Are my strings set to low...

[Johnny]

I have a few electrics and occasionally switch out which one I play for awhile.  With the new Warmoth, I've been playing it almost constantly for the last six weeks.  I pulled my PRS down tonight and noticed that I was having less trouble with my string bends.  I've been struggling with not having the upper strings slide under my bends and adding an unwanted note.  This got me to looking at my guitars. The action is really good on all of them, but the strings are little higher off the frets on the PRS.  I'm assuming this is what is making the difference since nothing else would seem to explain it.

So, how high do you folks set your strings?  Based on a rough measurement, My other guitars all seem to be about 1/16 of an inch above the 12th fret while the PRS is about 3/32 of an inch. That little bit seems to really help and it's never seemed any "harder" to play.

 

[line6man]

Action is a highly personal thing. Some like it high, others like it low. There is no right or wrong answer.

 

[Johnny]

Action is a highly personal thing. Some like it high, others like it low. There is no right or wrong answer.

Of course, you are absolutely right, though I'm still curious how others have their neck adjusted.  Have others experience the same thing or is it just me and my fat fingers?

 

[Jusatele]

I prefer a low action, extremely low, and on a guitar I play slide on I love a high action.
I bend strings to the moon with low action so I do not know what to tell you.

 

[NLD09]

Ive experienced it and my fingers are long and skinny. I can play faster with low action and bend better with high action so I set my guitars up somewhere in the middle and adapted to it. Of course I'm one of the crazy ones who strings my guitars 12-52 so take it with a grain of salt.

 

[ezas]

On a 7/8ths S-type with a 24" neck

Measured at the 17th fret

3/64ths e
4/64ths E

On my Ibanez AM73

4/64ths e
5/64ths E

I need to do the nut action on this one

My new Modern Player Jaguar came from the factory at:

4/64ths e
5/64ths E

 

[mwbjr13]

While both low and high actions have their advantages, the string gague you use will also help determin the "best" action for the guitar in question.

 

[Johnny]

So, after I posted, I went back and measured a bit more carefully.  The other guitars are actually more like 3/64 inch.  I adjusted the Warmoth and set it at about 1/16.  This is for the little e string.  That tiny bit seems to help considerably.  It was late, so I didn't get to play much, but will give it a good test tonight.

As for strings, I play 9s.  I know a lot of players like a little heavier string, but I've been playing 9s for a long, long time and they're just what I'm used to.

 

[fdesalvo]

I had that problem with 6130 frets.  I moved to taller frets and have no issues now.

 

[Torment Leaves Scars]

I prefer super-low action but I've noticed on my Warmoth neck it may have been set a little bit too low.  While the 1st and 2nd frets aren't scoured, the shine is missing from them.  Not a good thing.  I'm pretty positive that's a sign I had my action set waaaay too low.  :help:

 

[Strat Avenger]

I like 1/16 to 5/64 inch @ the 12th fret. 3/32 is bass territory.

 

[Cagey]

I can't remember the last time I measured string clearance, but if I checked mine, I'm sure it would be around 0.072145" at the 14th fret, +/- .000063". Or, something like that.

Actually, I just level/dress/crown/polish the frets to within .001" or less, dial in a little relief with the truss rod, then adjust the each string's height to where it'll voice clearly when played acoustically. So, string/fret clearance will vary depending partly on the string and partly on the player.

 

[Johnny]

This isn't exactly on topic, but a nice story....

The other night I was waiting on my iPad to update to the latest release, so I pulled down my old 12-string Takamine that I hadn't played in awhile.  I am amazed at how well that guitar plays.  The action is really low and easy to play, but it wasn't always that way.

When I first bought it about 25 years ago, the action was horrible and I took it back to the shop where I bought it from to have them set it up.  The result was only a marginal improvement.  In the couple of years that followed, I moved to Austin and took the guitar into Ray Hennig's to see if they could do anything.  There recommendation was to take the guitar to a local luthier who's shop was only a couple of block's away (beside Tommy's drum shop).

The guy was really pleasant and said he could fix it.  After a week or so, I came back and he had indeed fixed it.  He had pulled the frets, milled the neck, reset the frets and set it up wonderfully.  All for $70.  He also showed me a stack of wood he was rather excited about from which he planned on building acoustics matched to the early Martin specifications.

He's done rather well since those days....

http://www.collingsguitars.com/