High action = fatter tone?

[GAS Man]

I keep the action on my guitars as low as I can. I prefer the feel over any possible improvement in tone.

 

 

 

-because I agree with the above. I've also read that SRV, a true tone monster, had high action in addition to his thick strings, but the combination is beyond my mortal comprehension.

 

I like the action as low as I can get it without excessive string buzz. If the action gets too low, contact of the string against the frets will knock the tone right out of the note, so then I raise it up by ear until the note sounds more full.

[Darkstorm]

Only if strings are vibrating against lower frets will its tone or sustain be affected by low action. Pup adjustment will affect tone more then how high or low the action is. Except higher action results in more change to the strings tuning as its fretted whereever due to the obvious.

[fabstrat]

just ask warren haynes.

[RoboPimp]

america has fat everything, including tone

[JohnnyDD]

Hwy 1 tele's got the jumbo frets which cause buzz havoc esp since the Trace Elliot clean is very revealing. String by string adjustments resulted in action higher than I'd like but I can live with it. It is frustrating though. My standard size fret guitars set up much easier.

[Willyguitar]

america has fat everything, including tone

We don't do too badly on this score in the UK these days either.

[Dougie.Douglas]

I have my action fairly high...



I like it quite high! I am used to it. I did try setting my strings quite low, but I cant get on with it.

[Armitage]

The only tonal benefit of raising the action is not having the strings buzz (and lose vibrational energy) against the other frets.

[fabstrat]

i would say it has an effect on tone when bending as well.

[go cat go]

I agree with the OP that a higher action will give you better tone. This is independent of pickup height. If you want to try it lower pups as much as possible, play the guitar acoustically. Pay attention to the volume. Now raise the action, You should should hear the volume get louder.

Pickup height will affect the string's vibration. This is especially true of single coils which have a narrower magnetic field. I like to bring the pup as close to the string as possible. This varies from pup to pup.

If your guitar is properly setup - the frets are level, the nut is adjusted, relief is almost straight, - you can achieve both low action and great tone. The overall setup adds to tone. This was proven to me when I had to of my guitars pLekk'ed. They both came back acoustically more alive and amazingly playable.

[BoneNut]

I prefer medium low action and I use 9s. When I start setting up the action, I have the low E at about 2mm over the 12th fret and the high E at about 1.6mm. From there, I'll go a little higher or a bit lower depending on the guitar I'm setting up.

On Fender type guitars, making sure the saddle heights follow the neck radius is critical for a good feel, as well as bending. My guitars are very well setup and have no string buzz whatsoever.

As for the fatter tone, that's what my amp has Bass, Mid and Treble knobs for. This will compensate any difference that could be caused by string gauge.

I'd say action height as well as string thickness is a completely personal preference. I don't there is any right or wrong about it.

[WRGKMC]

A guitar neck like any other stringed instrument should be fitted to a musicians hand size. String height, Neck releif and string gauge all will affect the guitars playability and tone. The ones who posted that string height does affect the playing dynamics is correct, heavier string gauge also allows for stronger right hand dynamics and sustain without strings strumming sharp.

 

Fret slap will be a limiting factor in a string attack loudness and how hard you can strum or pick a note. How high you need to go depends on several factors including right hand strength and the guitar itself. I personally need my strings a littel higher on the high strings because I bend the hell out of nots and strum hard too. (a standard fender pic lasts maybe a single song before its ripped to shreads)

 

 

Having a littel more height can allow for bendability. Heavy strings at a low height can be difficult to bend unless you have super jumbo frets. There is a limit though. If you play alot of chords, high strings can be brutal on the left hand. You also have the clearence factor playing fast scales so its a personal tuning in factor for most in getting a balance that will facilitate a persons playing style, whatever that may be.

[cephus]

I think this must be related to the type of music played. The people who say it doesn't matter obviously don't play the kind of music I do. the sound that I need to get simply cannot be acheived with light strings and low action. I play with minimal distortion - just enough to get some sustain. A lot of it is rhythm and lead at the same time stuff. I'd rather play with no distortion at all than if I had to use someone else's rig and it was fuzzed out.

When you say that action doesn't matter, can you qualify with they type of music you play?

[BoneNut]

Having a littel more height can allow for bendability. Heavy strings at a low height can be difficult to bend unless you have super jumbo frets. There is a limit though. If you play alot of chords, high strings can be brutal on the left hand. You also have the clearence factor playing fast scales so its a personal tuning in factor for most in getting a balance that will facilitate a persons playing style, whatever that may be.

 

 

Do you have a video of you playing I could watch? I can't imagine how a pick can be destroyed in one song! Dang, I have to see this!!!

[Jesse G]

I've always found that higher action resulted in bigger tone.

