String Action: How Low Can You Go?

[J_Braz_]

These days I just stick to the 2mm bass 1.75-1.9mm treb. Measured at the 12th fret.
I spent years obsessing over action and neck relief. Now I've gotten use to a more "factory" setup.
Less paralysis by analysis.

[davegrice]

VERY helpful, thanks for collecting the data from the previous video, analyzing and sharing again.

[oldrrocr]

Isn't it about time we all just go to the metric system?
Thanks for getting specific.
Crank it down until it buzzes, then raise it until it does not... usually about 1.25 for me, unless it needs to go higher.

[chrisking]

4/64th is 1.6mm and 3/64 is 1.3. That is super low actually. I had it that way for the first year and the better I got the more I noticed that I can't play with an action that low. It buzzes a lot and I find that I have zero control. I like it at about 2mm for the low E and 1.5mm for the high E and sometimes even way higher depending on the guitar.

[billz]

best video about string height. Really appreciate that you share the real-world experience with us instead of just quoting fender manual.

[homemovies]

I just wish the industry, teachers, luthiers, and players would pick a measurement unit and stick to it for action and strings. Millimeters, hundredths and thousands of millimeters, fractional inches, decimal inches, conversion tables and charts, etc. How about just one language? I pick millimeters and remove inches entirely from the vocabulary.

[Okla_Soft]

I always use a 2.0 mm pick and slide it under the 12th fret on both sides to make sure that my action is below 2 mm to start with, but usually end up getting it closer to 1.5 or even 1.25 mm, and yes, with proper low action there is a certain amount of buzzing that is unavoidable. I want my guitar to play fast and clean and the notes to sing. As long as every note can sing with minimal buzz, and the neck is almost perfectly straight and the guitar is intonated all the way up the fretboard.

Unless you have a very light touch, there is going to be a small amount of buzz when playing on a guitar that is properly set up for easy quick playing.

I’m American and I’m Not sure why anyone uses inches when measuring string height to measure action, millimeters are the logical, practical unit for distances like that.

[lukegoffkat]

Honestly for me, it's about a perfectly straight neck with no bow. Then I can cut the nut however I want to get the lowest action I can achieve (without buzzing, plugged in and still allow some pulling action on the strings.) I can't give a number for that because there are always a flaw somewhere that shows up in the neck or something else. That's why I think we just say low medium or high.

[JoeyCheex]

im an old skool thrash metal player so i want action thats in between low & medium, i achieve this by firstly getting the neck dead straight without strings on, then restring it to pitch to givd just a slight bit of relief using the tension of the strings usually enough for a razor blade to slide under the 8th with a kapo at the 1st & try to keep a max relief height just enough for a .50mm pic to slide under the 8th, to set the action i tape a credit card or something slightly thicker maybe 1.80mm under the strings & across the 14th fret with a kapo at the 1st & set the E strings to just rest on the card & make any fine adjustments if i get buzz somewhere then use an understring radius gauge to set the rest, in my case its a near flat 16" radius, this may not work out for some players who like a bit more relief or have a rounder fingerboard radius

[karelenhenkie]

I base the action on the individual neck. Some necks just create a smoother curve then others when under tension so the best possible action will vary as well.

[loki-thegodofmischief]

I measure action at the 17th fret (without a capo on the 1st) & I have .060/.040 action with .004 to .006 relief dialed in the neck on all my Gibson's (LPs & SGs) I use 10-46 gauge strings, top wrapped. They never buzz, fret out or go out of tune. I only experienced tuning & intonation problems when my Gibson's had higher action & more relief in their necks (5/64 - 4/64 with .012 relief) I've found that Gibson's suit having straighter necks & lower action than any other brand of guitar.

[retrochannel]

A good luthier refreted my guitar and made new setup. The had almost distance of a micrometer to the board. I was surprised and happy. But after some days i changed the height back to more distance. It is more comfortable to play for me. :)

[TritoneChris]

that purple with blackburst guitar looks so nice! I know a guy who's going to be very happy to see that.

[drcdfellows]

E1.6mm - e1.3mm at 12th is as low as I can get it without compromising the full ringing out of all notes. Might even need +.1-.2 mm, depending on guitar (Eastman 335, Gretsch hollowbody, Strat and Jazzmaster guitars). I use hybrid picking and fingerstyle techniques, and don't like that "almost fret buzz" sound.

