Members Sick Michael Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 I think Im starting to. A friend of mine remarked at how high the action was on my Ibanez RG. He has this brand new Yamaha thing and the action is really low on it. Its dead easy to play. Ok, the RG is a thin necked guitar and Im starting to realise I get better tone when the strings are higher. The strings also dont choke on bends high up the fretboard. Anyone else play with a high action? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Duesentrieb Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 Yup. But I neither count as a good player nor shredder, so it doesn't help you Its way better tonewise and for bendings. I played teh Ibanez blahblahblah of the guy who's 2210 I've fixed, which had the typical super-low action - and I was even worse than ever It sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Digital Jams Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 I like mine in the dirt low but yes one little neck shift and your tone as well as playablity goes way south. I understand why EVH had higher action due to his style of play, tapped harmonics are tougher imo with low action. I do find runs like arppegios are easier with lower action but big bends can be tougher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sick Michael Posted March 15, 2006 Author Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 Originally posted by Duesentrieb Yup. But I neither count as a good player nor shredder, so it doesn't help you Its way better tonewise and for bendings. I played teh Ibanez blahblahblah of the guy who's 2210 I've fixed, which had the typical super-low action - and I was even worse than ever It sucks. Yeah, I found that the notes I hit were much cleaner and clearer and I sounded better....wierd.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ryknow774 Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 I have the action set really high on my acoustic and practice on that so when I switch to the electric it makes it so much easier. I know most acoustics have high action anyway but mine is really high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Duesentrieb Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 You guys should play a real, unmodded LPC with the factory action. Almost impossible to bend anything when set it with 10s.Up with the bridge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Duesentrieb Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 Hey, if high enough you even can play slide Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members PlayboyChris Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 Like Olaf, I'm not a shredder so I like it kinda high for bends and a little beefier tone from the 9-46 strings I prefer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members buddastrat Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 I like mine very high. Higher than most acoustics. I like the bigger, fuller tone as the string has lots of room to move and vibrate fully in it's path. Shredding is not a problem when you get used to it. It got warm here for a few days and my main guitar's neck straightened out overnight. It's got a raw maple neck so it's real susceptible to moisture changes. It was awful, strings are so low and the guitar is half as loud acoustically. Too plinky and compressed sounding. I don't know if I shoud adjust the rod now, or wait as the weather's changing again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shreder75 Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 Originally posted by Digital Jams I like mine in the dirt low but yes one little neck shift and your tone as well as playablity goes way south. I understand why EVH had higher action due to his style of play, tapped harmonics are tougher imo with low action. I do find runs like arppegios are easier with lower action but big bends can be tougher. some good points here... action that's TOO low affects the way the strings resonate and can squash your tone..AND harmonics just fart out...and you're right about the bends...when the action's too low I find my fingers just slippin' right off the damn string...can't dig in really high action (for me) is just too damn hard to play...so it's a balancing act.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Digital Jams Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 Originally posted by shreder75 some good points here... action that's TOO low affects the way the strings resonate and can squash your tone..AND harmonics just fart out...and you're right about the bends...when the action's too low I find my fingers just slippin' right off the damn string...can't dig in really high action (for me) is just too damn hard to play...so it's a balancing act.. Yeah, we hit 60 for a temp the other day and sure enough one of my guitar's necks moved, unfinished neck of course was the mover Low action is very hard imo to maintain and it is getting to be a pain in the ass! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shreder75 Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 Originally posted by Digital Jams Yeah, we hit 60 for a temp the other day and sure enough one of my guitar's necks moved, unfinished neck of course was the mover Low action is very hard imo to maintain and it is getting to be a pain in the ass! yep, that can do it too...wood expands and contracts like anything else....do you keep your axes in a case or on a stand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Digital Jams Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 Originally posted by shreder75 yep, that can do it too...wood expands and contracts like anything else.... do you keep your axes in a case or on a stand? Case due to my almost 3 year old son grabbing strings and yanking them off the stands I have to learn soon to properly set guitars up, I am up to 6 and it is getting expensive for setups!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shreder75 Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 Originally posted by Digital Jams Case due to my almost 3 year old son grabbing strings and yanking them off the stands I have to learn soon to properly set guitars up, I am up to 6 and it is getting expensive for setups!!!! D'OH!! good idea keepin' themin the case then I used to keep them in the case all the time but i have one of those two guitar stands that I keep them both on now...and I just keep the door shut so the furricane (dizzy the dog) can't get at them...I set up all my own stuff now.....unless there's a dead fret or something like that going on, it's not that hard..just alotta trial and error..adjust action, see if the neck's straight, adjust, repeat, wash, rinse, spin =) the biggest pain in the ass about my ESP mirage is that the truss rod adjustments where the neck BOLTS onto the body! so that was trial and error..cause I had to take the neck off to access it...that's one great thing about the EBMM's I had...the adjustment was right at the end of the neck by the body, no plates to remove or anything...my lynch has a little plate on the headstock to access the truss rod..but that thing's straight as an arrow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Pepi Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 I like higher action. You can really dig in better. I think the guitar resonates better too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members adrianb Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 Those who said they play with high action, just how high is your action? I remember when i was a lot younger i was basing my setup all on some notes that Joe Satriani's guitar tech put up online. According to him, Joe plays with extremely low action with a compound radius fretboard and whatnot. It drove me nuts trying to go as low as he could because i kept getting bad results, buzzing, dead spots, etc. My cheapo Strat just wasn't made for that (though i didn't know it then). Now i'm trying to play higher. I've made two adjustments very recently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members travis bickle Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 my action is super high, but that's because im mainly a rhythm player. lately, ive been dabbling in the mystical art of soloing, and im forced to use a lighter gauge, and lowering my action substantially. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members shreder75 Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 john petrucci supposedly plays with ridiculously low action.. probably why his harmonics suck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Hulston Prickle Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 I have to set my action pretty high to avoid fret buzz. Fret buzz has plagued me for my entire 15 year period of playing guitar. I think it is my fingers/technique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chrisjd Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 i cant stand high action, totally messes me up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Random Hero Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 I have my action at 1/32" at the 12th on the high E, and just below 1/16" on the low E, on my EBMM. So I guess that's a no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Extasyguy Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 My guitars are set up with the action pretty high. Sometimes palying a guitar with low action is fun but I personally prefer higher action. Its just more satisfying to me and plus when I play someone elses guitar thats set up really low, I feel like my fingers are flying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members matt_v Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 high action won't kill ya. my epiphone beast definitely doesn't have low action, and i have been switching between 13-56 and 11-52 in different tunings...you get used to it. and tapping/pinch harmonics are so nice with that action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bullhead Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 i live on high action. i dont' need that much speed, and i think it gives me a better feel for my string bending. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MetalHed Posted March 15, 2006 Members Share Posted March 15, 2006 Originally posted by Sick Michael I think Im starting to. A friend of mine remarked at how high the action was on my Ibanez RG. He has this brand new Yamaha thing and the action is really low on it. Its dead easy to play. Ok, the RG is a thin necked guitar and Im starting to realise I get better tone when the strings are higher. The strings also dont choke on bends high up the fretboard. Anyone else play with a high action? I keep my action much higher than I used to back in the day, much better tone, and still easy to play (Jackson Rhoads V). I have a friend who keeps his action low and when he played mine he loved it. There is nothing wrong with low, I used to be a "the lower the better" guy, but I found that I started to raise my action little by little over the years. I also have a very heavy right hand, so that is part of the reason that I find the high action works well for me. With the action too low, I would get little noises, which didn't phase me when I was just getting started, but now I prefer the cleaner tone to the "slightly easier to play" quality of lower action. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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