart from an actual reference, whether it be a penny or a measurement, it's hard to know what a low/medium/high action really is. My low may be someone else's high.

I like the idea of seeing whether your fingers slip under or over the strings when bending. It would certainly give a good starting point and we all have different size fingers.

My Pacifica always tended to slip under my fingers, but at the time I didn't know much about setting action height, I just set it as low as possible, without buzz.

What us the advantage of setting the action higher for chords?

jaygtr

I like my les Paul nice a low, but my tele a tad higher. As it suits what I tend to play on them.

I would add that I prefer it slightly higher than I used too as playing speed is less of an issue these days.

Adam_MD

My action went up after I learned to setup my own guitars. The guy who used to do my Setups had a rep in N Ireland of being the best so I never questioned how low my action was, I thought it was supposed to be like that. I've been much happier since I started doing my own, the Dan Erlewine books I picked up a few years ago have been priceless.

streethawk

Gru said:

What us the advantage of setting the action higher for chords?

Muting/damping unwanted notes, for me.

57Deluxe

..I'd be happy with ANY actiion...!

Blueingreen

J Mascis's action is pretty low compared to Freddie Green's.  See video.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1rh8s_travlin-light-diane-schuur-freddie_music

Andyjr1515

Medium height for me.  I use 10-46 strings and, with capo on the first fret, top E is usually around 1.5mm and bottom E 1.8 - 2.00mm at the 12th

fretfinder

Andyjr1515 said:

Medium height for me.  I use 10-46 strings and, with capo on the first fret, top E is usually around 1.5mm and bottom E 1.8 - 2.00mm at the 12th

Why put a capo on to measure the action??

GuitarMonkey

fretfinder said:

Why put a capo on to measure the action??

It's the correct way to do it as it takes the nut out of the equation.

bertie

hmm not really -   gives a false reading for the true action, unless you're playing with a capo on all the time.

Not all nuts are equal - You want the nut IN the equation

Its "half way" to the correct way to measure neck relief

Andyjr1515

Some people do and some people don't. Most of the time I am setting up the action for myself and so it is relative heights I am after. It takes one variable out. I always check and adjust nut height too

bertie

Andyjr1515 said:

Some people do and some people don't. Most of the time I am setting up the action for myself and so it is relative heights I am after. 

which is fine,  but if you're using a set measurement, rather than "feel" surely you could set two guitars up with the same measurement at the 12th,  take the capo off and they could be quite a bit different.

each to his own tho, as you say 

Skipped

I first heard people obsessing about crazy low action at about the time when people were looking at Alvin Lee or Tony Iommi and saying:
"Wait a minute......there are more notes there than there are pick strokes. Huh??"   :-O



Up to that point we thought that a pull off was something that happened in a dark corner of the cinema.

ICBM

GuitarMonkey said:

fretfinder said:

Why put a capo on to measure the action??

It's the correct way to do it as it takes the nut out of the equation.

I would say it's the incorrect way to do it - you need to get the nut height right first, and then the relief, before even trying to check the action.

streethawk

Blueingreen said:

J Mascis's action is pretty low compared to Freddie Green's.  See video.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1rh8s_travlin-light-diane-schuur-freddie_music

Holeeshit!