I've tried tweaking everything (nut, leveling frets, relief), and that's about as low as I can get it. I wish my my very amateur luthier skills were better

It would be nice if millimeter measurements became standard - I feel they are most accurate for these small measurements

[drewromano]

I've always measured my action at the last fret. Also I press the first fret while measuring. My usual height at last fret for every string is 1/16. I go for a straight neck with very little relief. Then I play and adjust if necessary. When I check the action like normal at 12th fret it varies from guitar to guitar but it's around 3/64.

[PetefromSouthOz]

Hey Chris interesting video and I really liked the parts where you explained what you need to take into account as a Guitar Builder.
Especially the part about how our Guitars react to the environment they are in and changes will occur after a couple of weeks in the new place.This means the Guitar will need some adjustments after that has happened.
For me it's different and I soon learned that it's worth finding out how to do my own setups (Jazzmaster and Jaguar).
I started using factory Strat string action specs but found reading the gauge a bit tricky and they felt just a little high, so I started doing this.
After I did nut, relief, and shims on the Offsets etc, I went to setting my string height by lowering the strings until they buzzed, then raising them until they had enough clearance no matter what I played.
Works for me
Thanks again
Pete

[GabrieleOrlandoLuthier]

When i first started to do my setups on my instruments I studied jazz guitar, I had severe wrist problems due to the amount of study. I immediately got benefits from setting up my instruments very low, and then ended up doing it for many clients that liked my personal setup on my instruments.. i usually have my strat and my gibson es-137 to give them some examples. Some like it higher and some even lower. My low setups are around 0.4/0.6 mm at the 1st fret and 1.2/1.5mm on the bass side and 0.9/1.2 mm on the treble side at the 12th fret with 0.11 strings. Neck relief mesured at the 8 or 9 fret goes from 0.15 up to 0.3 .My setups include obviously an adequate fretjob, and i tend to have a fall off from the 12th fret down to the last one. I was often asked even lower setups for real fast shredders and tappers or litght handed jazz players!

[raybecker]

Excellent topic and video. String action is always a personal choice. If I were to setup a new guitar for a beginner, I will use factory specs. As for myself, there have only been one or two guitars in the last 40 years that had wonderfully low action. As if the guitar played itself. One was my Carvin Custom DC-150 and the other was a friends 1980's LP. Another observation is that set neck or neck thru is a totally different animal than a bolt on. A Strat or a Tele forces you to work a little harder and that's due mostly to the scale length. 25 1/2" for Fender and 24 3/4" for Gibson. The shorter scale tends to be more slinky. Another major factor is string gauge.

I have been on a constant drill of making my guitars as low as they can get. It all starts at the nut slots and string height above 1st fret. This is so critical to overall action. Since i now file my own nuts, I have to be very precise at measuring at 1st fret. Once I get the slots right, I record what gauge of strings. There's a big difference between 9 and 10 at the nut. Next I make sure the neck has the minimal amount of relief. Just enough and no more. Then it's time to break out the fret rocker. If I find just a few high frets, I can spot level and move on. If I find a bunch, I'll do the whole fretboard. Once I know the frets are good, I move on to the bridge. I like to see 4/64 on bass side and 2/64 on treble side.

It's important that the strings follow the radius of the fretboard. Spending quality time at the bridge is important. Raise and lower saddle screws uniformly. Since I play with a light touch, I can get my guitars down low. When it comes to slide, I like taller nut slots and at least 6/64 at 17th fret. If I'm doing CGCFAD I use heavier strings and set the action accordingly. The MOST IMPORTANT thing that all guitarists must follow is that when you setup a guitar for a particular gauge or purpose, KEEP THOSE STRINGS THE SAME. Same gauge, same maker. Don't change Ernie Ball's with DR.

[evanwilliams]

On electric guitars, I always aim for 1mm on the first fret and 1.5mm on the 12th. Generally I make the action on acoustic guitars a little bit higher by about 25% for better sustain and sound. That’s just what I personally prefer.

[ericctheartofnoise]

12 fret High E 1/16th Low E 4/64 or 5/64th. That will be my standard and lower from there till I'll get some fret buzz. Nut action at the first fret I'll set to .016 to .019 depending on how the customer like it. Most of the time I'll just set Nut action to .018 on every string. Neck relief I set to .010 to .012