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Old 08-25-2019, 09:06 AM
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justonwo justonwo is online now
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Location: SF Bay Area
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It really depends on how hard you play, I guess. If you really lay intro the strings when strumming or hard fingerpicking (with picks, like me), I think you need about 0.090” on the bass and 0.070” on the treble at a minimum. That’s about 6/64” on the bass and 4.5/64” on the treble. Better to measure in hundredths using an action gauge than in 64ths using a ruler, if you want to get it precise.

You will also need some relief to prevent buzzing at the low frets. I like to target about 0.006”, but bear in mind again that I play my guitar pretty aggressively.

If you have a lighter touch, you can go lower than that. I so hate the tone- and volume-sapping quality of buzzing that I always err on the side of high action.

You can get an idea of what lower action might do for a particular guitar by playing with a capo at the first fret. See how much it lowers the action at the 12th and then play some tunes and see how bad the buzzing is. If you think there’s a good balance of tone and playability, then lower the saddle.

But before touching the saddle, measure the relief. If it’s excessive, it can drive up the action. A small tweak of the truss rod will get rid of the excessive relief and lower the action slightly.

Investing in some feeler gauges and an accurate action gauge is worthwhile, in my opinion.
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