Action of acoustic guitars

[roryfan]

Most acoustic guitars are used to strum chords in the first position without an amplifier. However most new acoustics that I've tried have a very low action, guaranteeing fret buzz if you strum hard. Great if you play melody all over the fretboard, and you have an amp for volume. In user reviews, people commenting on the action of acoustic guitars will always say the action 'is way too high'.

 

I know that very high quality guitars, hand built with skill from the finest materials have it all - volume, tone, and playability, but most of us, if we are honest, buy something more basic but useable.

 

So why are so many guitars set up like a Ferrari, when most of us really need a Toyota?

[Freeman Keller]

Funny, you usually hear that Martins ship with action that is too high (altho that is what 'grassers seem to prefer) and they have to be lowered for the rest of us who happen to like it that way.

[roryfan]

...and my budget allowed it, I'd have Martin!

Its probably easier to lower the action than to raise it? So it would make more sense to start high, and adjust to players requirements?

[Freeman Keller]

Originally posted by roryfan [bIts probably easier to lower the action than to raise it? So it would make more sense to start high, and adjust to players requirements?

 

 

Absolutely. Martin expects their dealers to set up a new guitar to the buyers specs, and raising the action requires replacing the saddle at minimum. In fact, this is one reason I believe in buying from your local store instead of the internet - it should be set up exactly the way you want it.

 

Bryan Kimsey, who has set up my two Martins argues that bluegrassers CAN live with a flat neck and fairly low action without buzzes - of course mediums help that too. His website has a really good section about setup - it is linked at the end of my "Sick Guitar" sticky.

 

If you think your action is too low you can buy shims from Bob Colosi, or just use a little piece of plastic from a credit card (my wife loves it when I cut up hers).

[markwayne]

So why are so many guitars set up like a Ferrari, when most of us really need a Toyota?

 

 

This has been discussed quite a bit here. I'm convinced that, over the last twenty-five years, as we boomers who grew up playing electric guitars age and begin moving to acoustic guitar, we are bringing the electric aesthetic with us.

 

What I mean by that is simply that we are demanding an acoustic guitar that plays like an electric and if we need more volume, turning up the amp rather than hitting the strings harder.

 

The only problem with this is that, at least in the case of dreads and jumbos, larger-bodied guitars were created to increase volume and bass in a mostly pre-amplified world. If you setup a dread for such a light touch that you can't reach that volume without fret buzz, you are never going to hear how that guitar really sounds. The guitar will also tend to react sluggishly to those lower level transients and it will be difficult to play fast lines.

 

Of course, I'm talking extreme cases here. I'm not one of those 'grassers who thinks that Martin ships guitars with the action too LOW these days and rues the day that Martin switched to an adjustable truss rod!

 

Wayne

 

JMHO,

Wayne

[drnihili]

Huh, mine is set with a very playable action and I almost never get fret buzz when strumming. The only buzz I get is just a bit when I pluck the high E too hard. It sounds more like a tinny overtove than a buzz, but I've checked and its a buzz down at the last two frets on the board.

While I do really like my guitar, it's not an uber expensive one.

[markwayne]

I should also clarify that what I'm talking about here is not the buzz common to a guitar with a high fret or two where the string bottoms out completely. I'm talking about the subtle buzz that most of us overlook in normal playing where the string, when displaced far enough from its resting state (struck really hard) makes only brief, light contact with other frets. This often occurs so quickly in relation to the pick attack that it's not even heard as buzz. The best check for this condition is to hit a note with a medium touch and check the amount of sustain. Now hit the note as hard as you can imagine needing to hit it and check the sustain again. You should see an increase in sustain. If the sustain decreases as you hit harder, your strings are giving up some of their energy to friction with another surface.

I know this is a bit over the top. However, in a purely acoustic setting with banjos and mandolins present, every little bit of volume is sought.

Wayne

[guitapick]

Good point, Wayne.

I really like the original action on my Martin. I have to be much more aggressive with the hammer ons and pulloffs...but that's ok. The tradeoff with the sound and volume that comes out of there is more than worth it. Requires practice, though. Muscles have to be stronger and the attack's totally different.

Half the problems that we have with things that are difficult (in this case a high action on a guitar) is that we resist them; thinking (or wishing) that they're not supposed to be that way. By getting over that lack of acceptance, we make it possible to really deal with and conquer the problem at hand. Or, as is the case with lower action guitars, we find a way of getting past the problem by modifying it.

That will be $75.00, please.

[babablowfish]

I have the action on my guitars at somewhere between 3/32 and 1/8 at the 12th fret. I strum hard on a lot of songs and do not experience any fret buzz.

[t3golf]

I bought my Martin from Gruhn's Guitars in Nashville (great people, if ur in Nash, check em out at 4th and broadway) and they set it up for me. had to get it done twice to get it right, but man they did a great job. i'd agree with buyin acoustic at a store instead of online. electric are much easier to set up IMO.