 

The strings just ring out clearer with more dynamics when there is some space between the strings and frets. The low strings sound really big and fat, chords blossom alot more, and big bends/vibrato on the E and A string just sound so huge and awesome when there a healthy string height.

 

I always raise the action just out of fretbuzz-range...then just a little more for good measure.

 

Low action is for noobz.

[Belva]

Stevie Ray said in an interview I read once, "big strings, big action, big sound". He probably knew what he was talking about.

 

This^^^^^ And huge frets. How did he even play the damn thang?

[Kevman]

 

The only tonal benefit of raising the action is not having the strings buzz (and lose vibrational energy) against the other frets.

 

 

Please listen to reason. Armitage got it right. Unless you have fretbuzz with your action set lower then raising the action will NOT effect tone. I don't care how high you raise it or how hard it is to play.

 

If anything raising your action moves the vibrating string away from the pickup (unless you raise that too) resulting in a weakening of "tone" or sound.

 

I'll agree with the string gauge argument but think that there is a point of diminishing returns there too. 9s louder than 8s? A little maybe. 10s louder than 9s? A little less than the diff between 8s and 9s.

[Roy Brooks]

Yes, heavier strings and higher action will give you a fatter tone. Whether this is necessary for your playing style is up to you. If you think your tones are not fat enough for you then you may consider getting some heavier strings and raising your action a bit.

[cephus]

Please listen to reason. Armitage got it right. Unless you have fretbuzz with your action set lower then raising the action will NOT effect tone. I don't care how high you raise it or how hard it is to play. If anything raising your action moves the vibrating string away from the pickup (unless you raise that too) resulting in a weakening of "tone" or sound. I'll agree with the string gauge argument but think that there is a point of diminishing returns there too. 9s louder than 8s? A little maybe. 10s louder than 9s? A little less than the diff between 8s and 9s.

 

 

You don't know what you're talking about.

 

11s sound alot different than 10s. I haven't used 9s since I was 14.

 

Of course you'll change the pickup height if you change your action. Do you really think this argument is about how far the magnets are from the strings?

 

You sound like a girlie man who is trying to justify his girlie setup. Have you ever even played a guitar set up stiff, or do you just play delicate little angel fart guitars?

[Jeffmo]

no, this is VERY true!!!!

 

got three words for ya:

 

Stevie Ray Vaughan!!

[scolfax]

Before I got my guitar PLEK'd I had issues with the tone on my PRS. Now the action is lower *and* the tone is better, so they're not mutually exclusive.

[BoneNut]

You don't know what you're talking about . 11s sound alot different than 10s. I haven't used 9s since I was 14. Of course you'll change the pickup height if you change your action. Do you really think this argument is about how far the magnets are from the strings? Y ou sound like a girlie man who is trying to justify his girlie setup . Have you ever even played a guitar set up stiff, or do you just play delicate little angel fart guitars?

It's pretty sad that the only way you can make your point in this discussion, is with insults. Strange how all your insults are gender based.

Since you are arguing that it makes such a huge difference, can you listen to a guitar recording and correctly determine what gauge of string is being used and how high the action is? At a live concert, standing 30 feet from the stage, could you determine what gauge and action is being used?

[fabstrat]

many of my favorite players seem to use medium-high action.

 

guy on the les paul forum said he lent warren his 58 for a gig, warrens tech asked if he could do adjustments and the guitar was returned with very high action.

[Doctor Morbius]

I've read over on TDPRI that some of the guys there espouse big action for big tone. They swear by it.

[Willyguitar]

Please listen to reason. Armitage got it right. Unless you have fretbuzz with your action set lower then raising the action will NOT effect tone. I don't care how high you raise it or how hard it is to play. If anything raising your action moves the vibrating string away from the pickup (unless you raise that too) resulting in a weakening of "tone" or sound. I'll agree with the string gauge argument but think that there is a point of diminishing returns there too. 9s louder than 8s? A little maybe. 10s louder than 9s? A little less than the diff between 8s and 9s.

 

 

Strictly speaking this is more or less right, but what people are saying here is that with higher action, you naturally change your picking attack, which naturally affects everything. With higher action, the tension of the string changes, which definitely changes the way it resonates (it is tighter), and therefore the signal through the pickup.

 

Moving the pickups further away from the strings, although leading to a 'weaker' signal, does not necessarily have a negative effect at all. In fact, if you move your pickups away from the (very close) and so called optimal position as suggested by Fender/Gibson, you will find that you increase sustain up to a point, and (for many people), improve the overall sound. If strings are too close it can get mushy on relatively high output pickups.

 

The difference between 10s and 11s is really quite large and it is not just about thickness, but about tension, which affects the way the whole string vibrates.