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The action of my guitars varies - none of which prevents me being shite.
I guess the larger the radius (Ibanez speed machines) makes it easier to achieve a super low, flat action that speed merchants seem to like.
Trading feedback: http://www.thefretboard.co.uk/discussion/72424/
however there is no real right or wrong answer - its all about what feels right to you. i assume technically you can play faster if the string is closer to the frets as they have less room to travel,
on my strat i prefer a slighly higher action to my prs
before starting on the action check the relief of the guitar is correct - there are lots of youtube videos out there
most guitar manufacturers also give their recommended set up heights on their websites
most people would get their action below 2mm on the high E at least (probably closer to 1.6mm.
the bottom E would be slightly higher.
That's assuming that your guitar will let you.
If not, it'll need some setup work but until you start looking at and measuring all that there's no way to tell.
What guitar is it?
A low action may trade off some punch in the tone of each fretted note and when you get ultra low it'll rattle off other frets just from pick attack.
I got my Jackson Soloist to go down to 0.6mm but you had to play so gently it was a bit too much.
I settled on 1.0mm eventually.
My Ibanez RG is set up on 10's and sits at 1.4mm.
String gauge will have an impact on this too so, on my Strat, I can't have the action so low on 9-46 strings because they get too rattly and snappy whereas without adjusting the action height, I can fit 10-46 and it's fine to the tighter string not flopping about so much.
There are loads of variables but it's fairly straightforward to set a guitar up to play fast with a low, easy action.
I will try and measure again with another ruler / tape measure but I think it is close to 4mm. Certainly seems well over the 1 - 2mm being touted above so maybe I really should think seriously about adjusting.
That's assuming you're measuring it correctly, i.e. from the top of the 12th fret to the bottom of the low E string.
See what you loke and adjust accourdingly. My choice is light strings and low action, but that doesn't suit everyone and every style.
The lower you go with a set-up/action, then the more precise the level of your frets will need to be - You end up with zero tolerance regardg string rattle and no where to go, if 1 or 2 frets, or more, are to high or low, even by a fraction and such issues will not allow the guitar to be set-up as low as possible - I would generally expect something like a PRS to end up with a lower action, then say a vintage flavoured R9 Les Paul - You can almost get by with slight uneven fret height with higher action, more neck relief and heavy strings, certainly with regard to zero tolerance
Certainly no specific answer to this - what gauge of strings you use, how heavy you pick and attack the strings, or indeed stroke the strings - Play with a pick or thumb/fingers - Some players stroke the strings with minimum attack, some are far more heavy
An acoustic guitar will generally be set-up with thicker strings and a higher action so as to obtain more sustain with no string rattle - Yet I know Tommy Emmanuel utilses a shred electric guitar ultra low action and very thing strings, to allow his dexterity within his playing style
My experience with such a guitar as you Luke is that a very low action can be achieved with a good set-up - But that would require very little neck relief - But such a low action would generally suit someone with a light touch
Again some players use so much gain, that with a low action and a hint of string rattle you won't hear it through the amp, so they tolerate it - Whereas someone like SRV and others want as much natural sustain as possible with less gain so don't want any string rattle that will dampen sustain
Again a low action and big hands and you might find bending and vibrato a touch harder - certainly playing life with sweaty fingers
Even if you can't do a full set-up yourself (and it is a skill to get it spot on), it is good if you can make slight edits to any good guitar tech set-up, as you are the only one who knows what you wish to achieve regarding how it feels and plays
It seems counter intuitive, but you can get a lower action with heavier strings.- Lighter strings vibrate over a wider circle than heavier strings do. This is one reason why players whose style is mainly rhythm will tend to use much heavier strings - Pete Townsend used monster strings in his early days, only when he started to do more extended solos did he move to a lighter guage.
My main electric is around 2.5 - 3mm, which I guess is medium+.
Personally, I find it hard to bend smoothly on a lower action with a 9.5inch radius. Not because of bottoming out, or buzz, but because I find it hard to get enough finger 'meat' under the string. I've played guitars with a flatter radius, and lighter strings where a lower action was fine.
N.B. Are you measuring from the top of the metal fret to the underside of the string? or from the wood to the string?
However, the lower you go, the better the neck and fretwork needs to be to avoid excessive string buzz. It's often a compromise between excessive string buzz and low action. I say "excessive string buzz" because some string buzz is often unavoidable. Even high action can produce string buzz if you hit your strings hard.
So it's a balancing act of finding a low enough action to make your playing easier and a high enough action so that the string buzz does not become an issue for you.
Another point - I'll often take an action down to the point of buzzing, so assuming no fret issues, and relief is okay, then I know this is the lowest a guitar action can be on this guitar - So now I can take it up, as required, to what I consider works for that guitar - This is assuming I'm doing it for shop stock or for me - If undertaking any set-up for a customer it is paramount to work with the customer and finding out what they require
Capo at 1st fret
Now use this as your starting point and go either a little up or down to taste
You may also have a too high nut if things feel too stiff on open chords and that may need cutting
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Pickups from BKP, Oil City & Monty's pickups.
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Some experimentation confirmed that putting a shim under the nut resolves all the problems. (Let's ignore the fact that there are 22 years between the refret and the shim ...)
What I'm trying to suggest is that radical changes in action don't seem to work without a change in nut, and that if your nut is too high or too low you can't put that right by adjusting neck relief, neck angle or saddle height.