Guitarists: How low do you like your action?

[7 Dying Trees]

Are you a "Real men play with concrete strings and mile high action" , or do you prefer the kind of action that requires a touch that's so light it couls be anorexic?

Or in between?

My preference is as low as humanely possible, and I do my setups to achieve this. I hate guitars with high action...

What about everyone else?

 

[lord667]

Originally posted by 7 Dying Trees
Are you a "Real men play with concrete strings and mile high action" , or do you prefer the kind of action that requires a touch that's so light it couls be anorexic?

Or in between?

My preference is as low as humanely possible, and I do my setups to achieve this. I hate guitars with high action...

What about everyone else?

I use heavy strings (11's) and low, low action. As low as it can go without buzzing. I like the strings to give some resistance when I'm bending, but I don't want to push hard just to fret a note.

 

[xenophobe]

I like my fretboards as flat as I can get them and string action as low as I can set them.

Probably about 1.5mm at the 22/24 th fret... That's about where most of my guitars are set... maybe a tad higher.

 

[yourdeadgroom]

I like it high (not too high ). I'm used to classical guitars, so I have quite a heavy handed technique- I pick the strings pretty hard, so they need to be high or they buzz. Last time I took my guitar in for a repair, they went and reset the action, straightened the neck (which I had fixed to get rid of a buzz on a fret that I use alot, their fix put the buzz back), and made it "much better to play" (their words) without even asking (this had nothing to do with what needed repairing). So I had to re-do it for my crappy technique.

 

[xenophobe]

Yeah, you usually need to tell them not to adjust the action... most places will set them up to how they like them, if you get work done, a setup is usually included...

I don't do repairs or electronics swaps, but I do all my own setup and intonations...

I'm really finickey about my guitars...

 

[ShaneBarnes1982]

I really need to find a Guitar Repair book of some kind, i'd love to be able to do all my own setup work, instead of having to pay to get it done.
And about the subject.. I like my action as low as possible, without buzzing of course.. obviously..

 

[veil the sky]

as with everything with guitars it's a question of comprimise.

low action will make it easier to fret, hence to play fast.
higher action will require more effort to play, buy will improve your technique and more importantly, give a better tone and sustain.

usually the harder it is to play a guitar, the better the sound you'll get out of it. sod's law i believe.

i don't know the reason for this, but i often find that guitars with a rounder fretboard have a better (or at least different) tone to those with flat necks.

 

[Opus(sy)2]

i like to get it as low as possible.....much easier to shred...i like to set up my guitar by myself....but i have fucked my fender well and truely...lol.........so i need more practise

 

[Ishtar]

light top bottom heavy strings and normal action... much sustain much tone much heavyness

 

[xenophobe]

Originally posted by veil the sky
as with everything with guitars it's a question of comprimise.

higher action will require more effort to play, buy will improve your technique and more importantly, give a better tone and sustain.

That's true to a small extent, but if you're action is too high, like more than 2mm at the 12th fret, your open and fretted tunings, as well as intonation will be all over the place.

I'm really picky about my guitars too.

 

[Mr.Painkiller]

I dislike obnoxiously high action, but i keep it relatively high until about a week before a show, then i move the action down considerably and i always play my solos so much better then as for strings i use 10's and enjoy doing all the work on my guitars myself... more fun that way right? anyway, good to see metal guitarists out there \m/ \m/

 

[97reb]

I try to learn more about working on my own guitars all the time. IMO - Gibson usually comes with good action (low). Fenders have to be adjusted if you like low action. Usually the way they come seem to be set up for blues/blues-rock playing. I'm in search of another guitar company I like for metal/shred. I played a Kramer not long ago that I really liked and was pleasantly surprised with the action and sound. I've played some B.C. Rich's and I'm not impressed with standard issue.

 

[xenophobe]

Check out USA Jacksons. Best stuff on earth IMO.

I can get the actions lower than I like, and I love my actions super low...

Several of my guitars I can get less than 1mm at the 24th fret, and still be playable without real string buzz...

 

[AxePro777]

neck straight,and lower the strings flat against the fretboard,then raise them enough so there's no fret buzz.....
of course,i have Ibanez USA Custom's,which were designed to have low action in the first place............

 

[Tut Ankh Amon]

i'm not a guitar player but i'd say i like my action doggy style

 

[HemiDuty]

Yeah I reckon the lower the better too. I use 12 or 13 - 54's and tune down to B. Not much tension, but action is low (a bit of buzz there) and it is real easy to play. I have a floyd rose etc. but don't really use the bar.

 

[The Wanderer]

for thrash i keep it prety low, for doom, a little higher to get the sustain. two different guitars.

on my bass, i keep it pretty low.

 

[union9]

Low action is the only way.I use 11's to 60 and tune down like a mother fucker and have the action as low as possible without the buzz and i adjust the humbucker so it's practicly kissing the strings.

 

[Vienyard]

Whoa!! I guess it's not too surprising in a fairly metal dominated board that most like low action....not me. I pick too hard and wildly to play coherently with low action!! I just cant do it!! I need it medium-high. I like having to put a lot of effort into fretting the note-I like to set things up so I have to work harder at making it come out right. Let me tell you, it's really made my fingers stronger. Then again, like I've said in my other posts, I'm a Rhythm guy, so I dont really need it lower to help out with the leads or anthing. A lot of what I play is closer to the nut, so the action isnt all that high there anyway. My first guitar had THE worst intonation/action ever, so I just got used to that I think. Whenever I tried to play a shredder guitar, like any Ibanez, I just couldnt do it. Still cant!!

 

[Steven Andrew Bellm]

Are you a "Real men play with concrete strings and mile high action" , or do you prefer the kind of action that requires a touch that's so light it couls be anorexic?

Or in between?

My preference is as low as humanely possible, and I do my setups to achieve this. I hate guitars with high action...

What about everyone else?

I put it lower and always put it back up to around 2mm on low E and 1.8mm on high E. I pick heavy and it screws it up if its too low