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Guitar Setup - string action?

88K views 51 replies 26 participants last post by  axel_f 
#1 ·
It has been a while since I had my guitar setup. My guitar has gone through several climate changes so I figure a setup is probably a good idea. Just wondering what height string action is typical on the Prestige guitars (I have RG2820 Prestige).

thanks,

brian
www.guitar-dreams.com
 
#2 ·
i have mine on my rg2550z as low as it can go almost without buzzing. i get slight buzz on the A and E string, but not on the high strings. i took it to a luthier for an unrelated problem and he raised it, saying that the notes were fretting out, but i just lowered it because they weren't...

i can get a 4th of pull up still from the 9th fret G string and about a major 6th from the 4th fret harmonic of the G string.
 
#5 ·
Why not give it a go and go for a "when it feels, sounds and plays the best (compromise)" instead of numbers?
Really low action is killing tone, really high has great tone and makes the instrument more dynamic, but intonate like a bitch, to low action is hard to play clean and gives you weak fingers, to high action is hard to play (at least in the beginning).

Find something in-between that sounds good.

My advice, don’t go for the “as low as possible” trap.

The only number I have in my head are my low E (because I got asked the other day), it is 2.5-3mm (depending on the guitar) from the top of the 12th fret to the underside of the string.

Good luck with it!

/Magnus
 
#10 ·
You must always check the neck relief before adjusting the action, otherwise you could end up with some strange results along the fretboard !! I'd say 2mm (5/64) bass side and 1.5mm (2/32) treble side is about right for the 12th fret as long as the neck relief is adjusted correctly. 1.6 mm (2/32) and 1.2 mm (3/64) are about the lowest you should aim for.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Close enough. You should be adjusting to feel at that point anyway. Not with a ruler. And I never said it was the twelfth fret...did I?

It was just an example. You try to hold the ruler and snap a picture in closeup mode without having a blurry mess of a picture. It's not like I had a tripod.

Gzzzz..

Plus, I use feeler gauges to get my initial settings. The ruler pic was just for illustration.

Additionally, how much Parallax error could there possibly be. The ruler is sitting right next to the string. Could it be 1/128th or maybe 1/256th's of an inch? If you want to get all technically precise about things.... the guitar is not properly supported to give a true (actual) measurement.

(1/256) inch = 0.09921875 millimeters

Remind me not to share my pics with you guys...LOL!

Oh yeah...almost forgot....the prestige manual tells you to measure at the 14th fret.
 
#15 ·
Well, I don't have a Prestige... actually I have a project guitar (or "Custom Made" as I like to call it), so I'm not sure if that means I don't have a dog in this fight, but:

My action is slightly above 2.0mm and, personally, I think that's where most guitars' action should be. On any guitar that I've played if you drop anywhere below 1.8mm or so, you start to lose tone and volume. I'm your typical shred-head metal player and my 2.0mm action works just fine for me shredding and when I get to a point where I need to have my guitar sounding a certain way tone-wise and have a kind of "feeling" about it (because despite popular belief metalheads do have soul!) I have to be getting the most out of my action.

This is all subjective though. If you are happy with your tone at your current action then don't change it. It never hurts to try something new though (as long as you're careful).
 
#16 ·
Greetings from Sydney, my friend. I strongly suggest that if you'd really like to get a guitar setup to perfection, find someone with a Plek machine. Seriously, I've been playing for over 40 years, own 8 guitars and love a good Luthier as much as the next guy, but check this out. http://www.plek.com/en_US/home/

I've had my S5470TKS Plek'd and it's perfect. Simply perfect. There is a Plek in Sydney but you'll find the list of available machines in the US. Ship your guitar if you have to. You won't regret it.

Do I sound really keen about this? Hell yeah!
 
#18 ·
I normally set the guitar action low enough so that I can stick a Jazz III ultex 1.38 mm between the high-E and the fret and it still makes a scratchy sound to the string (but only slightly). So I guess the high-E will be at around 1.20-1.30 mm

The low-E string I do the same but without needing that scratchy sound so I guess 1.40

This set up does kill the sustain a bit.. even though I have the neck almost straight (very slight bow)
 
#30 ·
hey! thanks for the valuable info! I don't think I have ever played with an action higher than 2.0mm on the 12th fret so I'm curious to see how it will sound and most importantly how will I be able to play then.

I have this one guitar with terrible sustain after a whole step bend after the 12th fret so I wonder how it will work with a little higher action :)

sorry to hear about your shoulder man... hopefully it won't impair your playing!
 
#32 ·
Thanks, it has unfortunately impaired my playing.
I try my best to get it back in shape, but it is the way it is (hard to make it undone).

It takes a while to get used to action on the higher side, but it is not a massive effort to get past it. Sort of like going from 0.9s to 10s, it feels tuff for a while and then you forget about it. Should defiantly try it on you tiered guitar, it is possible that it helps (but not always). And if noting ells good come out of it have you at least tried and can rule that out.

For me was the starting point that I find it easier to play clean when playing fast legato or tapping with high action. The tone sort of came as a side effect (a very positive side effect). I noticed that I thought all the guitars with high action I had sounded better, so it spent a lot of time experimenting with it and came to the conclusion that they do.

It helps to have more relief than normal, so the nut don't have to be to high (and kill intonation). And the action stay more consistent over the neck instead of getting higher and higher as much as it normally does with a strait neck.

/Magnus
 
#31 ·
Tone vs action to me is more about about neck relief rather than string height.

If the neck is straight, it will be snappy sounding when playing clean and the string height must be very high to get rid of that.

One can still achieve good clean sound with slight neck relief and relatively low action, the height specification on ibanez manuals are I think ment for this approach.

high E sting to 12 fret is about 1.2 mm on my guitar and if I don't pick very hard the clean sound isn't very snappy and the guitar is pretty buzz free (can get lower if I only played with shred tones). I think its all about personal preference.
 
#48 · (Edited)
Glad I saw this thread. I've learned a lot about string action here and that there are very different opinions on it. I only have an acoustic, my boyfriend plays electric but I imagine that, especially on an acoustic the string hight would make a difference in sound. I can't say about electric though. Jeff's Stratocaster is easy to play and sounds nice, I don't know if he has high or low action though. I'll have to ask.
And yes, there's always time for the gym! ;) lol
 
#49 ·
I just looked at mine and I guess I have high action. I didn't measure but it looks to be about 3 or 3 and a half millimeters at the 12th fret. I know the strings on an acoustic are thicker but is the action normally higher than an electric?
Sorry if this has been asked before.
 
#50 ·
Generally speaking, yes, action on acoustic guitars is always higher than on electric guitars. The strings are usually thicker/stiffer too (again, I'm broadly generalizing here). As a result, acoustic guitars are physically harder to play than electric guitars.

Back when I used to give guitar lessons, total beginners would come to me all the time with acoustics (sometimes pretty nice ones) and say "Well, i figured I'd buy an acoustic first, since it's easier to play..." ARGH! I'd then give them one of my electrics to play and they'd be like "Oh, wow, this is WAY easier!"

Now, some electric players like insanely high action and/or thick strings--on par with an acoustic--but those people are rare.
 
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