Dead straight neck? Or relief of anything between 0.1mm up to say (for discussion purposes) 0.5mm at whatever fret that you choose to measure from using the straight string with capo on first fret and depress string at the fret where the trussrod ends/ neck meets guitar body method. I just can't comprehend what difference a fraction of a millimetre will make....like the difference say between 0.1 and 0.25 of a millimetre. I just check that there is no backbow to the neck and have my action set to around 2.5mm on low E and 2mm on high e at 12th fret. No faffing around with relief.
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"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Again it will always depend on the player, how much gain they use, as a shed load of gain hides a multitude of sins, plus what tolerance the player has to a hint of string 'rattle'
To me the guitar is hard enough to play as it is, so a slick easy 'girly' action is my requirement
I am forever adjusting my guitars between less relief and higher action, and more relief with lower action. The latter usually means there's some choking up at the dusty end. I've also found that the best, "loosest" feel doesn't always come from the lower action.
I also found that I hate any buzz, and the best way for me to avoid that is to play with fingers.
My feedback thread is here.
It's complicated, depends on guitar type, how low you like the action etc.
My LP is setup with very light relief of 0.07mm, and a very low action (1mm at 12th fret high E), no buzz.
Too much relief with a low action could cause some choking when bending at the frets where the relief is highest.
Low relief & low action may only be buzz free if the frets have been levelled.
Look at how a string vibrates, the point of most movement is not where the neck relief is greatest.
As much as anything I found using feeler gauges in thousandths of an inch really easy - and we tend to under stand what 9 thou looks like from the diameter of a high E string in a popular string set.
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Rickenbackers work with an almost dead straight neck and low action like no other brand I've experienced. I guess it's down to fret work.
I start with the neck flat and slowly increase relief until any buzz goes, on a Rickenbacker that can be 4 or 5 thousandths, Fenders I
normally have about 10 thousandths, other Chinese guitars need about 12.
I don't like a lot of relief as it increases action around 7th to 10th fret, I play lots of open chords up there, but I don't like fret buzz either. Get the frets right and you should be able to set it how you want.
In my opinion this is also a big part of the unique sound of Ricks, both guitars and basses - more so than the pickups, in fact.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
It would be like giving Ford a plus point over Vauxhall because the Ford you test drove had its seat and mirrors already adjusted for your height and body proportions while you had to adjust the Vauxhall.
Being bored out of my mind, I decided to try a higher action today - purely because when I first read this I thought the OP had lost his marbles with a 2e-2.5E action on an electric.
I've been playing acoustic for the last year and only recently got back into electric. My acoustics are both lower than the OP uses on his electric (about 1.8e-2E). Got my new guitar a month ago and set that up as low as I could. Gone from 10s to 9.5 and really like them to be honest (always used to play 11s), but nothings really felt right. So today I was going to try 11's. Instead I decided to raise the action from 1.5-1.8 up to 2-2.35. Raised the pups up too to compensate too. WOW, so much bloody nicer! And I can have a slightly flatter neck as well.
So, thanks @JanekLubanski