Question about string height and action

[Dariothery]

Hello everyone,please: I need an advice because I struggle to find a nice setup for my Luke II after 6 years.
Each time i pickup the instrument I feel like the strings are sitting very high on the fretboard. I usually do the setups by myself but even when I asked a luthier to do it for me I always end up struggling to be comfortable with this guitar.A few weeks ago I bought a set of radius measurement tools and proceeded in a very precise way to set all my guitars so I ended up with the lowest action on the low and high Es (right before I had any kind of string buzz) and then proceeded by adjusting the remaining strings according to the relative fretboard radius for each guitar.
I reached a very satisfyng layout on each of my axes: two Stratocasters (9.5" radius) and an Ibanez AZ (12" radius).
My Luke has a 12" radius as well as the Ibanez, so everything is fine measurements-wise: I have to admit that with less than 2mms on the Bass side an 1.50 on the high side there's virtually no string buzz at all and the guitar sounds fantastic: the notes are clear the sustain is very good. On paper everything is going well.
I compared these measurements to my other guitars and the distance is basically the same everywhere: the saddles layout is based on the radius measurement and the action is always around 2mms-1.5mm on the 12th frets but even though my strats have the same setup, the Luke always bothers me it's like the strings are always sittin SO far away from the frets. But I measured it and it's the same distance as on the strats!!It drives me mad because I find it unpleasant when I try to play. This changes if a warm up better or if the strings are new but it's still very hard for me up to the point where I'm really thinking about selling this guitar that sounds fantastic and I love to death.
I changed the frets on my Luke to taller ones (6105 if I remember well) and on each guitar I also adjusted the truss rod as straight as possible by following the rule of thumb indicated on a Music Man/Ernie Ball video: I fret the first and 15th frets and check if theres at least a small movement of the string on the 7th fret. I guess it's ok, even if I push the first and last fret I can see enough space under the strings but of course not a canyon )
I usually have 10-46 strings.

Any advice from you experience?
Sorry for the wrong english.

 

[kimonostereo]

I was going to say that Lukes generally have low frets, but you've stated that you changed them. Have you checked the nut action to see how it compares to your other guitars?

 

[DrKev]

I was going to say that Lukes generally have low frets, but you've stated that you changed them. Have you checked the nut action to see how it compares to your other guitars?

Great question. Put a capo on the 1st fret of the guitars, and then measure the string height over the 12th fret.

@Dariothery Are the frets on the strats the same size as the new frets on the Luke?

Sometimes I look at my guitars and the action looks too high and I feel uncomfortable playing. But then I measure and the action is exactly where I set it, weeks before. Our brains can fool us and no human being is immune to this. Fret height, fingerboard color, neck carve and thickness, and lighting, can all conspire to fool us and make it difficult to correctly judge string height by eye. And if our brain thinks something "looks wrong", even though the objective measurements say otherwise, it can be an uncomfortable experience.

Try this: Close your eyes or put on a blindfold, and have someone hand you one guitar, then another. You may know which is which by the feel of the body but that's not important. How does playing them FEEL under your fingers when your eyes are closed?

When I did this (with my Silhouette Special and my Cutlass), they measured the same but looked different. But when I was blindfold I was surprised at how similar they felt. In fact, when I stayed at the part of the neck where they had a similar carve, I could not tell them apart! I've now learned to check when I feel something is off but trust the measurement and ignore my "brain".

 

[MarkF786]

One thing I would recommend is to also check the neck relief. I'm not a fan of EBMM's own recommended method, and rather would suggest Fender's approach, though you'll need some feeler gauges.

I've acquired many new EMBB guitars and basses recently, and found the factory relief to be too much - which can lead to the action seeming too high. So my approach is to 1) adjust neck relief, 2) adjust string height (StewMac's String Action Gauge is useful, though there are similar alternatives), then 3) adjust intonation.

 

[Norrin Radd]

So my approach is to 1) adjust neck relief, 2) adjust string height (StewMac's String Action Gauge is useful, though there are similar alternatives), then 3) adjust intonation.

Well, that’s the way it should always be done! One of the best investments I ever made was a notched straight edge. Makes checking that relief a piece of cake.