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High action? or low action? Whats your poison?

Eric O'Reilly

Eric O'Reilly

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 16, 2013
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Location
Revere Mass
I have always liked normal action, then i started leaning towards very low action, although i could fly around the fretboard, i lacked some tone and feel when playing clean, now I ive been leaning towards higher action, I get a deeper boomier resonant sound and hardly no buzz, on any frets. What are your thoughts? Its a very personal thing, but i like the input.
 
Well, it's a bit of a quandary for me. I like to do some Sonny Landreth slide stuff and need a higher action for that, to be able to fret behind the slide. I also like to have a lowish action for my run of the mill stuff. I really need a different guitar for slide to be honest!!
 
High action I feel the tone is better and I can feel the string more and with 11 gauge strings I feel it has less fret buzz.
 
I like medium to low action, kindof depends on what I'm playing. Not a fan of high action because it feels like I'm fighting the guitar at that point.
 
Tim O'Sullivan said:
I go with 2mm at the 12th fret, which is slightly higher than some people have it set. I sometimes go as low as 1.75mm on occasion!
Click to expand...

This is perfect for me also. 10s on most guitars but it always depends on the particular tension the guitar design lends to the strings. JPs with 10s set at 2mm at 12th fret are the business! You can breathe on the strings and they play!
 
I should say I use 9's super slinkys on my ax40 and have the action medium right now, i was adjusting it earlier and have found my spot to be in a normal range.
 
Eric O'Reilly said:
I should say I use 9's super slinkys on my ax40 and have the action medium right now, i was adjusting it earlier and have found my spot to be in a normal range.
Click to expand...
Low as I can get without buzz strumming medium hard. Mostly a lead player and when I'm playing a lot I don't pick very hard. I use 10's on all my electrics.

Also like the neck with less relief than is typically spec'ed. Close to as flat as possible.

That's what I like but I've been wrong before.
 
I keep all mine around 1mm at the 12th which I'm sure is considered low! But knowing proper set up I get little too no buzz.
 
also 1mm at 12th fret, my theory is the better I play the better I sound and I just play better with that action and 9s
 
I just got my Rosewood JP6 down to 1mm @ the 12th on the low side, 0.8mm high side. Minimal buzzing for what I do and it's just the fastest easiest thing to play. My JPX7 and other 7's are set to 1.5mm on the low side, 1.0-1.2mm on the high side, they each have their sweet spots. I still have to give my Roasted Neck Model my own setup, I will when I change the strings, but I'll be setting it the same as the Rosewood JP6.

I should be getting another JP, I have to experiment with action with Drop C and thicker strings. I'll be using 10-52's and then upping it to 11-54 if it doesn't feel like it's enough, 10's in E feel just right so I don't know how the top end will react a whole step down.
 
1.8mm treble side, 2.0mm bass side @ 14th, neck relief 0.008"/0.2mm. I'll happily tolerate a little fret buzz if it's not intrusive when I'm actually playing music.

FWIW, factory spec for most brands is around the 2mm mark.
 
With leads I tend to pick hard especially on my g string, unless im using high gain, but lately ive been using no pedals straight into my marshall jtm 30 and with moderate gain and like the pick attack and sensitivity that my action has given me, granted what i consider high action is probably closer to medium since ive always played low, i have a test, if i can strum a d chord up to the 9th fret or so with no buzz or intonation issues im in the ballpark.
 
I prefer 4/64" on both bass and treble sides (maybe a bit lower on treble side if it feels too stiff) and I like my neck practically dead straight (a tiny bit of relief is okay, but usually recommended amount is too much for me). I find with most of my EBMM guitars I can get little to no buzz with these specs. I almost always use 10's in standard, 11-52 in D standard and 12-56 in C standard. I have a relatively hard pick attack (for doing all sorts of galloping rhythms and such) so I find this works for me!
 
I prefer medium to low action. I don't like my strings super-low, I wanna feel a tiny bit of resistance and I want to be able to "grab" the string when bending. I feel my playing is more expressive that way. The strings are 09-46 Hybrid Slinky.
 
I get it as low as I can cause I'm currently trying to learn songs that are above my ability (for now). I even allow for some frett buzz (nothing major). Otherwise, I get frustrated.

It's probably not the best thing to do, but it keeps me happy.
 
10s with a medium action. I used to go as low as possible, but I started picking harder a few years ago.
 
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